The voices under the wall: how self-censorship is happening in Hong Kong?

Jack Liu

Recently, Malaysian rapper Wee Meng Chee has been blacklisted on Chinese social media site Weibo after releasing a new song "Fragile", which takes a dig at the jingoistic people in China called "little pinks” and describing them as having "fragile hearts". The banning action by China reminds me of the relationship between music and politic.

Music has permeated as part of our social life and therefore become a powerful tool to mobilize and unify groups of people, particularly in political expression. Music can contribute to their movements and accompany celebrations and rites, sharing the thought, for example, anti-establishment and protest themes.

Some may not care about politics or find news boring. Instead, the value of music is that it can repackage news by adding different styles to it. The most apparent example is definitely the protest anthem ‘Glory to Hong Kong’, composed by Thomas with the contribution of a group of Hongkonger netizens from the online forum LIHKG during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. The song has been sung on numerous occasions by citizens in the public all over the city, and ingrained in our daily lives after it was published. Some even considered it as the "national anthem” of Hong Kong.

Glory to Hong Kong has a strongly indigenous and unifying effect for people that affirms a sense of a collective cultural identity which is at the heart of the conflict. The lyrics evokes a sense of pride and belonging to Hongkongers who struggle for identity after the 1997 hand-over to China. People speak out their thought by singing their anxiety towards Hong Kong's political situation and express their unrelenting revolutionary spirit.

While the connection between music and politics has been seen inseparable in history, seemingly the politics is gradually taking over music in Hong Kong. The use of music as a tool of advocacy is being diminished.

Political activism may bear a cost of losing fans that in the opposite stance. Artists may fear of being subject to abuse for airing political views. It seems likely that successful musicians will be forced to either self-censor or run the risk of polarizing their fan base, potentially even garnering a violent response. While the Cantopop industry of Hong Kong seems suffering, poking and speaking sensitive issues against Beijing results in being blacklisted and suppressed by the mainland Chinese market or somehow end careers. Expressing political message in music becomes more commendable nowadays.

Last year, the passing of a new national security law in Hong Kong has made singers think twice before speaking out, leaving the local democracy activists in fear of prison sentences. The law prohibits any activities, including music that found to be secessionist, subversive or terrorist in nature. “The government interprets everything,” said Sunny Lam, who creates music videos with political themes since 2014. Music cannot freely express whatever we want anymore. Glory to Hong Kong is now banned, and the legality of its wider use is open to interpretation. Yet what is to come remains uncertain. The music may have stopped, but Hongkongers are still singing.