Shiu Ka-chun, a former Hong Kong social employee and pro-democracy lawmaker who devoted his final years to serving to protesters arrested after a crackdown on dissent, died on Friday in Hong Kong. He was 55.
His spouse, Kelly Hui, stated he died in hospital of abdomen most cancers.
As a social employee, civil rights activist and for a time as a legislator, Mr. Shiu pushed for the rights of the marginalized, however his involvement in a protest motion landed him in jail. He later emerged as a serious supporter of the prisoners following the nationwide safety crackdown that started in late 2019.
Mr. Shiu was born on June 3, 1969. in a working class household in Hong Kong. He studied social work at Hong Kong Baptist College and after commencement started his profession as a social employee supporting younger folks. In 2007 started educating social work on the college, the place he turned identified for his participating lectures. He additionally honed his voice as a commentator, writing newspaper columns that analyzed social points by the lens of philosophy and sociology.
Mr. Shiu obtained concerned early within the The 2014 Civil Disobedience MovementOccupy Central with Love and Peace, which demanded democratic elections for Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous Chinese language territory. He mobilized different social staff to take part within the protests that blocked site visitors within the coronary heart of Hong Kong’s enterprise district. He reached out to folks with disabilities or persistent diseases or the homeless, serving to to arrange dialogues the place they mentioned what democracy meant to them.
In 2016, he was elected as a nationwide consultant. He targeted on social points corresponding to poverty, homelessness and situations in houses for the aged and disabled.
In 2019 Mr. Shiu was convicted of disturbing public order for his function in Occupy Central and sentenced to eight months in jail.
“I need to remind those that stay at nighttime to not get used to the darkness, to not shield the darkness out of behavior and to not mock those that search the sunshine,” he stated exterior the courthouse earlier than his sentencing.
Chan Kin Man, a sociology professor who leads the Occupy Central motion, recalled sharing a cell with Mr. Shiu on the day they had been sentenced and seeing his well being deteriorate. He stated he knew Mr Shiu had diabetes and hypertension and was hospitalized in 2014. through the avenue occupations.
“I watched him mendacity in mattress unconscious and vomiting,” Mr. Chan stated in a phone interview from Taipei, the place he now lives.
“Together with his well being in such poor situation, he’s nonetheless concerned in so many political actions. I actually revered him,” Mr Chan stated.
Whereas behind bars, Mr. Shiu filed complaints about jail situations, even on the threat of being focused by the authorities. His efforts resulted in a single minor change: prisoners had been allowed paper followers within the peak of summer time.
Mr. Shiu’s educating contract on the Baptist College was not renewed after his launch from jail. He based a non-profit group, Wall-fare, targeted on serving to folks disadvantaged of their freedom after the 2019 protests. The group pairs inmates with pen buddies to ease their isolation and helps provide them with prison-approved toiletries and snacks.
Wall-fare was compelled to shut in 2021 as activism turned extra dangerous. Mr. Shiu deflected questions from reporters in regards to the motive for the closure and what it might imply for inmates. “Tears are our widespread language,” he stated.
Within the years that adopted, he wrote a number of books in regards to the state of Hong Kong’s prisons and the psychological toll of incarceration, drawing on his personal experiences. He continued to submit updates on social media, relaying snippets of his visits to former lawmakers and activists who had been incarcerated.
In November he printed a photo of himself in a hospital mattress carrying a mortarboard, saying he needed to miss his commencement from a grasp’s program in Christian research for well being causes. He later wrote that he was identified with most cancers and a part of his abdomen was eliminated.
In his ultimate weeks, he printed essays he titled the musings of a person with “no abdomen.” He wryly famous that tube feeding was tough for a foodie like him. He additionally shared his ideas on struggling.
“Resilient persons are in a position to keep a constructive perspective and develop coping methods regardless of the ache of sickness, regulate their feelings, keep constructive and be taught to stay as regular and regular a life as doable,” he wrote in mid-November.
“Nonetheless, I need to add a caveat: my physique is in no situation, I would like a spot to relaxation. I will cease if I’ve to; please forgive me
