Real Hong Kong News

13th May, 2016

Chinese Woman Receives Privileged Treatment from Government After Arrested for Assaulting Hongkongers

On Mother’s Day (9/May), a Hongkonger’s call for witnesses on Facebook went viral as her mother lost mobility and ability to speak after being attacked in broad daylight by a Chinese woman. The attacker was arrested but many questions were raised after the incident.

The Facebook post by Ms. Annette Lau was published in the afternoon of the Mother’s Day 2016. Translation of Annette Lau’s post below:

My mother (in her 50s) went shopping with my younger sister (in her late 20s) and my 2 year old son in Toys R Us at Shatin this afternoon (9/May), and out of the blue a Chinese boy started repeatedly hitting my son on his head and face. My sister picked up my son and told his parents that they shouldn’t let their son hit people. The Chinese woman immediately disdainfully said, “so what about Hongkongers (a literal translation which implies ‘where did the superiority come from’)!”,to which my sister calmly responded “even Chinese people should not behave like this”. They all left the scene without any further interaction. At around 3:30pm at the Shatin MTR Station, my sister, mother and son saw this Chinese family again. No words were exchanged, but the Chinese woman pushed my mother to the ground. My sister held my 2 years old son tight in her arms to keep him safe, as this Chinese woman turned to hit her. Thanks to the good people who came to pull this Chinese woman away (the Chinese man was holding their child in his arms). Many people helped chase this Chinese woman to stop her from running away. Ambulance and police officers arrived. My sister’s face and arms are hurt, my son is so scared – he cannot sleep well still. The police said that they would detain the Chinese woman, but I demanded that she cannot be granted bail as she could easily flee to China*, which means it will be impossible to catch her again. Why Chinese people can randomly hit people in Hong Kong for no reason? I worry about my mother so much. * Hong Kong Police has no jurisdiction in China, and China is not bound by Hong Kong laws.

Annette Lau’s sister (28) suffered from multiple bruises and scratches on her face and arm, whilst their mother Ms Lam (55) was found to have lost mobility and ability to speak as she was taken to the hospital, but fortunately regained consciousness the following day (10/May). The suspect, Ms Huang Yufeng (27) was charged with “assault occasioning actual bodily harm”.

The assault case drew significant public interest, as it took place on a Mother’s Day and one of the victims was reportedly suffering from serious injuries. Potentially due to strong public interest, the court hearing was held promptly on 11/May morning, at Shatin Magistrates Court. According to citizens who attended the hearing, the Magistrate started hinting that Huang should be granted bail before the prosecutor finished reading the charges and Huang was released on HK$50,000 bail and was asked to surrender her travel document (i.e. she cannot return to China via legal and legitimate means) and to report to Ma On Shan police station every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday until her next hearing on 8/June.

Huang was not handcuffed when arrested, nor on her way to the Magistrate Court in a police vehicle. Netizens began to question why an assault suspect who is believed to have caused severe bodily harm to others is treated so much better than Hongkongers arrested at protests, questioning if this is because the suspect in this case is a Chinese national.

After the hearing, Huang was spotted leaving the court building via a staff-only exit and riding in a white car (bearing license plate RD 3725), which was later discovered to be a HKSAR government-owned vehicle. The police department later on confirmed that they arranged the pick-up service for Huang claiming its intention was to “ensure public order”.

As soon as this story broke, netizens began to question if the legal system in Hong Kong is still just – especially when comparisons are made with recent cases in which local protesters are involved. For comparatively minor charges (such as preventing police officers from performing duties), protesters have been detained in correctional centres for many days or even weeks (without any opportunity to even speak with a single visitor) prior to their trials. Meanwhile, Huang demonstrated violent and dangerous behaviour but was granted bail within 24 hours of being arrested.

Apple Daily was criticized by netizens for writing about this violent case with the headline which reads “For Her Precious Boy, Mainland Mother Attacks Hong Kong Mother and Daughter”. Many consider Apple Daily to be distorting facts and siding with the attacker because she is Chinese national. It should be noted that Apple Daily is nicknamed “Poison Apple” by many Hongkongers since it has long been a proponent for building a democratic China (as opposed to focusing on Hong Kong’s own democratic progression and autonomy) – an idea which is the opposite of what localists believe and what many consider to be common sense.

