Dear Amber,

I have been thinking about how the dreadful riot happened on June 12th. Nobody would have thought that a simple amendment to the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance (the “Amendments Bill”) could have caused such an uproar and thrust and ever put Hong Kong under international limelight. Despite the Amendments Bill being perfectly in line with international practice and the United Nations’ guidelines, the Pan-Democratic party just chose to demonise it in Chinese as “送中” which means repatriating Hong Kongers to China whereby jeopardising their liberty and freedom.

In fact, not only were the PanDems wrong about the Amendments Bill, but they have also spread their brand of propaganda all over Hong Kong and fearmongered the public to vouch against the Amendments Bill. According to them, there were two million of them fallen victim to their lies. Together with the media, they called upon the public to rally their way to the Legislative Council Complex with the ultimate goal to picket and to prevent the second and third reading of the Amendments Bill. Worst of all, the PanDems even instructed schools and teachers to command students to go on strike. Mortified, weary and stressed under the sweltering heat, students attended the rally with their DSE exams looming as a matter of days and weeks. Our future depends on them, but to have sacrificed their future for the radical political ploy and ideology is simply contemptible. Our students’ education should have come first.

On 12th of June, Admiralty and parts of Central were brought to a halt once again. Commuters were cordoned off, work attendance was falling, and the Legislative Council Complex was completely under siege. By 2pm of the day, massive no of demonstrators was already encompassing the Complex and the surrounding designated demonstrators’ area. They wedged between Tamar Park and the Legislative Council Road. Attempts were made to break through the police parameters. After rounds of offensive acts poised by the demonstrators, bricks gouged out from nearby pavements and makeshift javelins converted from nearby pipes and rods were witnessed to have been used against the police. The police realised that the demonstrators were organized to turn the day into a commotion if not a riot. LegCo was under attack.

The ensuing aftermath was roughly 37 arrested, and 80 injured - police included. Although I did not witness it myself, I could nonetheless feel the earth tremble by the clash and quake happening on the ground I was concerned about the safety of my colleagues within the Complex and “Thanks God” they were evacuated to safety in the late afternoon that day.

For the sake of argument, supposing what the PanDem claimed were true, in the sense that the Amendments Bill could put the whole of Hong Kong into peril. Then what about those 77 participating countries, including the United States of America, having reached the extradition arrangements with China since 1997, would that equally be heinous and morally reprehensible for them to entertain any request from China to extradite any fugitive under the arrangements? Indeed, that is more or less the same effect as for the Amendments Bill. The question that I beg to ask “What is the wrong of the Amendments Bill to enable extradition possible between Hong Kong and the Mainland China then?” We owe it to the Poon family, and we owe it as our duty to prevent Hong Kong from turning into a haven for the fugitives. We have to serve justice to those villains scrounging in the dark corners of Hong Kong, such as Chan Tong-kai, the murderer of Poon Hiu-Wing, the victim in Taiwan last year.

While the Chief Executive’s decision on suspending the Amendments Bill, for the time being, was sensible given the circumstances. Her apology, however, left the Hong Kong Police Department impotent and morale at an all-time low. It was guilty by association, and they were caught between the political debacle fabricated by the radical political spectrum. Treated unfairly and unfavourably, the police force needs our support never more than before. Had it not for the diligence and quick thinking of the police, Hong Kong could have resulted in a far worse situation mirroring what had happened in Paris last December, and even London this April.

In consideration of all of the above, the police in Hong Kong is fully commendable and has my utmost respect. Had it not for their courage and toughness, the damage or injury could have been much more serious. Amber, we owe a big thanks to the police force, and I call upon members of the public who support the police in taking the appropriate measures to join the gathering today, on the 30th of June 2019 at Tamar Park between 3pm to 6pm. We gather peacefully and to show them that they are not forsaken.

Yours sincerely,
Junius Ho