From this picture on IG, I know that when Damien’s group will hold a concert in Hong Kong in November 2020, many fans from mainland China will not be able to come to Hong Kong because of the epidemic and various reasons, and they will send Damien a love letter in this form. Thanks to the trust of the people involved, because of various opportunities, I saw these 44 pages of A4 paper, from which I know that this is much more than just the passion of fans for the stars, but as one of the letters says: “Love for humanity, love for those who are insulted and deprived, love for the oppressed. The love of freedom” and, of course, the love of Hong Kong.
I was particularly struck by several things: the young age of the people who wrote to me, many of whom are even now in high school! Many of the letter writers come from the northern provinces, but many insist on writing Cantonese slurs, typing traditional characters, and even handwriting traditional characters! Many people have mentioned that Damien’s songs made them learn to love people and themselves, rather than any abstract grand narrative. Many have mentioned that Damien and other Hong Kong singers made them start to turn the other cheek: “I remember the day Mushrooms was removed from the shelves, it was probably the first time that you guys stood up to me so clearly. I didn’t hesitate at all that day, I was so excited, I knew we were the same people. Many of you have mentioned that you haven’t had a chance to see the show in Hong Kong yet: “When I’m a little older and can earn my own money to buy tickets… I owe you many, many tears to be there! Go return it. “
With the permission of the 19 principals, I have selected some of these letters and reproduced them here to share with you.
0.
To Dear Damien I. Faction.
I am B. I write the beginning of this long letter in simplified Chinese and Mandarin because I want you to know that a group of people who cannot come to see you, a group of people who cannot hear you, are still standing up for you, still standing up for a city, still standing up for a better generation. We, who could not be here these last few nights, are writing these words for you in different cities on the mainland. If you have written them, you have been here; if you have loved them, you have supported them.
Be an umbrella for someone who feels a little bit different, you have done it; be an artist with a sense of responsibility, you have done it; sing for the times, you have done it. And you are never alone, Hong Kong is never a lonely city. Hong Kong is never an isolated city. We are here, even if the walls are closest, even if it is hard.
The sand rolls on, but may we cherish each other. May tonight, and every night in the future, there be love everywhere in the world. May the city we love and the soil in which we live survive in a new world.
The following, from the seventy lost children from all over the world, flying in the light, goes out to two of our beloved pale green youths.
1.
We are the children from mainland China, the children running in the lights. They come from Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Yunnan …… and from anywhere in the world. Some are still in high school, some are in college, some are working. But because we like the Damien school, we meet from every corner of the world, you say we are not alone, yes, because we like you, we are not alone. I want to tell you that it’s really good to be able to listen to your songs and to know you, who are always fearless and powerful, the Margarettes and the miserable green youths in China. We miss you all. (From Yunnan)
2.
You once said that David Bowie is an umbrella. I would like to say that you are a big umbrella to hold us up. The world is breaking apart, and it is your voice, Ming, and your music that gives me hope, not despair, in the midst of all that is going on around us. It is true that the Shenzhen River separates us from each other, but the walls will come tumbling down, and we will meet again, won’t we? Someday we will be able to dance and sing in the Southern Ballroom again for all these years. Now living in the North, I look for all of you in 404 and Forbidden Access every day. Thank you Ming, Uncle Tat, Ho, Yu-Yi …… for your kindness and teach me to keep justice and conscience. Thank you, Ming, Uncle Tat, He Mushroom, Yu-Yi, for your truth and goodness. (From Zhejiang Y)
3.
I was fortunate enough to catch the last of the Damien party in this land, and witnessed the songs, videos, go from being to disappearing overnight, and witnessed us using harmonies and abbreviations to escape censorship in any way we could. I hope we’ll see each other at the next party. No matter how bad the years get, we’ll be there for Damien’s party! (From Shandong after 95)
4.
