by Jeffie Lam jeffie.lam@scmp.com
South China Morning Post - Hong Kong feedToday, 04:22
In 1989, Daniel Chu Muk-wah held a clunky mobile phone - a luxury item then - to assist his dad on a march that more than a million people joined to condemn Beijing's bloody clearance of the student protesters in Tiananmen Square.
Then 16, Chu was already no stranger to the struggle for democracy, as his father, the Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, had been one of the leading activists that were demanding direct elections in the city's legislature from the colonial government.
Daniel Chu even had a chance to visit safe houses in the city, to meet the Beijing dissidents who had been secretly spirited from the mainland with the help of his dad and others on their way to new lives overseas via Hong Kong.
That is why he becomes upset whenever he hears Beijing-loyalist figures urging his father to resolve the political-reform deadlock with "rational" tactics, but not by means of the "radical" Occupy Central movement he co-founded.
"My dad has fought for democracy since the '80s. He set up the Democratic Development Network in 2003 and put forward a reform proposal, which was later ruled out, as Beijing decided the city would not implement universal suffrage [until 2017]," Chu said
"He joined demonstrations [and] engaged in dialogue. He really tried everything. I don't see what [these critics] have done over the years. I totally understand why my father decided to take this step."
Chu, the head of a division at a social services institute, visits the occupied site in Admiralty after work every night in his neat suits. Sometimes he manages to have a brief chat with his 70-year-old dad, but often the elder Chu is too involved in marathon meetings.
But Daniel Chu chooses not to take a frontline role in the pro-democracy movement, saying that all he wants to do is offer emotional support for his father.
"My dad is a bit reluctant to let me stay too close to the movement, as he wants to protect me," he says. "I have no fear, but I have the responsibility to take care of my mother and my family, and to back my dad up if he is arrested."
His distance from the battle doesn't shield Daniel Chu from attacks by anti-Occupy protesters. Posters with his photograph accompanied by derogatory remarks have been seen near his office and home.
""Why would Hong Kong turn into such a place?" he asks, worrying about the future his children, an eight-year-old girl and a four-year-old boy, will face.
Before the Occupy Central movement took off, Reverend Chu had spent much of his time with his grandchildren, serving as their driver, chess teacher and swimming coach.
As the Occupy movement enters its eighth week, the elder Chu says the unprecedented scale of the civil disobedience is victory enough for him to step down from helping to lead the city's democracy movement.
"After all, every generation has its historical mission. This is a successful battle, even though its outcome has yet to be seen," he said.
"I want to spend more time with [my grandchildren] while my physical condition still allows it."
Daniel Chu says he hopes the veteran activist can now enjoy his retirement and work on his memoirs, a record of the path his 30-year fight for democracy has taken.
"Not many Hongkongers have such experiences," he said.
"I have heard those stories of my dad since I was small. These are all precious experiences, which demonstrate his courage, drive and forward thinking. He has made a big impact on me and my younger brother - we will act whenever we find someone in need."
Daniel Chu says he might take up the torch in the fight when "the opportunity comes".
University student Tonya Tai, daughter of another Occupy Central co-founder, Benny Tai Yiu-ting, wrote an article published on the In Media website last week about the "unbearable pain" she felt over her father's "white hair, coarse voice and staggering steps" since the protests began.
Daniel Chu, 41, can sympathise with those feelings, and resents the criticism that has been levelled at the Occupy Central founders. "Why can't others see how much my dad has given?" he asks.
Back in the 1980s, Daniel admired his dad for his involvement in the democracy fight and the extensive network of connections he had developed.
But he understands much more than that now.
"When I was small, I never realised how much pressure was placed on his shoulders," Daniel Chu says. "I still find him amazing, but now I also understand the stress that is suffocating him."
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1642478/reverends-son-sees-what-democracy-struggle-has-cost-his-father -- gReader
