Written by 
The Hong Kong government has given new identification numbers to lamp posts that inadvertently referenced the date of the Tiananmen crackdown, with the numbers “8964” and “6489” erased in favour of new codes.
When HKFP visited a lamp post on Po Shun Road in Tseung Kwan O at around 2.40pm on Tuesday, a worker was spray-painting GE5974 onto it. Its former identification number was EB6489.
The Tseung Kwan O lamp post was among 16 that bore the figures “8964” or “6489,” but which have been recently re-numbered, according to data updated by the Highways Department’s last Friday.
The four digits are sometimes used to refer to the Tiananmen crackdown on June 4, 1989, when China’s People’s Liberation Army cracked down on student-led protests in Beijing, killing hundreds if not thousands.
Authorities in recent years have tightened discussion on the topic and effectively barred public commemorations of the incident in Hong Kong. In mainland China, any mention of the crackdown is censored.
Ronny Tong, a barrister and government advisor, told HKFP on Thursday that following the protests and unrest in 2019, government was keen to “avoid controversy” in society.
“The government is handling things carefully,” he said in Cantonese. “I don’t think [re-numbering the lamp posts] causes harm to society or to anybody.”
Lamp posts ‘refurbished’
According to Highways Department data, the city had nine lamp posts bearing “8964” and seven bearing “6489” at the end of August.
But a spreadsheet uploaded last Friday showed new identification codes for all 16. A lamp post in Tuen Mun with the identifier V8964 became VG7374, while one in Tai Po numbered VE6489 was now VL0733.
The authorities’ move was covered by independent journalist BoomHead on Sunday after media outlets published photos last Thursday and Friday showing a lamp post in Yuen Long that used to be marked FA8964 now labelled GD8332.
In the days leading up to June 4 last year, the lamp post was fenced off by barricades, prompting public speculation. The Highways Department told media at the time that the lamp post had to be replaced due to corrosion, and the barriers were removed on the afternoon of June 4.
An E8964 lamp post in Sham Shui Po, which BoomHead reported on Sunday had not yet been branded with its new number, had been re-labelled when HKFP visited on Tuesday.
Some of the lamp posts adjacent to those that were labelled “8964” or “6489” were also changed. For example, seven lamp posts in Tseung Kwan O with the numbers EB6485 up to EB6491 were re-numbered as GE5970 to GE5976.
In other cases, only a few lamp posts near to the ones numbered “8964” or “6489” had their identifiers changed. Along a highway in Kwai Tsing, FB8962, FB8964 and FB8966 were re-numbered, but FB8961, FB8963 and FB8965 remained unchanged.
A comparison of the lamp post spreadsheets at the end of August and the version updated last Friday showed that a total of 76 lamp posts had been given new numbers.
The Highways Department said in an emailed reply on Tuesday night: “When installing new lamp posts, adjusting their area or refurbishing them, the Highways Department will consider giving them new numbers to facilitate data management of the lamp posts.”
The department added that the lamp posts mentioned were given new numbers because they had been “refurbished.” GeoInfo Map, the government’s map with information about public facilities and infrastructure, had also been updated to reflect the new lamp post numbers, it said.
‘Sensitive date’
The re-numbering of the lamp posts comes as public monuments to the Tiananmen crackdown have been removed and public commemorations have all but ceased in Hong Kong. In recent years, authorities have referred to the anniversary as a “sensitive date” rather than the June Fourth Incident, as it is more commonly known in China.
When asked at a press conference before the anniversary this year if the words “June 4” had been banned in Hong Kong, Chief Executive John Lee did not respond directly, saying only that public activities must not breach the city’s laws.
Hong Kong used to be one of the few places on Chinese soil where annual vigils were held to commemorate the victims who died in the 1989 crackdown. But police banned the gathering at Causeway Bay’s Victoria Park for the first time in 2020 citing Covid-19 restrictions, and imposed the same ban in the following year.
No official commemoration has been held since the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organised the vigils, disbanded in September 2021 after several of its members were arrested.
The anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown is now marked by a heavy police presence and armoured vehicles around Victoria Park, where the vigils used to be held, with frequent stop-and-searches of passers-by and isolated arrests.
Meanwhile, statues and artwork paying tribute to the 1989 dead were removed from Hong Kong university campuses in late 2021. The Pillar of Shame monument disappeared from the University of Hong Kong in a covert overnight operation, while the Goddess of Democracy statue was also taken away from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Ahead of the anniversary this year, a former pro-democracy district councillor said police visited her bookstore, where she had displayed “35/5” in the shop window. May 35 is a euphemism used to refer to June 4.
Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact Us | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps
Help safeguard press freedom & keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team
Source link