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Quote of the Day: Jimmy Lai on Hong Kong
“When I escaped from China and came to Hong Kong, the contrast was that China was like hell and Hong Kong like heaven. Though I was very poor, I smelled the air of freedom and was full of hope for the future. That’s the way I thought heaven is.” — Jimmy Lai
Jimmy is a Hong Kongese Horatio Alger, arriving penniless in 1995, he made his fortune in the garment industry, going from rags to riches. He developed a reputation for straight-talking and defending liberty, which led him to create the Apple Daily. Under the new CCP oppression of the Hong Kongese, Jimmy and his Apple Daily were targeted. In the latest chapter, Jimmy was denied bail on December 3 and is currently being held under charges of cooperating with foreign powers.
How does Jimmy remain steadfast in the belly of Xi Jinping’s terror state? Jimmy is a devout Catholic, valuing the Truth above the merely material things. When his heaven, Hong Kong, was annexed by hell, he used the truth to defy the tyranny. To the CCP, that is conspiring with their enemies.
Apple Daily has recently started offering an English edition. I skipped giving the app my location data because they are still trying to operate in Hong Kong and the CCP likely is collecting whatever data they can on Apple Daily subscribers.
As we transition from Advent to the Christmas season, please remember Jimmy and his devotion to the Truth.
Lord, bless Jimmy Lai, his family, and his employees, and keep them safely in your mighty hands.
Published in Group Writing
Acton Institute bestowed its Faith and Freedom Award on Jimmy at their 30th Anniversary celebration. His story is very movingly told and his acceptance speech is inspiring. Starts at 42:45
Amen.
What a man! And what an inspiration!
In some ways, it’s sad that the world needs people like Jimmy Lai. But it does, and thank God we have the ones like him that we do.
This is the Quote of the Day. Our sign-up sheet for December is here and still has three openings starting with Christmas. We welcome new participants and new members to Ricochet to share their favorite quotations.
Another ongoing project to encourage new voices is our Group Writing Project. December’s theme is ‘Tis the Season. If you’re looking to share your own thoughts rather than those of others and have some ideas about the holiday(s) season we are entering, why not sign up there?
This just turned up on Apple Daily.
Thank you, Lord.
Now if he’s just got the sense to get out. C’mon, Jimmy.
(That’s how you can tell I’m of the right. If a person of the left were to weigh in, they’d say they want him to stay under the thumb of the CCP and be a martyr. If one was oriented to the collective, that’d make sense and one might accept the lie.)
Would it be better to just accept every Hong Konger who wants to immigrate? They are smart, Western and have a good work ethic.
The objection I’ve heard is that the CCP will use the occasion to plant spies. If you read the news you’ll know they have deeply infiltrated our companies, universities, and government already. The Hong Kongese that are so inclined will make excellent counteragents.
Oh. Yes. This should have been twenty years ago.
Yes indeed. We’re about to open the floodgates to every barefoot primitive on the planet, the bigger their nose-bone the better. Bring in some energetic and civilized people too so we’ll have someone to talk to.
I don’t know what you mean by “mental disease” but this last comment is triggering me.
It’s kind of a Catholic thing, though — to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. I would not be surprised if he stayed. Blood of the martyrs and all that. God bless him.
Jimmy has more ‘Merica in him than all of the DNC combined.
Freedom probably emerges eventually but probably not here or in most of our lifetimes, unless we break it up and start over but we can’t wait until the Chinese and their super wealthy American minions make it unambiguous.
I hadn’t thought of it before, but peaceful secession isn’t all that uncommon. There’s a history of it:
https://www.crisismagazine.com/2020/the-catholic-case-for-secession
I suggest that we consider extending green cards to many, if not most, Hong Kongers. I am not sure about the details, but it might encourage the Chinese to reverse course, and the people of Hong Kong are amazingly industrious.
God bless Jimmy Lai.
Jimmy is back in custody after a campaign by the CCP to intimidate the judge in the case. A related Apple Daily article is here.
God bless him and give him strength.