Pan-democrats were also heavily criticised for not making any statement about Huang’s violent attack against Hongkongers , or providing support to the victims– as they had condemned protesters immediately and repeatedly when Chinese smugglers or tourists were reportedly “frightened” (despite no injuries having been reported) by protesters’ “radical actions” (e.g. telling smugglers or tourists to return to China and never to come back, kicking suitcases used for smuggling formula powder and other household products, calling the Chinese colonists).

Hong Kong Indigenous: if you witnessed the incident or possess any video evidence, please contact Ms Lau. Help justice to be served. Wish Ms Lam a speedy recovery! Youngspiration: speedy recovery and help find eye witnesses! Passion Times: We are the only Hongkongers, we must help each other. No response: Civic Party, Democratic Party, Labour Party, People Power, Neo Democrats, League of Social Democrats, etc Demosisto: we will be watching 100 Most’s live show with you all coming Wednesday

Soon after Huang’s mention hearing, a Facebook post by a commentator in regards to the assault case, started to gain traction:

As a local Sheung Shui resident, I could tell you that many Chinese are barbarians. What happened (Annette Lau’s case) is not an isolated case! A few weeks ago, I witnessed a Chinese man run over a mid-age Hongkonger woman’s feet with his suitcase. The woman demanded an apology from the man. I went to support the woman and told him to stay put until he apologize. Onlookers started to gather including a male Hongkonger who was more outspoken than others. But this Chinese man was not at all apologetic and suddenly slapped the victim! Thankfully, the woman didn’t fall over nor get badly injured. The male Hongkonger charged at the Chinese man to retaliate but was stopped by onlookers. A few police officers on patrol nearby rushed over and told everyone to leave and asked the victim to leave as well. I argued that it is not the correct procedure but the victim preferred not to go to the police station. The result? As expected, the Chinese assaulter who was clearly in the wrong walked free and continued smuggling formula powder. The police officers left and continue to pocket their undeserved high wages. After all these years living in Sheung Shui, I have realised that one cannot be a lady or a gentleman when facing barbarians.You have to show them who is the boss by standing together and helping each other if anything unjust or unacceptable happens. Don’t rely on the cops because they will not help you nor uphold the law like they used to (pre-1997). It is impossible not to be “fascist” living in Sheung Shui: Some barbarians knocked over an elderly woman and caused her to bleed, but they still accused the elderly lady of not watching where she was going. Pavements are supposed to be for pedestrians but these days, goods in carton boxes occupy not only the pavements but also the roads. As a result, both vehicles and pedestrians have to fight to use a narrow road. If you are a cleaner in Sheung Shui, then hard luck – rubbish is everywhere around the clock, not to mention that many Chinese urinate and defecate onto the floor of public toilets while stealing toilet rolls. Sheung Shui used to be a lovely place to live in but these years, even when the Chinese smugglers are gone late at night, the whole town is like a rubbish dump and rats play hide-and-seek everywhere. I do want to burst into tears and shout at the top of my lungs. My home is being ruined by barbarians but the government and its cronies have the guts to ask us to be tolerant and at the same time, they falsely claim that Hong Kong’s economy would collapse without all those smuggling activities and all Hongkongers would starve to death. The frustration of the locals is like a ticking time bomb. It is only a matter of time for it to go off. I used to be civilised and would say ‘excuse me, please’ when those smugglers were in my way but after being ignored for quite a while, I have realised that I must speak the only language that they can understand: I have to create a path for myself by shoving past the smugglers or kicking away their suitcases scattered all over the pavements, which should not have been there in the first place. Having said that, I still retain my manners when dealing with civilised and normal people. When dealing with civilised people, I would of course say “excuse me please” politely. But don’t you dare to preach me that “one must not do evil when dealing with evil”, for you have no idea what people in Sheung Shui face daily. If you believe this nonsense, I would ask you not to watch super hero movies nor read the bible: just remember that Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple. I have no idea why I get so angry typing this, but all I wanted to say is that if Hongkongers don’t stand firm and look out for each other, we will be doomed to be slaves for generations to come and our people will cease to exist. The End!

Discussions on social media are so far focusing on whether Hong Kong is still safe, whether the government and the judicial system are biased towards Chinese and concern over the increasing Chinafication of Hong Kong.