I searched through the cracks and crevices of China’s Internet buildings for the remnants of the Damen faction, and climbed the walls to laugh or cry with you through the screen. Your songs have stayed with me for many days and nights, and I am deeply impressed by your concern for the community. Before I met Damien, I had never imagined that songs could span such a wide spectrum, or that people could shine so brightly in the community. I have repeatedly read Brother Ming’s education of love, Brother Ming’s views on banning, Dear Margaret, Freedom Summer, Jia Ming, and Support, which are the people I love so much, who have faith in their souls and cannot be robbed, who have nothing but hold on to all the glory. I will always support you. I wish you all peace under the turbulence. (From Sichuan 16 years old)
5.
Your songs grew up with me and were my musical nourishment, but to my shame, I didn’t really listen to Damien until 2019, and really understood what you were singing about, what you were trying to say, and what you were trying to tell us. 2019 was a heavy year and a year of freedom for HK, but I was on the internet within the walls, and all I saw was an endless stream of censored, selective, and uncensored songs. In the news, with the overwhelming public opinion, my love for you guys started to waver, and in May 2019 your music disappeared from the mainland music platform, and in September of the same year, mylittleairport, CAllStar and other artists also disappeared. Between “political correctness” and my love for my idols, I was deeply frustrated and sad (I thought to myself, why are all my favorite singers independent from Hong Kong? At one point, I wanted to cut the chair. Until I saw the music video of “Guilty of Memory”, I was shocked and startled to see the disappearing truths, and my mind quietly changed with the powerful images and heavy music. As I learned more and more, I finally got in touch with the “patriotism” that doesn’t care about any particular person. Collectivism” has completely cut the table. Your music has never gone out of style, spanning more than three decades, with “love” as the spiritual core, loving Hong Kong, loving Hong Kong people, loving every single Mainlander. Friends, you love a figurative person or object, not an abstract country or nation. Your music leads us, the frustrated children of the light, not to be afraid of evil, not to be silent in the face of injustice, not to give up hope, but to keep on loving, loving our friends, loving all the good people and things in the world. Thank you, there are people all over the world who love you today. No matter how bad times get, love will keep us going, won’t it? (From Sichuan Post 00’s A)
6.
Your songs have saved me in many difficult moments. I hope to see you in the near future, and I will always stand by your side and support you as you support us. (From Mainland S)
7.
The first time I listened to the Shih Tzu Journal in my freshman year of high school, I was deeply attracted by Ming’s voice, and I always saw the lovely Dugo in Hong Kong movies. I was accompanied by your music throughout my high school years. After I entered the university, I learned more and more about you, and I respect you more, because I saw the real society and the world, Ming let me know that we are not limited by the world, we can choose to be free, and we can enjoy ourselves in the current. It is true that the darker the sky, the brighter Ming’s voice! I wish you and your siblings all the best! (From Xinjiang T)
8.
I know that what they can ban is the people and the songs, but what they can’t ban is the hearts of the children who yearn for freedom. We will definitely meet again. (From Shantou H)
9.
I was a patriotic kid in elementary school and junior high school who was under the control of the mainstream ideology, but fortunately I had two opportunities to learn more. From there, I explored deeper and deeper, and you guys were my guides. (From Mainland K)
10.
In high school, K and I were busy eavesdropping on Ada Amin in our study halls, and the goddess of high scores always kissed us goodbye. I was so scared that I couldn’t bear to see Dada and Ming standing on the same block to perform the song. I couldn’t bear to see Tat and Ming standing on the same block to perform a song, and I felt tears welling up on my face. June 4 is one kind, Central is one kind, and Umbrella is one kind. There is no era that needs us, but there is no era that lacks us. I only wish that we will keep on pushing forward, and the day will come. (From Mrs. K in China)
11.
Thanks to your brief stopover in Simplified Chinese, I began to think about the world and society for the first time, and finally realized that it is more important to love flesh and blood than to worship inanimate machines. (From Mainland E)
12.
