Chan Pak-yui made the mistake of committing “disruptive acts” as the Chinese national anthem, “March of the Volunteers,” was being presented during the opening ceremony of a volleyball game held in June 2023.
Incarceration is his penalty. “The magistrate sentenced Chan to eight weeks imprisonment after knocking off a week in light of the defendant’s psychiatric condition” (South China Morning Post, August 19, 2024).
The bad thing Chan did: “booing the national anthem, displaying a thumbs-down gesture, plugging his ears and chanting the chorus of ‘Do You Hear the People Sing’, the centrepiece of the 1987 Broadway smash hit Les Misérables and later became a Hong Kong protest song.”
Reportedly, the 22-year-old Chan is hyperactive and autistic, and he had been insufficiently medicated when he attended the volleyball game. Hence he failed to suppress his preference for honoring the ideal of a free Hong Kong to pretending to honor the totalitarian regime of China.
One of the factors in determining his sentence was his “lack of genuine remorse in refusing his lawyers’ suggestions to accept a fine or a suspended sentence.”
Those who fail to “stand solemnly and deport themselves with dignity” when the commie national anthem is being played risk “up to three years’ imprisonment and a HK$50,000 (US$6,400) fine.”
Chan is out on bail while he appeals the sentence.
