Dearly cherish the memory of Mrs. Elsie Tu
A British lady passed away of illness yesterday. Whole Hong Kong society mourned in unison, because this lady had devoted her whole life to Hong Kong, to Hong Kong citizens. She was Mrs. Elsie Tu.
After Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty, the opposition always talks big about democracy and never forgets to mention justice in talks. But before Tu, it is just a pathetic travesty. As early as in the 1960s, Tu already began to advocate democracy and seek justice in Hong Kong. Seeking neither fame nor wealth and fearing no power and influence, she stepped forward bravely to contend with the British-Hong Kong colonial government to safeguard the interests of ordinary people.
In Hong Kong during that time, if hawkers failed to offer bribes to the police and Hawker Control Teams (HCT), they would be beaten up and their goods confiscated, or even given fines and jailed, their sorrow being too deep for tears. When a hillside squatter area or an old building caught on fire and the fire fighters came, bribes had to be offered or there would be "no water" to extinguish the fire and the residents remain helpless… On such occasions, Tu would appear before such helpless ordinary citizens, running hither and yon to help them. She would even personally report corrupt deeds of civil service to the government and media.
During a quite long period of time in last century, when an ordinary citizen felt being treated unjustly, he or she would seek help from Tu. Some "civil servants" would have a headache whenever Tu's name was mentioned. But they could hardly do anything to her because she was a countrywoman of the "Lady Boss". Had a Chinese national done what she did, he or she would have long been thrown out.
That Tu feared no power and influence might be because of her British nationality, but her not seeking fame and wealth highlighted her lofty character. At that time, the British-Hong Kong colonial government did think of buying her off by offering her some official post or title. Tu's lifetime aspiration was to run a school. At that time her school only had classrooms on two rented floors in a building, and she really longed to have a land lot for building a school campus. The government had someone to advise her that if she stopped speaking out, she would be given a land lot plus a school campus. But she declined the offer. She preferred working hard to raise money and running school diligently and thriftily, to making a political deal with the interests of toilsome people as a bargaining chip.
That Tu dared to speak out for ordinary people surely had something to do with her upright personality with unswerving determination. But more importantly, she saw the hypocrisy and injustice of the governance by a colonial government from the altitudes of history, culture and rule of law. She had often written articles on newspapers to expose all sorts of injustice of the systems, and made use of her capacity as members of the Urban Council and Legislative Council to point out that bureaucracy and privileges were the root cause in the system for corruption. Pushed by her all-out effort, Hong Kong set up the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in 1970s. Thereafter, unjust affairs began to reduce remarkably. For this, Hong Kong people still remember Tu with gratitude.
While engaging in social activities, Tu had also sympathised and supported nation- and Hong Kong-loving forces. She was a British and what she sought were Western-style democracy and justice. But she never hid her favourable impression about Chinese culture and history. She also gave a just appraisal of the development and achievement in the New China under the leadership of the Communist Party. At the historical turning point for Hong Kong to return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, she agreed without hesitation to take up the posts of Basic Law Consultative Committee member and Hong Kong Affairs Adviser, making her contribution to Hong Kong's smooth transition and handover. In meeting places inside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, an elderly white-haired British lady's figure stuck out, amiable and friendly in appearance.
On 1 July, 1997, the SAR Government awarded the first batch of Grand Bauhinia Medals, and Mrs. Elsie Tu was one of the medal recipients. Originally, the medals were intended to award to Hong Kong Chinese nationals only. But who would object to awarding the medal to such an outstanding person as Tu who had worked for Hong Kong and loved Hong Kong in her whole life? And who else would be more worthy of the medal than Tu?
Now Mrs. Elsie Tu passed away, aged over 100. While glorifying and remembering her, people realise even more deeply how hard won is everything in Hong Kong society today, including the return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, all sorts of justice, democracy, clean government and the rule of law. The extremely small number of people who still advocate about "post-handover Hong Kong being not as well as under the British" must do a thorough soul-searching before such a lifetime fighter against British-colonial rule as Mrs. Elsie Tu, and learn how to conduct themselves with dignity.
09 December 2015
