日記0906 ｜ I only am escaped alone to tell thee

There was a man named Job, who was a servant of God. He was upright, feared God, shunned evil, had both sons and daughters, and had a rich family.

Jehovah praised Job’s loyalty, but Satan refused to obey, saying that Job’s fear of God was only because God gave him property. If Jehovah let Job’s family be ruined, Job would definitely abandon God and go away.

Yahweh made a bet with Satan.

One day, a messenger came to Job and said, "Someone broke into your house, took away your livestock, and killed your servants with swords. I escaped alone, so I came to report to you."

While he was still talking, someone suddenly said, "God sent a great fire from heaven. This time the sheep and servants are all dead. I escaped alone. I have come to report to you."

While he was still talking, someone suddenly said, "This time the camel was also taken away, and I was the only one who escaped. I have come to report to you."

While he was still talking, someone suddenly said, "While your children were eating and drinking, a strong wind fell from the sky and knocked down the house. They were all crushed to death, but I escaped alone and came to report to you."

After hearing the bad news, Job tore his robe, fell down on the ground and worshiped God, saying, "I came from my mother's womb naked, and I will return naked. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; the name of the Lord shall be blessed."

Job’s loyalty to God remains a good story, but the messengers who report for God have become literary metaphors—in one disaster after another, the messenger is the only one alive, so he has the right to record and spread the story.

If the reporter is honest enough, he will be the best reporter of his time; if the reporter likes to exaggerate, he will be the best novelist of his time.

So, I tattooed the English version of "I only am escaped alone to tell thee" on my body and wrapped it around my wrist. I hope this sentence can continue to inspire me. If you can’t be a novelist, at least be a recorder; if you can’t even be a recorder, at least don’t give up your right to be an expresser.

Once I decided I wanted to get a tattoo, I started looking around for tattoo parlors in Hong Kong, and finally found a small one on Instagram. Since the Hong Kong anti-extradition law movement last year, this shop has been giving journalists and students free tattoos related to "Hong Kong" or "freedom". During the epidemic, the store’s operation was difficult. The store manager began to collect a small amount of tattoo fees, and donated part of it to provide medical or legal assistance to those injured or arrested during the anti-amendment movement.

I met the owner on the 13th floor of an old industrial estate in Kwai Chung. She is a young girl with a slender figure and bright eyes. She is wearing a black baseball cap, a black T-shirt, and black wide-leg pants. She is trendy and cool. The tattoo artist was a taciturn middle-aged man who sat on a plastic bench when he wasn't tattooing, smoking a cigarette by the window, burning out one cigarette, and then another.

The pattern is not big, half an hour later, the tattoo is over, the girl brought the ointment and helped me apply it. Suddenly, she looked up and asked me, "How did you find this store?"

I told her the reason, and the first thing she said after listening was, "I am not Hong Kong independence, and I do not support Hong Kong independence."

I was a little surprised—how many times have I been misunderstood to be so eager to explain the issue of Hong Kong independence?

She asked me why so many mainlanders came out over the wall to criticize us for Hong Kong independence?

I am dumbfounded. There are countless answers to this question. I say, at least personally, never equating protest with independence.

She started to trust me and told me that if she didn't have a tattoo today, she would be in Yau Ma Tei now. Today is September 6, the day when the Hong Kong Legislative Council election was originally scheduled. At the end of July, Carrie Lam suddenly announced that the election would be postponed for one year due to the epidemic. The establishment believes that the delay is reasonable, but in the eyes of the pan-democrats, the abolition is because the establishment is afraid of losing. In the district council election last year, the democrats had 440,000 more votes than the establishment. This basically reflects a certain kind of public opinion. This afternoon, some netizens marched in Yau Ma Tei, demanding that the government restart the election.

Girls' friends are almost all on the street. She repeatedly explained to me that the parade was never for independence, and many of my relatives and friends were mainlanders. We were really not thugs and would not beat mainlanders.

I said, I fully understand the reason why you are still staying in Hong Kong even if you are a mainlander. It is because there are a group of people who have made unlimited efforts in limited freedom. I think Hong Kong is very attractive.

Her eyes lit up, "I almost cried when I heard a mainlander say that."

What I didn't say is that in many cases, I try to tell myself to be more rational and objective, refuse to simplify complicated things, and be wary of those who stand in line and those who are willing to stand in line, but Hong Kong is still my political colleague. The stratosphere, perhaps because we are all somewhat paranoid about certain things that are regarded as the bottom line, and perhaps because of this paranoia, we have been marginalized into non-mainstream in the mainland.

When I got home at night, I saw Ming Pao's news feed, "Police arrest 289 people in Yau Ma Tei, Mong Kok, involved in illegal assembly, assaulting police and obstructing office work, etc." At this moment, she sent me the tattoo photo she took for me, and left a message saying, I really like to chat with you, can you come to the store to play in your free time? I made an appointment with her for an interview. I wondered why her friends still went to the streets after the National Security Law, and whether there was any fear of "I only am escaped alone to tell thee". I thought, maybe we can start with her story.