Damien, together with a group of musicians from Hong Kong, such as Lin Xi, Ho Yun Shi, Wong Wai Man, Chow Yiu Fai, mla, etc., you have made me the person I am today. From your music, I feel love, but this kind of love is not the love of this land, it is the love of humanity, the love of those who are humiliated and deprived, the love of the oppressed, the love of freedom. I remember the day the mushrooms were removed from the shelves, and it must have been the first time that your group’s position (not just politics) was so starkly presented to me. I didn’t hesitate at all that day, I was so excited, I knew we were the same people.
Ming, I have decided, I want to go to Hong Kong to study graduate school. I’m so afraid that this city will disappear, I want to stand with you guys and do something together. Then I will go back to the mainland and hope it will get better. (From the Sichuan Freedom-loving Dreamers)
13.
At a very young age, I met a group of friends and neighbors who also liked Damien. I was struck and touched by the fact that we were all in the same online community, with any identity, with any idea, with any marginalized group, Christian, gay, emotionally ill ……, poor or rich, young or old, optimistic or pessimistic, and we met each other without any label. Because of Damien, we understand that gender can be diverse, people can be diverse, and positions can be diverse.
Tat Ming and Hong Kong has given me another way of identity and another possibility to think about myself.
Gradually, I have turned an unfamiliar city into “my city”, and gradually turned some unfamiliar faces, such as you, into spiritual pillars that give me the most strength.
I sincerely want to say thank you to Damien for all that you have given me, thank you to Hong Kong for all that you have given me, and sincerely want to do as much as I can for our city, for our world, and sincerely hope that we never have to sing an elegy, never have to bemoan the end times. Live on, sing on, love on. (From Beijing B)
14.
When I think of my own cowardice in life, probably the most rebellious thing I did was to go to Hong Kong to support the mushroom in 2016 when the whole mainland blocked her concert, and I saw Ming at the concert. I only feel that I confronted the hegemony that time… (From Hangzhou S)
15.
I’m the little boy who cried listening to “Nasty” at the Taipei stop of the Ming Qu concert, and it stayed with me through the most difficult moments of my life. I’ve been a rebel since I was a kid, and your song and the words you spoke at the concert made me think more deeply. I was really touched that someone was willing to speak up and remind us of what we should be remembered for. The one that warmed my heart the most was the time in Taipei when Ming said, “We are not alone, we have everyone. And then on a trip to Hong Kong with friends, I happened to encounter an anti-send-school demonstration, and I was really sad that a student jumped off a building and died, so I stood up for the first time – whether to fight against hegemony or to mourn for life. For the sake of the justice that Brother Ming mentioned in his concert – I felt that I should do something (like you guys infected us with your music) to change the world. I asked my friends in Hong Kong for a bouquet of flowers to dedicate to the dead students, and to show that I am from China, where there are also people who oppose draconian laws and support you (I was so afraid that I would be locked up in a dark room when I returned), but I still had the courage to walk into the procession. It was the second time I felt the warmth in the crowd, just like the song “Take Up the Umbrella”: “We are not alone even though we are uneasy, right? From Gangnam, who wanted to sneak in to see the concert after learning to swim for a month.” (F)
16.
Thank you for shining a light that has influenced many people in this day and age, and thank you for still guarding this faith. (From Mainland Y)
17.
No matter where we are, no matter our age, nationality, gender, or sexual orientation, as long as we share the same beliefs, we are all on the same journey. (From Guangdong S)
18.
There are a lot of things that cannot be said, and I can express myself better through singing, which is something that many Mandarin songs or Jane Chinese environment cannot give me.
I was touched to see Hong Kong people speaking up for their aspirations many times, even though they were threatened and disturbed, I was also worried for you guys, that one day Hong Kong will follow Guangzhou’s footsteps and gradually erode and lose itself. I really admire and appreciate what you have done! I want to talk, stay with it! You are not alone, Guangzhou fans are your solid support, on both sides of the river, drinking from the same river, sharing the same voice, standing with you forever. (From Guangzhou L)
19.
When there are walls on all sides, some people can return to love. Thank you for teaching me to love every flesh and blood human being, to love every individual, not a cold machine, not a grand narrative that ignores the small and beautiful individuals. (From Wenzhou J, handwritten)
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