Glacier Kwong

Glacier Kwong in 2021

Glacier Chung Ching Kwong (born 11 July 1996) is a political activist from Hong Kong. She is currently the Digital Rights Research Fellow at Hong Kong Democracy Council (HKDC), a leading organization for the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong and Hong Kongers overseas led by fellow activist Samuel Chu.

Quotes

• We don’t persist because we see hope. We only see hope when we persist. Before we succeed, we are not failing. It’s just that we are not there yet.
  • What Could Possibly Go Right?: Episode 38 Glacier Kwong (4 May 2021)

• We should not suppress our feelings of sadness during our activism. Being upfront with these emotions shows our humanity and gives validation to others feeling the same way.
  • What Could Possibly Go Right?: Episode 38 Glacier Kwong (4 May 2021)

• We have one million reasons to give up. But we only need one to continue the fight; that is, we know that what we’re doing is right.
  • What Could Possibly Go Right?: Episode 38 Glacier Kwong (4 May 2021)

• We’re asking for universal suffrage, we’re asking for democracy, we’re asking for freedoms. I ask myself every day if I’m doing enough, so that I won’t feel guilty about the fact that I get to enjoy these freedoms and privileges when my friends and my colleagues cannot. And have I been utilising every moment that I have freely? Do I take breaks responsibly? Do I work hard enough? Do I spend time for myself? And so on. These are all very important questions that you have to ask yourself when everything is going wrong.
  • What Could Possibly Go Right?: Episode 38 Glacier Kwong (4 May 2021)

• If we say something wrong, then we will be put behind bars. But Hong Kongers never yield. Although they’re not under siege right now because of the pandemic, their mindset about we have to fight the fight for freedom has never actually gone away. They’re still very much aware of the fact that we are still in the middle of the fight, although we seem to be losing and we are not giving up.
  • What Could Possibly Go Right?: Episode 38 Glacier Kwong (4 May 2021)

• I really love the city and would always love to go home. I do fear coming home and do not feel safe coming back. It’s just not the same place that I grew up in.
  • ‘I fear coming home,’ says Hong Kong activist Glacier Kwong after pro-democracy lobbying effort in Germany (9 October 2020)

• The motivation for me as an activist is the belief that no one is subordinate to another. The government is merely an agent of the people. We lend authority to it, and when it performs badly, we reserve the right to take it back.
  • Hong Kong’s angry young millennials: an interview with Joshua Wong (1 November 2015)

• I don’t want to put it that way but I will. If Google or other technology companies comply with this national security law, it is actually helping indirectly the Hong Kong government, Chinese government, to oppress or crack down on the civil society.
  • Big tech firms may be handing Hong Kong user data to China (30 September 2020)

• The Hong Kong government continues to spout phrases like ‘law-abiding’ and ‘rule of law,’ but the law now serves to uphold the regime rather than protects and safeguards Hong Kongers’ basic rights and freedoms.
  • HKDC - Hong Kong Democracy Council in Twitter (1 July 2021)

• Making use of common law procedures and the veneer of an independent judiciary, the NSL has successfully infiltrated and taken over Hong Kong's legal system, providing law enforcement and prosecutors with unchecked power and legitimacy.
  • HKDC - Hong Kong Democracy Council in Twitter (1 July 2021)
• It's unclear how the crime of 'failure to report' under Article 23 will be enforced, but it's definitely putting pressure on us, hoping we'll retreat in the face of difficulty.
• You never know how they will try to find out where you live.
• But when I saw they were offering bounties on the wanted list, my first reaction was to think why aren't I on the list? Haven't I been doing enough?
• There are more than 100 reasons to give up.
  • taken from an interview with Radio Free Asia, 14 Feburary 2024
• Without press freedom, society would be a really bad place, because there would be no one to hold the government to account.
• The press is society’s fourth estate and has the unparalleled role of informing the public.
• In Hong Kong, in order to be able to have discussions at all, we need a free press first. Unfortunately, that is currently not the case.
• There are many activists who fight for different political goals. But no one thought about the future of digital rights.
  • taken from an interview with the University of Hamburg, 2 September 2021