With F For: a New Bookazine, Hong Kong Protest Music Gets Its Own Platform
Last year Hong Kong experienced one of the most tumultuous political movements since the 1997 handover. One all-encompassing aspect of the protests was sound. From sirens to camera shutters, from the crunch of debris on the streets to the bang of police guns the city was buzzing. It had been more than ten years since Damon Chan moved from Hong Kong to Europe. But despite the spacial distance his life and identity remain closely linked to the city. For many years he worked in the local music scene, established a blog about artists and events, and gained a sizeable following.
When the political turmoil engulfing Hong Kong escalated in 2019 he felt desperate. How could he, a member of Hong Kong’s vast international diaspora, be part of this movement? Having written about tunes since he was 16 years old he decided to focus on the beat that kept the people going. He reached out to his followers and friends to discuss how to approach this topic. The feedback was overwhelming and he quickly assembled a team of volunteers for editing and design. The collective managed to interview a variety of artists such as Anthony Wong, Luna is a Bep, SquareFruit, Wong Hin Yan, and many more.“F For:” highlights the importance of music for the movement.
HONG KONGERS REALLY SEEM TO KEEP THE MUSICAL TRADITION OF PROTESTS ALIVE WHILE IN OTHER COUNTRIES SLOGANS HAVE BECOME MORE DOMINANT THAN MUSIC. HAVING THIS STRONG DRAW TO MUSIC IS FASCINATING AND I WONDER WHETHER YOU TOUCH UPON ITS ORIGIN. ARE YOU LOOKING INTO CONNECTIONS TO PREVIOUS PROTESTS IN HONG KONG OR GLOBALLY?
Damon: I think as a team that came together spontaneously and because we all have full-time jobs, it’s really hard to engage in this kind of complex research. So we focus only on this movement. Of course, we touch upon previous movements and songs, but we don't go in too deep.
I think there’s another interesting point about the sing-along activities. During the 2014 'Umbrella Movement' the role of music was very different. It was as if there was a big stigma in that period. A lot of protesters at that time almost seemed to hate music. This happened during the protests, there was a turning point. So I think that it’s quite interesting that this time music is so all-encompassing throughout the movement because it is a very complicated topic.
DURING THE MOVEMENT, A BIG VARIETY OF GENRES, LIKE HIP HOP, GOSPEL, AND CANTO-POP WERE PERFORMED. WHAT ROLE DO THE DIFFERENT GENRES PLAY IN YOUR ZINE, AND WHAT ROLE DO THEY PLAY IN THE MOVEMENT?
Damon: We really see a lot of different genres in this movement. Different periods saw different genres becoming more significant. For example, in the beginning, it was the gospel “Sing Hallelujah to the Lord”. At that time, it was really important for all protesters, people wanted to be part of that musical power. And then, of course, we have “Glory to Hong Kong” that song became a sort of official anthem.
Throughout the movement, Canto-Pop is still a very important genre. I think it plays more of a background role. People don’t really sing it on the streets, but they listen to it at home to feel connected to the movement. They might not be able to be on the street for a lot of reasons, but they want to be part of it. This is also important because the movement is not only about the conflicts or the activities on the streets, it is also about the online discourse and debates. Of course, there is also Hip Hop like the track “Fuck the Popo” which signifies the rage, the anger we have towards the government. That is exactly why the movement is so interesting because different songs have played different roles and made different contributions to the movement. But Canto-Pop helps people to deal with the situation, it soothes people’s minds. Because all people grew up with Canto-Pop and it is their go-to choice, I think it is still the backbone of the movement.
MANY HONG KONG CANTO-POP ARTISTS ARE COMMERCIALLY SUCCESSFUL ON THE MAINLAND. HOW ARE THOSE ARTISTS MANEUVERING THEIR POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR COMMERCIAL INTERESTS?
Damon: I see a phenomenon, which is quite interesting. The newer artists, the up-and-coming ones, are not too afraid of voicing their support for the movement. Of course, they are not very explicit when they do it, they will not publicly exclaim “Glory to Hong Kong” but they do show their support on social media. Alfred Hui, for example, has been quite obviously supporting the movement in his posts, and his songs are responding to the movement. The artists that are still up-and-coming and who’s market is still mainly in HK they are ok with voicing their opinions. But of course big stars like Eason Chan, Joey Young, and Miriam Young, basically can’t say anything at all.
THE WHOLE MOVEMENT WAS VERY WELL ORGANISED, INCLUDING INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT GROUPS. WHAT ROLE DO YOU THINK MUSIC PLAYED IN BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER AND IN MOBILISING PEOPLE ABROAD?
Damon: Of course I think music brought people together, but I haven’t really seen that happen in Norway for example. I went to some demos and we mostly would chant slogans, but the music was not there yet. I am not so sure about other countries.
In my experience “Glory to Hong Kong” had a really big impact. I think it is because the song itself is made with the intention to give people the impression of an anthem. It is meant to stir emotions. It tears me up each time I hear it, especially the versions that are sung in public. It really has a big impact when it comes to building this Hong Kong collective or national identity. Music lets you go through emotions and it reinforces some sort of identity. I could see, how I identified myself strongly with being a Hong Konger, a person from Hong Kong. And I am really proud of it because of all of these things, not only music. Of course, music is inspiring but all the things around it really let me feel a much stronger identity.
