Telling the story of Hong Kong‘s resistance wins Harvard Speech Prize.
A Hong Kong university student was honored to participate in the Harvard Conference on Asia and International Relations, and in its speech contest, he talked to the international about the reasons for Hong Kong people’s resistance in 2019 and some police violence incidents, and finally won the prize. He said in an exclusive interview with the station that the award belongs to Hong Kong people and the participation is to make more people hear the story of Hong Kong and the inhumane treatment it faced through the exchange period with elites from other countries. (By Man Hoi-yan)
Felix, a Hong Kong university student, participated in the Harvard Conference on Asia and International Relations (HPAIR 2021 Harvard Conference Speech Writing Competition) in the middle of this month, and won the prize from more than 300 participants. In his speech, Felix, wearing a yellow helmet that “symbolizes the faith and courage of Hong Kong people,” spoke to the international community about the reasons for Hong Kong people’s resistance in 2019 and some cases of police brutality, such as 721, 831, and the shooting of students.
Felix said: people of my age, beaten and injured by the police ….. No one has any more excuses to stand aside and not do anything. Yet our fate remains a mystery, even as we may go to jail for any number of reasons or have our lives put in danger by police brutality. As Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam said, we are the ones who have not built society, but our belief in freedom will never be shattered.
Awarded Harvard Lecture Prize Lien Deng Tsai: This prize definitely belongs to Hong Kong people
Felix, in an exclusive interview with the station, said that when he first saw a netizen posting about this academic forum in “Lian Deng”, he then resolved to participate in this event as a university student in Hong Kong, hoping that through the exchange period with elites from other countries, more people would hear the story of Hong Kong and the inhumane treatment it faced. He said he was honored to be a finalist and to win the award.
While he was happy to win the award, Felix lamented that he felt “lost and powerless after all the excitement”. He once asked himself the question, “Even if I have the opportunity to speak on this internationally renowned stage, will Hong Kong become a better place right away? He knew from the bottom of his heart that it actually wasn’t, but he believed it was a way to work deeper and deeper. He continued that the award belongs to the people of Hong Kong, otherwise he would not have had the courage to enter.
Felix said: this award definitely, definitely belongs to Hong Kong people. If it wasn’t for the people of Hong Kong who have been on the front line for the past year, trying to fight the regime in different ways, I wouldn’t have been able to write this piece, so that the judges felt I was qualified to tell this (Hong Kong) story to everyone at Harvard.
Hong Kong is already in the era of criminalization of speech, and I went through a lot of internal struggles when I entered the competition.
Preparing for the speech was not an easy process; Felix had only 24 hours to prepare. Looking back on what happened in Hong Kong in 2019, he was touched by every image, “It was like going through it all over again, I can only describe it as painful”. During the preparation process, he also experienced numerous internal struggles.
Felix said: when handed over actually hesitant, because I was afraid of handing out whether it would be dangerous, always Hong Kong is already a place where words are criminalized, will I be in danger because of this speech? But I did my best, so many people helped me, I do not want to let them down. I think this opportunity is very rare, and it is always the big stage of Harvard, where I can communicate with so many people. The reason for my participation is to let the world hear the story of Hong Kong, and if I cower at this Time, I feel very unworthy.
Felix talked about the experience of interacting with participants from other countries at the Summit. For example, a participant who studied political philosophy in India was very interested in what was happening in Hong Kong and wanted to compare it to left-wing politics in India; others were very surprised that these events could happen in a democratic place like Hong Kong. The experience also broadened his worldview, and he realized that to make a change in a city, you have to look beyond your own point of view and have a bigger picture.
Felix: I hope Hong Kong people will not admit defeat
Finally, he encouraged Hong Kong people not to admit defeat.
Felix said: I hope that Hong Kong people do not admit defeat, do not give up. Even if we are being suppressed today, it is one of the things that we expected to happen as a result of the ideas we made at the beginning of the movement. But the efforts we have been making have not been in vain. If we give up now, our brothers and sisters who have sacrificed will not forgive us. So I hope you will all keep working hard, keep your convictions, and believe in all of you and stop the infighting.
Harvard College Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR)
Founded in 1991 by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University, one of its major activities is the Harvard Conference on Asian and International Relations, the largest academic forum on Asian affairs at Harvard University. The forum invites leading scholars, entrepreneurs, and political leaders to engage in in-depth and interactive exchanges with young people on the challenges and trends in Asian and international politics, society, economics, Culture, and business. Since its establishment, HPAIR has organized 43 meetings in 15 different host countries, involving more than 10,000 students and young professionals.
This year, they have invited WHO Director-General Desmond Tam and former Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva as guests of honor. However, due to the Epidemic, the event was held online.
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