On July 22, during the heat of the summer, the weather in Hong Kong was particularly hot. When I got home from work, I turned on the TV as usual and watched the news while eating. Suddenly, a piece of news made my heart pound - heavy rainfall in Zhengzhou and other places in Henan Province, and many people were killed and lost contact. In the news footage, many cars were half submerged in water, and a large amount of accumulated water poured into the subway and tunnels. Floods are like beasts, will it still rain in Henan? How henan compatriots live, what help they need... A series of questions touched my heart.
Tan Yaozong
The reason why I have such a worrying mood is because as early as 2018, I went to Henan for work. At that time, Zhengzhou, a beautiful city located in the middle of the motherland, left a deep impression on me. It is an important railway, electric power, postal and telecommunications hub in the country. At the same time, it is also an important birthplace of Chinese civilization and has rich tourism resources. In addition to its unique geographical location and rich history, new landmarks such as financial centers are also thriving, and the future potential is immeasurable.
Open letter from the "Hong Kong Re-Departure Grand Alliance"
The once neat and beautiful city was seriously waterlogged, the muddy flood flooded the streets, the whole city was cut off from water and electricity, and rescuers raced against the clock to find people and save people in the torrential rain... Seeing these heart-wrenching images, I decided to do something. Soon, I issued an open letter in the name of the "Hong Kong Re-Departure Grand Alliance": one side has difficulties, the eight parties support, and the blood of Hong Kong and the mainland is thicker than water. It is hoped that all walks of life in Hong Kong will actively donate money to help Henan compatriots tide over the difficulties.
The Foundation sent a donation check
After the open letter was issued, it quickly spread on the Internet, and the office's consultation calls continued. Many members of the public have called to confirm information about disaster relief fundraising activities. When they heard that the "Hong Kong Re-Departure Grand Alliance" led by Tung Chee-hwa and Mr. Leung Chun-ying launched the campaign, everyone quickly put their minds at ease. There are septuagenarians who not only personally go to the bank to queue up to remit money, but also write down words of blessing to convey to Henan compatriots; some foundations send a million Hong Kong dollar check to the "Hong Kong Re-Departure Grand Alliance"...
My friend Dr Leung Nai-peng, former Chairman of TVB Hong Kong, heard about it and immediately donated HK$100,000. The Causeway Bay Neighbourhood Welfare Promotion Association also donated HK$100,000 on behalf of community residents. From the initial HK$100 to HK$2 million, the donations that are full of the hearts of Hong Kong citizens have been continuously pooled, raising more than HK$4 million in just one week. At present, the donation campaign will continue for about half a month. After the event, all donations will be transferred to the relevant departments of Henan Province through the Liaison Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Hong Kong for post-disaster recovery and reconstruction and to help the families of the deceased.
The insurance company sent a donation check
As a non-governmental force, the "Hong Kong Re-Departure Grand Alliance" has been established for more than a year. In the past period of time, the black riots and epidemics, wave after wave, hit Hong Kong very hard. Especially during the black riots, the social order was chaotic. We want to organize people from all walks of life to come together and help Hong Kong stabilize as soon as possible and concentrate on development. So I, Mr. Dong, Mr. Liang and 11 deputy secretaries-general, each launched more than 100 people, and finally had more than 1500 co-sponsors.
Tan Yaozong took the lead in signing autographs on the street
After the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed the Hong Kong National Security Law, the "Hong Kong Re-Departure Grand Alliance" immediately organized volunteers to sign on the streets and online to support the legislation. What is touching is that we have collected more than 2 million signatures, which shows the voice of the general public to support the society to return to the right track as soon as possible. This year, we organized a signature campaign in support of improving the electoral system, collecting more than 2 million signatures. Everyone has long seen that if we do not fill the loopholes in the rule of law, there will be no change in Hong Kong from chaos to governance.
The "Hong Kong Re-Departure Grand Alliance" held a press conference on "Integrating into the Overall Situation of National Development"
The "Hong Kong Re-Departure Grand Alliance", as the name suggests, is to promote Hong Kong's re-departure, revitalize the economy and create prosperity again with the support of the state. In addition to the above work, we also actively promote a series of programmes such as the development of the Greater Bay Area to help Hong Kong integrate into the overall situation of national development. At present, the 11 deputy secretaries-general of the Grand Alliance are responsible for connecting 11 cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to promote educational exchanges and employment of Hong Kong youth in the Greater Bay Area. Earlier, we met with 400 Hong Kong graduates in batches and talked to them about their dreams. Among them, nearly a quarter of young people are very willing to go to the interior to develop. I was particularly impressed that an engineering graduate from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology finally chose to work in Shanghai and felt very honored.
In the coming days, in addition to expressing our support and concern to Henan compatriots within our capabilities, we will continue to do a good job in anti-epidemic publicity and other work. In addition, it is also necessary to strive for early customs clearance between the mainland and Hong Kong, restart various exchange activities that have been suspended for a long time, and make good use of the opportunities placed before Hong Kong one by one to untangle the "knots" that have entangled Hong Kong one by one. Together, we will gather our strengths to let Hong Kong start again!
-- Tam Yiu-chung, member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and secretary general of the "Hong Kong Re-Departure Grand Alliance"
Source Beijing Daily Client | Reporter Pan Zhiwang Li Songlin Meng Ziwei
Editor: Gao Chenchen
Process Editor Tai Shaofeng