Joshua Wong's mother reminds son to 'be courageous' like his namesake from Old Testament
Grace Ng Chau-mei, the mother of pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, has written a letter to her son to remind him to be courageous like his namesake Joshua from the Old Testament.
On Thursday, Wong, 20, was sentenced to six months in prison for his role in the 2014 street demonstrations against plans by Beijing to restrict elections.
Just before his sentencing, Chau-mei penned a letter to Wong, urging him to be courageous like the Old Testament figure Joshua, who led the Israelites in the conquest of God's "Promised Land" in Canaan.
"Dad and I gave you this name 'Joshua'. So don't forget what God told Joshua: reflect on whatever you do, follow the truth, and you can be courageous," Chau-mei wrote, according to The Gospel Herald.
Wong and his colleague Nathan Law had already served community service last year, while Alex Chow, who is also one of the activists involved in the rally, received a three-week suspended prison sentence. However, the Hong Kong government decided to re-open the case, saying the previous non-custodial sentences were too lenient. Law was sentenced by the High Court to eight months in prison, while Chow received a seven-month prison sentence.
Their prison sentences would disqualify them from running for the Hong Kong legislature for the next five years.
The Hong Kong Department of Justice claimed in a statement that the protest leaders "were convicted not because they exercised their civil liberties, but because their conduct during the protest contravened the law."
In her letter, Chau-mei said that the government's efforts to convict the three young men suggested the city had become "depraved."
"The justice department vowed to imprison them based on what they said ... and to eliminate young people's passion and ideals, as well as their vision and commitment for the society," she wrote. "Why is Hong Kong so depraved now to be treating this generation of children like this?" she continued.
Wong, who was raised in a Christian family, vowed on Twitter that he will continue his activism. "They can silence protests, remove us from the legislature and lock us up. But they will not win the hearts and minds of Hongkongers," he wrote.
As many as 900 people were arrested during the 2014 demonstrations that brought major streets in Hong Kong to a standstill for eleven weeks. The rallies were triggered in part by Beijing's longstanding refusal to grant Hong Kong residents a direct vote for a new leader that would have included pro-democracy, opposition candidates.
Wong had also been arrested for "public nuisance" earlier this year on the eve of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Hong Kong, after he and 25 activists climbed up a symbolic golden flower statue that commemorates the handover.
