Szeto Wah
Szeto Wah | |
---|---|
司徒華 | |
Kowloon East | |
Majority | 37.83% (1991) 55.40% (1995) |
In office 1 July 1998 – 30 September 2004 | |
Preceded by | New Parliament |
Succeeded by | Albert Cheng |
Constituency | Kowloon East |
Majority | 33.33% (1998) 25.00% (2000) |
Personal details | |
Born | Szeto Wai Wah (司徒衛華) 28 February 1931 Grantham College of Education |
Profession | Teacher and Politician |
Signature | |
Website | http://www.szetowah.org.hk |
Szeto Wah | |
---|---|
Hanyu Pinyin | Sītú Huá |
Yue: Cantonese | |
Yale Romanization | Sī tòuh Wàh |
Jyutping | Si1 tou4 Waa4 |
Szeto Wah (Chinese: 司徒華; 28 February 1931 – 2 January 2011) was a Hong Kong democracy activist and politician. He was the founding chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union and former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1985 to 1997 and from 1997 to 2004.
Being one of the two icons of the
Szeto played a significant part in gathering popular support of the Hong Kong public in the Tiananmen democracy movement and subsequently the
Szeto remained as the unofficial party whip of the Democratic Party. He retired from the Legislative Council in 2004 and retained his influence in the pan-democracy camp. In 2010, he led the moderate faction of the camp to oppose the radical-led
Early life and underground activism
Szeto Wah was born in Hong Kong on 28 February 1931 in Hong Kong with the family root in Chikan, Kaiping, Guangdong.[2] His father, Szeto Ting, moved to Hong Kong for work during his young age. In 1941 during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, his family moved back to Kaiping. He recalled his patriotism grew during the war when he heard about the stories of the Chinese war heroes.[3] His mother died at the age of 38 in 1942 and his father remarried afterwards. In 1945, when the war had almost ended, his family moved back to Hong Kong. His father died of cancer at the Precious Blood Hospital in 1952 and was survived by his second wife and ten children.[4]
In Hong Kong, Szeto Wah studied at the Yau Ma Tei Government School and then
After the club resumed activities in 1953, Szeto Wah was ousted in the leadership elections in 1957 and 1958 by the "red faction", the students who studied at the pro-Communist schools compared to the "gray faction" who studied at the English schools like Szeto himself.[9] After having been stripped of his leadership, Szeto was frustrated with the power struggles and the distrust by the party leadership. Szeto was sent to become an editor at the left-leaning Children's Weekly in 1960. At the same time, he became headmaster of the GCEPSA Kwun Tong Primary School in 1961.[10] After the journal was closed down in 1966, the party ceased to contact Szeto.
Teacher unionism and activism
In 1971, the Hong Kong government suggested unpegging the salaries of the certificated masters to the nurses to cut their salaries by 15 per cent which sparked an uproar among the teachers.[5] Szeto Wah was actively involved in the opposition campaign and the founding of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (HKPTU) in 1972 as the founding vice-chairman under Tsin Sai-nin. In April 1973, Szeto Wah took a leading role in two waves of labour strikes. After the strikes, the teachers negotiated with government representative Jack Cater with Bishop Francis Hsu as the mediator. As a result, the teachers cancelled the third labour strike and began the negotiation process with the government. The government eventually backed down on the plan, but installed a "3-2-2" standard which raised the salaries of the certificated masters after their salary points had reached the highest levels in three, two and two years.[11]
The PTU was found in 1972 as an instrument for Tsin Sai-nin to gather teachers' votes in the 1973 Urban Council election, as Tsin was opposed by the Hong Kong Teachers' Association. After Tsin was elected, he quit the PTU preparatory committee and the chairmanship was succeeded by Szeto. Szeto became the first chairman elected in 1974 and assumed its position until 1990. He was seen by journalist Louise do Rosario as "a dictatorial leader...in most meetings he monopolises the talking, with detail of his plan, strategies well-sorted out before his colleagues start to comprehend the basic outline."[12]
In 1977, the Precious Blood Golden Jubilee Secondary School was exposed with a corruption scandal. The teachers and students launched a strike for two days. In response, the
The PTU continued to grow into a significant labour union and pressure group in the territory.[14] According to do Rosario, Szeto even became one of "the most influential persons in Hongkong's political scene mid-70s".[12] Due to its scale and influence, the PTU was put under surveillance by the Standing Committee on Pressure Groups (SCOPG) of the Hong Kong government in 1979. In the report, the PTU was noted by its influence and organisation. Szeto was highlighted for his leadership and effectiveness in maintaining the PTU's independence against Communist infiltration.[15]
In 1978, Szeto Wah was elected chairman of the joint committee of the Chinese Language Movement during the second wave of the movement for the equal status of the Chinese language to English. The joint committee laid out three goals: the full implementation of the Chinese language as the official language, teaching with Chinese in school, and improvement of the Chinese teaching along with English.[16] The movement died down as the Sino-British negotiation over the Hong Kong sovereignty took the spotlight in the early 1980s.
