Former District Councillor Chan Kim Kam, who was arrested under Article 23 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance last year and later released on bail, revealed on Facebook this week that she was recently removed from both a theatre production and a part-time teaching post on the same day.
Chan stated that she was first informed by a theatre company that she would have to withdraw from an upcoming stage performance scheduled for next week. According to the company, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) had reviewed the production and warned that the venue booking would be revoked unless she was removed from the cast.
That same day, she was also informed by an academic institution where she had just begun teaching part-time that her position was being terminated. The school cited an anonymous complaint written in simplified Chinese as the reason. Chan said such anonymous reporting has become increasingly common since the introduction of the National Security Law, and she was not given a chance to respond or appeal. “I was simply informed. Other than accepting it, what else could I do?” she said.
In comments to the press, Chan described feeling “powerless and speechless,” but decided to speak out despite the risks. “I know going public may do more harm than good—perhaps I’ll lose even more performance and teaching opportunities,” she said. “But I also know I’m not the only one. Many people are being deleted from the public spaces without ever voicing out. If we all become participants in censorship, including self-censorship, civil society would deteriorate even further.”
In her Facebook post, Chan criticised society’s tendency to dismiss such incidents as isolated cases, ignoring the oppression’s systemic nature. She warned that victims are often left to endure these situations alone, eventually disappearing from public life altogether. “There is nothing to hide. We need to be seen,” she wrote, calling on the public to show kindness to those being forced out of society. “Don’t let so-called harmony come at the cost of others’ right to live and to be heard.”
Chan was among eight people arrested by the national security police in June 2023, on the eve of the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown. The arrests were linked to content on the Facebook page “Chow Hang-tung Club”, a page that relates to the imprisoned activist. All were later released on bail.
Graphic: Chan Kim Kam