DOING ODD-JOB WORK TO FIX POLITICS
Hong Kong democracy activists canvass support by offering household repairs for free
AS attendance at Hong Kong’s traditional protest rallies wanes, one pro-democracy group is trying to win hearts and minds in a more pragmatic way — through plumbing, electrics and household repairs.
Calling themselves Fixing Hong Kong, the group’s volunteers mend broken appliances, furniture, pipes and wiring, hoping that forging community spirit will lead to greater political awareness.
The novel approach comes as freedoms in the city-state are under threat from an increasingly assertive Beijing and the city’s splintered democracy movement struggles for momentum.
Volunteers visit homes in the To Kwa Wan neighbourhood each week, making appointments for DIY jobs and offering repair services for free, with residents usually paying for their own replacement materials.
They work in pairs, one fixing, the other chatting. Sometimes the conversation will turn to politics, other times not.
“We hope to gather more energy bit by bit through these most simple contacts and bonding,” said Fixing Hong Kong member Max Leung.
A resident surnamed Cheng, a painter originally from southern mainland China, said he had not discussed politics with the group, but appreciated their help.
A volunteer was fixing a broken strip light in his apartment.
Cheng’s flat is housed in one of numerous rundown blocks in To Kwa Wan, home to low to middle income families and refugees.
He said he was too preoccupied with daily struggles to join the group’s activities, which ranged from barbecues to political campaigns, but did not mind the volunteers’ pro-democracy ideas.
“As long as it doesn’t hurt me, that’s fine,” Cheng said.
Fixing Hong Kong was formed by activists who ran a recycling operation at protest camps set up during the massive 2014 Umbrella Movement rallies.
The rallies failed to win reform and since then, activists had been prosecuted on protest-related charges and disqualified from the legislature. At the same time, pro-democracy politicians had been criticised for losing touch with the grassroots while some pro-Beijing candidates had become strategically focused on working-class voters and livelihood issues.
Small groups like Fixing Hong Kong believed going back to neighbourhood level was the best way to rebuild support.
It is one of the best-known community groups to have grown out of the rallies. Other small-scale projects, from urban rooftop gardens to rural farms, have been set up by activists too.
Fixing Hong Kong member Leung said group activities, such as reclaiming public spaces for community events might not be directly related to the wider political system, but were still “everyday politics”.
“This is to regain control in our lives. Ultimately democracy is like that too, to regain control of the place we live in,” he said.
Volunteer fixer Leung Chan, an electrician, admitted it could be hard to engage residents in politics when they had a host of daily struggles, he believed the group should persevere.
“If we don’t make the first step, then nothing is possible,” he said.
“First there needs to be trust between people.”