Hong Kong former lawmaker and prison rights activist Shiu Ka-chun dies at 55
Hong Kong Free Press
Former Hong Kong lawmaker and prison rights activists Shiu Ka-chun has died at 55, following a cancer diagnosis that worsened over the past weeks.
The former pro-democracy lawmaker passed away shortly after midnight on Friday, with condolences pouring in from social workers, activists, and a bookstore.
Shiu was elected in 2016 to represent the social welfare sector, and later founded Wall-fare, a prisoners’ rights support group helping those jailed over the 2019 protests and unrest that dissolved in 2021.
The ex-lawmaker revealed his stomach cancer diagnosis last November, after undergoing surgery to remove half of his stomach. While in hospital, Shiu attended a virtual graduation ceremony for his master’s degree in Christian Studies.
Last month, Shiu said he had been undergoing tube feeding to maintain core bodily function. Days ago, an Instagram story on his page said that he had entered palliative care.
Shiu’s wife, Kelly, wrote on his Instagram page, saying her husband passed away at 12.41 am on Friday, surrounded by family and friends. Shiu suffered from complications after surgery for stomach cancer, she said.
“Although he had a difficult time on his deathbed, he persevered and felt the guidance and care of his Heavenly Father, which gave him inner peace in spite of the difficulties he faced,” she wrote.
‘Live well under the blue sky’
Former legislator Fernando Cheung, now based in Canada, remembered Shiu as his “best partner” in the social work field and in social movements, listing issues that they had worked on together, including prisoners’ rights, youth suicide, and the lump-sum grant system that governed how local NGOs are funded.
“His concern for the underprivileged, his insistence on social justice, and his contribution to the work of prisoners’ rights will live on forever,” Cheung said on Facebook.
Figo Chan, formerly the convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, recalled working with Shiu’s Wall-fare to set up meetings for the families of those charged in the city’s largest national security case involving 47 pro-democracy figures and rioting cases.
“Eventually, the wallflower that bloomed for a while had to come to an end,” Chan said in a Facebook post, referring to Wall-fare’s Chinese name which translates directly to “wallflower.”
“It gave many families a little warmth when they were at a loss of what to do,” he added.
Shuttered bookstore Mount Zero also sent condolences in a post on Friday morning: “Thank you for everything. I know you’ll be with us, even after you ‘emigrate’. Live well under the blue sky, and keep planting wallflowers.”
Independent local publisher Bbluesky was still working on Shiu’s upcoming title, the Instagram post added. The ex-lawmaker had previously released two books through the publisher, both of which recounted his time in prison five years ago.
Shiu was among the activists that called on protesters to occupy roads near the government headquarters during the 2014 Umbrella Movement, a 79-day pro-democracy civil disobedience campaign.
He was convicted of public nuisance-related charges and jailed for eight months in April 2019.
After completing his eight-month jail sentence, Shiu was dismissed from his teaching position at the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) in 2020 after the university chose not to extend his contract. Before being convicted and imprisoned in 2019, he had been an instructor at HKBU since 2007.
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