THE VIGIL

It was indeed a mighty night last night: 150,000 candle-holding folk inside the park and more than four thousand outside the gates, joining in the songs, struggling to get in, wanting to add themselves to the count of those wishing to honour the dead:


The 20th Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre ... aka June 4th 1989 Incident as it's known to Chinese authorities and their running-dog licksucklers! China tried to stop any memorial but the feisty spirit of Hong Kong rose to the challenge, soared and once again became its best self: the conscience of China.

I have no camera these days so have sent an SOS to Maureen for a few of her photos to show you what it was like, so you too can witness that, oh yes, they said we shouldn't even acknowledge this date, that no one in China should acknowledge this date, but by our defiance we became mighty!

And The Mothers of Tiananmen - the mothers of the dead - were indeed there, although only a handful since the rest were back in China under house arrest, but they gave fiery angry speeches, telling us that the latest news was all a lie; they did not sell-out their cause for compensation money; that they would never sell out their cause; their children were murdered and there was no money or anything else that would stop them from saying their children were murdered and from demanding that the Chinese authorities say it too.

So I must hereby apologise for passing on the news from China that the Mothers had sold out on their cause: their dream to cover the giant square where their children bled to death with red and white roses. It's still on, folk, so get behind them.

You know their website, right? No, it appears to be gone. Hardly a surprise, is it, since we know all about THAT SORT OF THING these days, don't we!

Forgive the epic tones of this piece. Can't help myself. Just knowing that Beijing has read me and finds me dangerous enough to shut down brings out the purple-prose-poet in me!

Later: HK newspapers also call the numbers at 150,000 but say there were over 50,000 outside the gates. I only saw one gate and can definitely vouch for a percentage of that number.

There were also trees full of intrepid folk, and no one counted them, so we can even put the # higher.

Much Later: These gorgeous photos were not taken by me, but the lovely person who sent them to me doesn't wish to be named. But thanks so much, Incognita!