Shiu Ka-chun, a former social worker and pro-democracy lawyer in Hong Kong who devoted his last years to helping protesters jailed after a crackdown on dissent, died on Friday in Hong Kong. He was 55 years old.
His wife, Kelly Hui, said his death in hospital was due to stomach cancer.
As a social worker, civil rights activist and for a time as a legislator, Mr. Shiu pursued the rights of disadvantaged people, but his participation in the protest landed him in prison. He later emerged as a key supporter of those who were arrested after the national security crackdown that began in late 2019.
Mr. Shiu was born on June 3, 1969, into a working-class family in Hong Kong. He studied social work at Hong Kong Baptist University, and after graduation began his career as a social worker supporting young people. In 2007, he began teaching social work at the university, where he became known for his engaging lectures. He also honed his voice as a commentator, writing newspaper columns that analyzed social issues through a philosophical and social lens.
Mr. Shiu was involved in the early 2014 civil disobedience movement, Occupy Central with Love and Peace, which called for democratic elections in Hong Kong, a relatively liberal Chinese enclave. He rallied other social workers to take part in protests that blocked traffic in the heart of Hong Kong’s business district. He reached out to people with disabilities or chronic illnesses, or the homeless, helping to organize discussions where they discussed what democracy meant to them.
In 2016, he was elected as a lawyer. He focuses on social issues such as poverty, homelessness and conditions in homes for the elderly and disabled.
In 2019, Mr. Shiu was convicted of public nuisance for his role in Occupy Central and sentenced to eight months in prison.
“I want to remind those who live in the dark not to get used to the dark, not to protect the dark because of their habits, and not to despise those who want the light,” he said outside the court before he was sentenced.
Chan Kin Man, a sociology professor who led the Occupy Central Movement, remembers when he shared a cell with Mr. He said he knew that Mr Shiu has diabetes and high blood pressure, and was hospitalized in 2014 while working on the street.
“I saw him lying in bed, unconscious and vomiting,” said Mr. Chan in a telephone interview from Taipei, where he now lives.
“Since his health was not good, he was still involved in politics. I really respected him,” said Mr. Chan.
When he was arrested, Mr. Shiu filed complaints about prison conditions, even when he was in danger of becoming a victim of the authorities. His efforts led to some change: Prisoners were allowed paper fans in the summer heat.
The contract of Mr. His teaching position at Baptist University was not renewed after his release from prison. He founded a non-profit organization, Wall-fare, which focuses on helping people arrested after the 2019 protests. The organization paired inmates with pen pals to ease their isolation, and helped provide them with prison-approved toiletries and snacks.
The wall fare was forced to close in 2021, as activists grew more dangerous. Mr. Shiu deflected questions from reporters about the reason for this closure and what it will mean for the prisoners. “Tears are our common language,” he said.
In the following years, he wrote several books about the conditions of Hong Kong prisons and the psychological pain of imprisonment, drawing on his experiences. He continued to post updates on social media, sharing glimpses of his visits to former legislators and activists who had been arrested.
In November, she posted a picture of herself in a hospital bed wearing a mud board, saying she had to miss her master’s degree in Christian studies for health reasons. He later wrote that he was diagnosed with cancer, and part of his stomach was removed.
In his final weeks, he posted essays that he titled as songs from a “stomachless” person. She quickly realized that tube feeding was difficult for someone like her, who loves to eat. He also shared his thoughts on suffering.
“Strong people are able to maintain a positive attitude and develop coping strategies despite the pain of illness, control their emotions, stay positive, and learn to live as normal and normal as possible,” he wrote in mid-November.
“However, I also need to add a caveat: My body is out of shape, I need a place to rest. I will stop if I have to; Please forgive me.”
