Naysayers in 1968 gave the Hong Kong Journalists Association two years at most. What would those pessimists have said, I wonder, to the more than 700 people who attended the 50th anniversary gala celebrations on Saturday, 19 May 2018?
Your Girl Reporter was honoured to be among the gathering at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wanchai representing my parents Jack and Margaret Spackman, who were the HKJA’s founding chairman and secretary.
Neither of them would have imagined, when they conceived of a trade union to represent Hong Kong reporters that, 50 years on, the HKJA would be the strong and vibrant organisation it is today.
And both of them would be surprised and delighted that the Spackman name is remembered so well and so fondly, even among Hong Kong’s latest generation of journalists.
I was quietly fangirling during a conversation with Emily Lau Wai-hing, a journalist turned politician sometimes referred to as Hong Kong’s Iron Lady.
Lau has been a hero of mine ever since she put that other Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, on the spot in 1984, following the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
At a press conference in Hong Kong Lau asked Thatcher if the agreement, to relinquish control of the colony to China in 1997 was morally defensible. “Or is it really true that in international politics the highest form of morality is one’s own national interest?”
Thatcher declared that everyone in Hong Kong – with the exception of Lau – was happy with the agreement. If only some kind of vote could have been taken to determine if that were true, but I digress.
Lau served as HKJA chair from 1989 to 1991, when she left journalism for politics. A limited form of popular voting had by then been introduced and she became the first woman directly elected to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council.
On Saturday night, three young journalists approached while we were speaking. I wasn’t surprised that they were fellow Emily fans but I was astonished that the Spackman name meant anything to them, let alone as much to them as it clearly did.
Jack and Margaret would have been delighted at the number of young people present at the HKJA’s big birthday bash. It’s clear that one of their primary aims, to mentor and encourage the next generation of journalists, is still taken seriously by the organisation.
Also taken seriously is the role of journalism as society’s watchdog and as a defender of press freedom. In his speech, on the theme ‘Bracing against the wind with a warm heart,’ HKJA chair Chris Yeung said the task had become increasingly arduous.
“One generation after another, reporters have stood at the frontline of history, watching and reporting the unfolding of events. In times of historic change reporters, both as individuals and as members of the media profession, could not stay aloof from these changes,” he said.
“We are confronted with shocks from all directions in the midst of sea changes around the globe, and the good times and bad times of the city under the ‘one country, two systems’ political framework.
“There is no sight of an end of the chilly winter. The wind turns gustier. Bracing against the wind, it is not easy to stand firm, let alone moving forward.”
Yeung reflected on the multiple challenges faced by Hong Kong’s journalists, from job insecurity in a changing media landscape to wages which are still poor compared to other professions.
“With better protection, those who aspire to become journalists and working journalists who remain passionate about journalism would feel more secure staying in journalism work,” he said.
A commemorative video outlining 50 years of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, courtesy HKJA.
“Hong Kong is a market-oriented capitalist economy. Media is business. Media owners need to operate from a commercial perspective. Call it the rule of survival.
“But media is not just business. A healthy, dynamic, lively and pluralistic media can monitor society against injustice. This is vitally important to the overall long-term development of society.
“We sincerely hope that media bosses will not treat their media as mere business and that they will think big on their outlets’ importance to society’s future development and, regardless of the difficulties they may encounter, face them and persist together with their reporters.”
The HKJA’s latest Press Freedom Index returned the lowest score since its inception in 2013. Members of the public and journalists surveyed for the annual report agreed that pressure from the Chinese central government was an important factor in the undermining of a free press in Hong Kong.
Yeung said the results were not surprising. “Journalists and the public are increasingly worried about the preservation of ‘one country-two systems.’ They fear that media bosses, who have intricate ties with the mainland authorities, would become ‘harmonised.’ Fearful of provoking Beijing and creating trouble, media proprietors might practise self-censorship when handling stories that are politically sensitive,” he said.
“There have been occasional cases of stories that touched on sensitive issues relating to the central authorities being allegedly withdrawn or censored. Some are difficult to prove or disprove. With almost no exception, they have fuelled jitters that the room for a free press and free speech is shrinking.
“The overall atmosphere has been suffocating.”
Yeung said the pressure from Beijing for Hong Kong to enact an anti-subversion law, as part of the as-yet unlegislated Article 23 of the Basic Law, meant both journalists and society felt the issue was now on the doorstep.
“There is a traditional Chinese saying, ‘At 50, know your destiny.’ The destiny and mission of journalists is to be a watchdog. Bark when there is injustice. Bite for the truth.
“The media environment keeps changing every day. It was the case in the 60s and thereafter. It will remain so in 2018 and the future. The mission and destiny of journalists are unchanged.”
© Maria Spackman 2018
Further reading:
Brace against the wind with a warm heart – the full text of Chris Yeung’s speech to the 50th anniversary dinner of the Hong Kong Journalists Association
‘I will not look back’: Hong Kong’s ‘Iron Lady’ Emily Lau vows to remain active in civil society as she departs from Legco – by Jeffie Lam, South China Morning Post, 18 July 2016
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