Jenny Liu

Jenny Liu is a return-returnee. As in the case of many others from Hong Kong, Jenny’s family emigrated to Canada in the early 1990s, in part in response to the crackdown of the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing in 1989. After having completed her university education, Jenny returned to Hong Kong in 1998, both because of better job opportunities and because of the perception that Hong Kong had come through the Handover of 1997 relatively unscathed.

For Jenny, the year 2003 was an important milestone not only because of the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak and the 500,000-strong protest against the proposed legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law but also because of the resignation of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. For Jenny, that silver lining was noteworthy because the government at the time still seemed to be willing to respond to popular sentiment.

Then came the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the selection in 2012 of Leung Chun-ying as Hong Kong’s Chief Executive. From Jenny’s perspective, not only was the Chinese government tightening its grip on society in the Mainland, it was also interpreting the principle of “one country, two systems” in ways that were very different from how most Hongkongers would understand it. For Jenny, it was time to come up with a more concrete plan for her re-return to Canada.

During the Umbrella Movement, Jenny was a supporter and an occasional participant. She noted that while most of her expatriate colleagues were supportive—or at least tolerant—of the protests, many of her local-born coworkers would side with the government, especially after the Movement had dragged on for a while. For Jenny, the protests were actually relatively peaceful; it was the police—and, by extension, the government—that was the source of recklessness.

Now that Jenny is back in Canada, Jenny has all the more reason to continue to pay attention to what is going on in Hong Kong. She is skeptical of the idea of the “Greater Bay Area,” and she is concerned about the potential dissipation of the “core values” that in her view have defined Hong Kong. And she does not plan to keep her opinions to herself.

13 March 2019

Jenny Liu had been a human resource consultant in Hong Kong before re-returning to Canada in 2015.

在香港長大的 Jenny Liu，於九十年代初隨父母移民到溫哥華。大學畢業後，眼見當時加拿大經濟環境不太好，而回歸後的香港亦沒有如預期中差，便於1998年回流香港，在外資公司工作。那時的她並沒有打算再回到加拿大，直至2003年非典型肺炎肆瘧香港、特首董建華因強推基本法二十三條立法而引發五十萬人上街遊行，Jenny 才萌生二次回流加拿大的想法。

因工作關係，在香港的 Jenny 不時要到北京、上海及廣州出差。2008年北京奧運期間前後，她開始感受到中國政府在收緊控制，並變得越來越差。加上2012年香港行政長官選舉的荒謬，以及對自己在加拿大就業前景的改觀，令她覺得是要有一個實質的再回流計劃。

2012年梁振英接任行政長官後，香港發生了一連串事件（包括政府提議在中小學推行國民教育），令 Jenny 覺得中央政府對「一國兩制」的解讀，與香港一般市民的理解，其實是有著越來越明顯的差異。何謂「一國之下有兩制」？Jenny 不明白。

雨傘運動期間，Jenny 在辦公室可以看到政府總部和電車路。加上當時家住旺角，所以運動的始末，她自信很清楚。Jenny 是雨傘運動的支持者，但只是間中參與，亦不覺得示威者很暴力。雖然運動確實影響到公司的生意，但 Jenny 的外籍同事並沒有因而產生很大的反感。相比之下，尤其是當運動變成了一場長久戰，她有部分本地同事會覺得學生是在鬧事，而警察的做法是正確的。

雨傘運動後的種種發展，如有民選議員被取消資格、政府不斷吹捧大灣區的未來發展等，都令 Jenny 對香港政府越來越失去信心，覺得政府已無意積極把關、捍衛香港的核心價值。對於身邊有些朋友覺得不理政治就不會有問題，她認為一環緊扣一環，無人是能夠完全置身政治之外。雨傘運動五年過去，她覺得不只是香港轉差了，中國整個環境也在轉差。香港只會越來越與中國大陸接軌，而她對香港或中國政府亦已無任何盼望。

再回流到溫哥華之後，Jenny 還是十分留意香港的新聞。她自言會繼續參加本地聲援香港的活動，亦會利用機會分享自己的經歷，讓身邊新認識的朋友或同事更了解香港。

2019年3月13日

Jenny Liu 於九十年代初隨父母移民到溫哥華，大學畢業後回港工作，經歷連串社會、政治事件後決定二次回流溫哥華。