Szeto was also involved in the
Early pro-democracy activism
In the 1980s during the Sino-British negotiation over the Hong Kong sovereignty, Szeto Wah called for the Chinese resumption of the Hong Kong sovereignty and a democratic China and Hong Kong. In 1984 the Hong Kong government published the Green Paper: the Further Development of Representative Government in Hong Kong to suggest the introduction of direct elections in Hong Kong. Initiated by the Szeto-led PTU, 89 organisations attended an assembly at the Ko Shan Theatre on 18 September 1984 in response to the Green Paper.[18] In December 1984, Szeto was invited by the Beijing government to witness the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
In 1985, the Beijing government invited Szeto to sit on the
Szeto Wah began actively pushing a faster pace of democratisation. On 27 October 1986, 91 organisations gathered to form the
The joint committee also demanded direct elections of the post-1997
1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and memorials
The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre became the breaking point of the relationship of Szeto Wah and the CCP. The Joint Committee on the Promotion of Democratic Government was active in voicing support in the student protests in Beijing starting from May. On 20 May, it organised a rally against the government's martial law which attracted a large amount of turnout despite under the typhoon no. 8.[21] On the next day, another million attended the rally marching from Chater Road in Central to Happy Valley Racecourse. The joint committee announced its reorganisation into the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China. Szeto was elected chairman of the alliance, a role in which he remained until his death in 2011.
On 27 May, the alliance helped organise the
Szeto also planned a general strike on 7 June. However, a minor riot in Mong Kok in the early morning of 7 June occurred. He received a call from
Szeto also resigned from his position in the Drafting Committee with Martin Lee after the crackdown. They were strongly criticised by the Beijing authorities, being called "subversive" and denied entry to the Mainland.[24] He also refused to enter the mainland since. Under his chairmanship, the alliance laid out several goals, including rehabilitation of the 1989 pro-democracy movement. He had also been responsible for the annual Tiananmen memorials and the candlelight vigil at the Victoria Park since 1990. The year 2009 saw a resurgence of the attendees of the candlelight vigil. Governor David Wilson and Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa asked Szeto three times to disband the alliance but was refused by Szeto.
The alliance was also involved in the Operation Yellowbird, providing shelter for the escaped activists in Hong Kong, confirming the identity of the activists with the Hong Kong Police Special Branch, liaising with the foreign consuls for the refuge applications and so forth, which successfully smuggled three or four hundred people abroad including student leaders Chai Ling and Wu'erkaixi.[25]
Party and electoral politics
On 6 April 1990, Szeto Wah and other democracy activists formed the
After the election, the British government replaced David Wilson with
Szeto Wah ran in the 1995 Legislative Council election as implemented by the Patten's proposal. He defeated another veteran politician Elsie Tu in Kowloon East, who he had defeated few months ago in the Urban Council election. The Democratic Party won 12 of the 20 directly elected seats. With other individuals, the pro-democrats won 31 of the 60 seats.[28] In response to the Patten's proposal, Beijing decided to dismantle the promised "through train" which allowed the 1995 elected legislature to survive through 1997. The Democrats boycotted the Provisional Legislative Council as they deemed as extra-constitutional.[29]
Szeto Wah also launched a petition movement as the civil Chief Executive to mock the first Chief Executive election of 1996 by the Beijing-controlled 400-member Selection Committee. Szeto eventually accumulated more than 104,000 signatures with their ID numbers.[30] The election was ultimately won by shipping magnate Tung Chee-hwa who was hand-picked by Beijing.
For his staunch pro-democracy conviction,
Szeto Wah and other Democrats ran in the first SAR Legislative Council election in May 1998 in which Szeto and Li Wah-ming won about 145,000 votes, taking two of the three seats in Kowloon East. Although the pro-democrats won 20 seats, their influence was balanced by the pro-Beijing members elected through the 10-seat Election Committee constituency. Szeto was re-elected in 2000 and decided to retire in 2004.
In 2005, the "Real Brothers incident" broke out in the Democratic Party as there were allegations of the reformist faction being infiltrated by Beijing. Szeto Wah became one of the five-member committee to investigate the incident. As a result, the accused reformist faction was defeated in the 2006 intra-party election.
