Japanese Author Haruki Murakami yesterday reiterated his support for Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.
The man behind hit novels A Wild Sheep Chase and Kafka on the Shore, said that while changes may not be immediate, worldwide views on Hong Kong and democracy have been “definitely transformed” by last year’s Occupy protests.
The comment was made on a public forum where fans are invited to ask the author whatever they like.
Murakami was responding to a message from a disillusioned Hong Kong woman who said she had participated in the pro-democracy protests but now sees them as a failure.
The woman wrote that although many Hongkongers rose to action for universal suffrage, the end result (of general nothingness) showed that their efforts had been wasted.
“Right now Hong Kong is back to its daily routine again, and the people of Hong Kong are living as if nothing had happened,” she wrote in Japanese.
Ever the optimist (when he’s not writing about teenage suicide), Murakami said he shared the woman’s disappointment that the protests did little to change the current state of affairs, but offered words of respite and encouragement:
“What you did for democratization will not be in vain. Please continue to change the world, even if it is bit by bit,” Murakami said, urging protesters to fight on.
This is not the first time the prominent author has publicly backed Hong Kong’s democracy supporters.
In November of last year, at the height of the Umbrella Movement demonstration, Murakami applauded the protesters during his acceptance speech for the Welt Literature Prize in Germany.
Photo: Kevin Dharmawan
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