DID YOU GET IN TOUCH WITH THE PEOPLE THAT COMPOSED THIS PIECE AND DID THEY ANTICIPATE THE SUCCESS THEY EVENTUALLY HAD?
Damon: I interviewed Thomas, that was a really nice conversation.
He said he was quite humbled. I asked him also about the whole anonymous publication of the song. Because this way it would not bring him any fame or income. But he said he just wanted to make a song. He basically has the mindset of a pop-composer, he wanted to make a song that would be a hit, that triggers reactions, have people love it and sing along. Of course, he has this intention but he didn’t think it would have such a huge impact or that it would be such a hit in the end.
I WAS REALLY SURPRISED WHEN IT CAME OUT AND PEOPLE WERE SINGING IT IN THE STREETS AND YOU COULD HEAR IT AS RINGTONE…
Damon: Exactly it just happened, it came out and just two days later everyone was singing it and saying “This is the Hong Kong anthem”. It was crazy and it shows how amazing music can be. Suddenly people are all listening to one single song. They go through the same songs and emotions. They also go through the same things, like protests or identification processes as Hong Kongers standing as one. I think this is fantastic.
HONG KONG IDENTITY IS AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING ISSUE THAT HAS BEEN DEBATED FOR A LONG TIME. ARE YOU PICKING UP ON IDENTITY IN THE ZINE?
Damon: In the set of questions we sent to musicians, there are three questions about identity. First of all, we asked „What’s your relationship with China? How do you see China?”. The other question is “How do you identify yourself? As a Hong Konger, or a Chinese from Hong Kong?”.And then we also asked, “Do you think this movement has changed your identity?”
These are the three questions we send to all musicians. We wanted to get to know how they think about themselves and about HK identity. We get different answers but most are quite similar, they all say that they are Hong Kongers. But we also discuss it in the long interviews and a lot of the musicians share the general idea. After all, it’s still about the struggle with having this Chinese identity that is immediately associated with all the human rights issues and the Chinese government.
AND HOW DO YOUR INTERVIEW PARTNERS DEFINE HONG KONG IDENTITY?
Damon: In the magazine, they mostly said We’re from Hong Kong, we live in Hong Kong so we are Hong Kongers. A lot of them mentioned that their self-identification hasn’t changed a bit during the movement. But we didn’t ask them what it means to be a Hong Konger. From my experience and research, on the other hand, Hong Kong identity is always highly related to mainland Chinese identity. It’s this otherness. We want to see them as others. I think the whole colonial history plays a big part in that.
HONG KONGERS SEEM TO BE IN A CONSTANT PROCESS OF SELF-REFLECTION. I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT MANY PEOPLE HERE ARE SO CREATIVE AND COME UP WITH NEW WAYS OF INTERACTION AND COMMUNICATION. THAT IS ALSO WHY MUSIC IS SUCH A GOOD TOPIC TO WRITE ABOUT.
Damon: Exactly I think a lot of people have come to terms with this hopelessness, with the idea that it’s not going anywhere. This is also a big topic in the zine and throughout interviews. How to define victory and defeat. How to define whether this is the end. This is a really interesting topic because as we all know the future is very bleak for Hong Kongers. Even though we say the future is uncertain subconsciously we know this is not true. Mentally it’s impossible to digest.
That’s why it is particularly difficult for people that have an urge to change society, to change the government. Deep down they know that they can’t do that. In some of the interviews, we talk about how to carry on. How can we still be true to ourselves and how can we keep going if we can’t change anything in this movement? We touch on some things, like spirituality and philosophy. It is an asset to talk about the movement from a creative and musical perspective. Especially because it’s not a scientific discussion, it is much more about feelings, experience, and observation. I think it provides a good snapshot of what people are feeling.
AS YOUR FOCUS IS ON MUSIC, ARE YOU PLANNING TO MAKE A PLAYLIST, OR PUBLISH AN LP, OR CD?
Damon: I thought about it, but many of the songs are not officially published, they are only on youtube and that is it.
Of course we could do a bootleg kind of thing, completely underground, that wouldn’t involve any copyright issues and such but it would still be difficult. If it wasn’t for the COVID lock-down I really would have liked to have a launch party and to have some of the musician’s play. At least I am glad to be able to talk about the idea of protest music because the concept of protest music is not really common in HongKong. Of course, we have that song by Beyond, Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies (海闊天空).
In 2014 that was also one problem with music. People were just singing old songs that were made in the 80s and 90s. And those are not really protests songs. Beyond were active in the 80s and early 90s and their song became the go-to choice for protest singalongs. People always sing it. The song is really romantic, the ideology is glorious, and the message is beautiful, it’s about chasing freedom.
But because it’s made in the 80/90s it doesn’t really fit the mentality of young people these days and it also doesn’t fit the current political landscape. That’s why during the last movement in 2014 a lot of new songs were made in response to the movement. It was the beginning of these highly political songs. But this time the whole idea of using music as a political response has really matured. That’s why so many new songs and so many different messages could be communicated through music. I think it’s really amazing that protest songs have become a thing and we can promote it. You could say in Hong Kong they are a genre, a big thing that can be used in protest to rock the government.
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Damon is a UX and Graphic designer, freelance writer and music lover from Hong Kong. He currently lives in Oslo.
This interview is performed by Anna, who works as a researcher and freelance editor in Hong Kong. Her interests include Chinese Identity, Hong Kong society, labor and social movements.