df858f14-b579-44d5-9db2-26045dccaa8a_fa2d17c4
Alex Lee* was on the brink of starting his career as a doctor when he was jailed for taking part in an unlawful assembly during Hong Kong’s months of social unrest in 2019.
Arrested during a “singing protest” at a Yuen Long shopping centre on Christmas Eve that year, he is believed to be the first doctor jailed over the unrest.
The 26-year-old Chinese University graduate was near the end of a training stint at a public hospital when he was charged in May 2021, and sentenced to 20 months’ jail in October that year.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
Released last July, Lee’s plans to practise medicine and specialise in pathology remain uncertain.
Give young Hong Kong protesters from 2019 a second chance at normal life
Although he was issued a practising licence in July 2021, he did not get a contract with the Hospital Authority. He applied to work at the government’s Penny’s Bay quarantine camp for Covid-19 patients over last summer, but did not receive a reply.
“If I had not been arrested, I would be training to become a pathologist now,” he said.
He was among more than 1,700 Hongkongers who faced legal consequences over the social unrest. About 3,000 out of more than 10,000 people arrested had been charged, as of last October, according to latest figures.
Since his release from jail, Lee, like two others who spoke to the Post, has faced challenges settling into a new life.
Hong Kong candidate calls for opportunities for young jailed protesters
His fate remains in the balance. Hong Kong’s Medical Council is expected to hold a professional misconduct hearing on Friday related to his criminal conviction, and his licence could be suspended.
Asked if he regretted his involvement in the protests, he said: “It’s not right to say you regret, after all the consequences that followed.”
If it became impossible to practise medicine in Hong Kong and pursue his ambition to be a pathologist, he said, he would consider emigration.
Though disheartened by the political atmosphere in Hong Kong since Beijing imposed the national security law in 2020 and then overhauled the city’s electoral systems, he would only say: “I have to be more careful about what I say and do.”
While at Pik Uk Prison in Sai Kung, he befriended classical guitarist Michael Tsui*, 37, and electrical engineer Andy Kan, 28, whose lives were also upended since their conviction for involvement in the anti-government protests.
Tsui was jailed for 19 months for joining an unlawful assembly. He used an umbrella to hit pro-government opponents during a clash in a Ngau Tau Kok shopping centre in 2019.
The graduate of an elite secondary school and one of the best music schools in the United States, he used to perform regularly on stage and was in the midst of producing his first album when the social unrest broke out.
Before his arrest, he earned about HK$40,000 (US$5,110) a month from teaching the guitar, and his students included celebrities and the CEO of a listed company. He spent about a year in prison and after his release, earned less than HK$10,000 a month at one point.
Over half of convicted Hong Kong protesters have ‘deep remorse’: security chief
Imagining what life might have been like if he had not gone to jail, he said: “The album would have been released. There would have been more performances. My students wouldn’t have gone away.”
Tsui, who lived with his girlfriend and supported his mother, said he now preferred the quiet life of an average man.
“I was naive in the past, believing politics was my business and I could make a difference to Hong Kong’s future,” he said. “Now I want to take care of my own business first, settle down with my family and my work.”
All he hoped for now was a stable job. He wished there was a way to erase his criminal record, now that he had been punished “and won’t make trouble again”.
Unlike Lee and Tsui who have struggled to find work, Kan was offered an engineering job last June, four months after leaving prison. But he did not stay long.
He said the job demanded too much time and he was left “feeling empty”.
“After being in jail, I feel that neither work nor how much money you make is important. The most important thing is having a better quality of life,” he said.
A graduate of the University of Science and Technology, he was among 44 protesters charged with rioting in Sheung Wan in July 2019 and was sentenced to 30 months’ jail, but was released early because he pleaded guilty and for his good behaviour.
He said he read more than 50 books in prison and was also inspired to change course by helping other protesters facing jail or behind bars.
“The experience in prison has brought many changes in my life and given me a sense of value. They are positive changes,” he said.
Hong Kong protests: student convicted of rioting at PolyU spared jail
There have been calls on city leader John Lee Ka-chiu to take steps to heal the wounds left in Hong Kong society by the social unrest.
John Mak Hiu-fai, reintegration programme director for Project Change, a group set up by 16 academics and professionals to help those arrested, prosecuted or jailed over the protests, said the government could take the lead by offering them jobs, so that the professional and other sectors would follow.
It could consider the nature of the jobseekers’ offences, their desire to serve society and the shortage of talent in the city.
“It is necessary to bring closure to 2019 and this will involve a reconciliation,” he said.
* Names changed at interviewees’ request.
More from South China Morning Post:
- Hong Kong protests: young people jailed over unrest should be allowed to contribute to society on release, rehabilitation group says
- To heal Hong Kong, start with the young protesters jailed for the 2019 social movement
For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2023.
