Emily Fung

For Emily, school has been a constant in her life. She was a secondary school teacher of Chinese language, literature, and history. After the Handover in 1997, she added Putonghua amongst the subjects she taught. For a long time, Emily was consumed by her work and was, in her telling, a bona fide member of the “in-the-clouds middle class.” In 2010, she decided to take a break from work. It was then that she began to pay more attention to the injustice in Hong Kong as well as how she could align her faith with her concerns for the city’s social issues.

Emily was inspired by the idealism of Dr. Chan Kin-man, Benny Tai Yiu-ting, and Rev. Chu Yiu-ming, the Occupy Central trio. During the Umbrella Movement, Emily was an active supporter. She participated in prayer groups and helped ferry supplies and necessities to the protestors. She was also a member of a volunteer cooking group. Emily was in Wan Chai purchasing water for the protestors when the police started to fire tear gas at them. Although she was deeply dismayed by how the government responded to the protests, Emily was touched by the “splendor of human nature” she observed throughout the Movement.

Emily decided to leave Hong Kong because she had developed a strong feeling of helplessness. Her initial thought was to emigrate to Taiwan, but her desire to attend worship in Cantonese ultimately led her to Canada, where she found a welcoming community and a supportive church.

During the protests against the 2019 extradition bill, Emily maintains her support for the protestors through prayers as well as attending local rallies. She sees the initial turnout of over two million people as a miracle and as a proof that, despite the apparent powerlessness plaguing Hong Kong, it will not be forever. Just like in the story of Harry Potter, the darkness associated with Lord Voldemort will eventually come to an end.

移居溫哥華前，Emily Fung 是一名教師。任教中國語文、中國文學、中國歷史的她，在主權移交後也開始任教普通話。在教書的同時，她先後進修兼職碩士課程和教育文憑。日夜忙碌的生活令她無暇去關注社會大事，亦令她成為自己口中的「離地中產」，關心自身生活前途多於社會問題。

在雨傘運動爆發前六年，Emily 皈依天主教。信仰和社交媒體令她拾起對身邊人事物的關心。戴耀廷教授的意佔中計劃蘊釀期間，她受到啟發感動，很佩服這個普人都能為大眾作如此大付出。她參加了六月尾罷課期間在金鐘的系列公民教育講座，警方首次發放催淚彈之時，她碰巧不在現場，得以幸免受影響。時而在現場、時而在家的她，密切關注事態發展，被雨傘運動的參加者所表現的人性光輝深深打動。她在運動中也有參與和捐贈物資，見到的香港人形象並不如之前人們的評價那樣現實和功利。

很不幸，她覺得掌權者不會對香港人的訴求有所回應和接納。因為他們的權力不是民賦，他們跟學生對話也不會有成果，而且，這些虛偽的人並不感到實現民主對維持香港作為國際大都會的地位有重要意義。

社交媒體亦成為雨傘運動中的一重要推手。藉著迅速散播資訊，民眾能接收各方信息並自行分析。Emily 也透過社交媒體認識並加入一個雨傘運動期間成立的送餐到金鐘的義工團體。

雨傘運動完結後，Emily 更對香港政府死心，認為沒有民主的政府不會關心人民死活，同時她也看到公民社會的力量，看到神賦予人才能和能力去分辨善惡。不過，對現實的無力感促使她產生移民的念頭。最後她決定先以學生身份移民到溫哥華，因為學生身份可以令她有時間空間去觀察，適應當地的生活。起初她選擇溫哥華，因為可以參加粵語彌撒，感覺和在香港一樣。

自反送中運動爆發以來，Emily 比雨傘運動流了更多眼淚，因為她並不能如上次般到現場支持，只能在遠方為香港禱告。而一百萬、二百萬人的遊行更令她覺得是神蹟。雖然她覺得當權者不會聆聽民意，她依然祈求神能令他們軟化。在這次反送中運動的其中一大成果是，西方國家已經看清他們不能以經濟發展改變專制政權、推動民主，亦比上次雨傘運動有更大迴響。她寄望抗爭者能堅持下去，直到勝利。「每一個雞蛋都是寶貴的。」