Page 30 - 160 varsity ebook

28 /

The city’s press freedom world Ingrid Tse Hing-yee
ranking dived from 18 in 2002 to Age: 25
80 this year, according to Reporters
Without Borders. 2019 - January 2021 Employer: i-Cable News Limited
Tse is now working for Hong Kong Post: Local News Reporter & TV Anchor
Citizen News, as it gives her room to February - June 2021 Employer: Apple Daily
produce good news stories. She be- Post: Local News Reporter & Anchor
lieves if she loses her job as a journal- July 2021 - Present Employer: Hong Kong Citizen News
ist in the future, she will still do re- Post: Reporter & Programme Host
porting in her free time. “I don’t have
to give up. I will continue to practise
journalism and do reporting as long
as I can,” she says. cal news features section in June 2018, “Who controls the past controls
she worked for other local news me- the future, and who controls the pre-
dia outlets like The Standard, U Maga- sent controls the past,” she quotes
All by Oneself zine, Metro Pop, and Ming Pao Daily. from the dystopian novel Nineteen
Another former Apple Daily re- Even though many of her ex-col- Eighty-Four by George Orwell. She
porter Leung Ka-lai is also deter- leagues have left the industry, she be- believes that it is important to record
mined to stay in the industry. She is lieves in the value of quality journalis- the history of Hong Kong in her sto-
now an independent journalist who tic work and is determined to stay on. ries.
posts stories about the aftermaths of “I want to make a record of what Leung feels sad about the news in-
the social movement on her personal is happening to this generation,” she dustry in Hong Kong. “The authori-
Facebook page. says. Leung’s Facebook page currently ties not only suppress press freedom
Leung has been a journalist for has more than 26,000 followers while in Hong Kong, but also treat journal-
more than 15 years. Before Leung her Patreon page has around 200 fol- ists like criminals,” Leung says.
was invited to join Apple Daily’s lo- lowers. Being an independent journalist,
Leung does not have any legal sup-
port. “No one backs me up. No one
offers me legal advice,” she says.
Leung fears that if she has any le-
gal troubles, she will have no financial
and legal support but her own.
“The reason why I am committed
to be a journalist is not for myself. I do
this for the truth. I do this for Hong
Kong history,” Leung says.

“

I do this for the

truth. I do this for

Hong Kong history.

”

Independent journalist Leung Ka-lai has a tattoo on her right arm, which says “I’d
rather die for speaking out, than to live and be silent” in Chinese.