On 25 May 2007 Szeto Wah was one of eight people arrested and charged with speaking at a radio show broadcast hosted by the unlicensed
Last days
In December 2009, Szeto Wah was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. He was told by pro-Beijing politician Cheng Kai-nam that the central government was concerned about his illness. Some mainland doctors were sent to see Szeto. Chief Executive Donald Tsang also visited Szeto and told him that he could arrange Szeto to be treated in the mainland. However, Szeto said that "many people in China are being tortured and prosecuted, and if I go back it would be a privilege, a totally different treatment. I feel guilty and cannot accept the offer."[34]
In 2009, the radical democratic
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party leaders began to negotiate with the Beijing authorities and a revised proposal suggested by Szeto Wah was accepted by Beijing.[36] Szeto Wah attended the party meeting after chemotherapy and spoke in support of the revised proposal, stating that it was better to have the increase of five directly elected seats, five functional constituency seats but almost directly elected and the abolition of the appointed District Council seats than nothing.[37]
After the Democratic Party voted for the revised package, the Democratic Party and Szeto Wah received harsh criticisms from its former allies and supporters, condemning them for betraying democracy and the Hong Kong people. "Longhair" Leung Kwok-hung in a protest in front of the PTU headquarters said Szeto Wah had his cancer got into his brain.[38] In the following 1 July march, Szeto on his wheelchair also received criticisms from his supporters, saying that the "Democratic Party sold out Hong Kong people." In response, Szeto argued, "Sold out? How much for selling out? ... Are you pig or dog? Can you be sold out?"[39]
Death and funeral
Szeto Wah died on 2 January 2011 at the
Exiled mainland dissidents
Personal life
Szeto Wah was never married in his life. He only had a romance publicly acknowledged with his fellow teacher Wong Siu-yung who died in the 1980s. Under Wong's influence, Szeto was baptized as Christian on 8 April 1985.
Aside from his political career, Szeto was also well known for his Chinese calligraphy skills.[31] He was also a keen swimmer.
See also
- Memorials for the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
References
- ^ "司徒華生平任立法會議員19年 Archived 6 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine." Ming Pao Daily, Retrieved on 8 January 2010.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 3.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 23.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 27.
- ^ a b c d "Szeto Wah: staunch democrat and patriot Archived 20 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine." South China Morning Post. Retrieved on 16 January 2010.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 50.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 55.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 68.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, pp. 77–8.
- ^ a b Cheung, Gary (3 January 2011) "Szeto Wah: staunch democrat and patriot", South China Morning Post
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 153.
- ^ a b Ortmann, Stephan (2009). Politics and Change in Singapore and Hong Kong: Containing Contention. Routledge. p. 135.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 223.
- ^ Ma, Mary (11 February 2010), The fight never ends for Szeto Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 203.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 229.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 247.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 251.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 254.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 266.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 296.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 303.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 306.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 328.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, pp. 341–4.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 274.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 276.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 277.
- ^ HKPTU (8 January 2011). "Tribute to Mr. Szeto Wah" (PDF). PTU News. Retrieved 11 January 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 279.
- ^ a b "Democracy's foot soldier' fought hard for Tiananmen victims Archived 29 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine" The Standard Retrieved on 8 January 2010.
- People in Need. Archived from the originalon 1 May 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
- ^ a b Alliance.org.hk. "Szeto Wah under Prosecution Archived 7 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine." Alliance.org.hk, Retrieved on 29 December 2007.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, pp. 449–53.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 430.
- ^ The Standard (HK). "Ho reveals Szeto role in reform vote Archived 29 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine." The Standard Retrieved on 8 January 2010.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 435.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 442.
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 443.
- ^ NYtimes.com.""Szeto Wah, political activist in Hong Kong, dies at 79". New York Times Retrieved on 8 January 2010.
- ^ a b ""Keep up the June 4 struggle – last words of Uncle wah", South China Morning Post, Retrieved on 8 January 2010.
- ^ Ho, Serinah (27 January 2011). "Wang denied entry for funeral" Archived 29 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. The Standard
- ^ "CE expresses profound sadness at death of Szeto Wah". Hong Kong government. 2 January 2011.
- ^ Leung, Regina (7 January 2011). "Democrats push for decision on funeral" South China Morning Post
- ^ Chong, Tanna & So, Peter (8 January 2011). "Wang Dan's entry for Szeto funeral in HK's hands, Beijing official saysl", South China Morning Post
- ^ Cheung, Gary and Ng, Tze-wei (11 January 2011). "Dissident vows not to stay on after funeral", South China Morning Post
- ^ Ho, Serinah (27 January 2011). "Surrender sign seen in Wang Dan block" Archived 29 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. The Standard
- ^ 司徒華 2011, p. 424.
Bibliography
- 司徒華 (2011). 大江東去:司徒華回憶錄. 牛津大學. ISBN 9780193975910.