Concerns have been swirling online among supporters of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement over the whereabouts of the demonstrators’ unofficial mascot: 63-year-old “Grandma Wong,” whose Union Jack has been a fixture at protests for months, but who apparently hasn’t been seen for at least two weeks.
The alarm appears to have first been sounded about four days ago on LIHKG, the Reddit-like forum favored by protesters, where a user noted that Wong — whose first name is Alexandra — had not been seen at a protest since being filmed sitting on the ground after apparently being knocked over by police in Tai Koo MTR station on Aug. 11.
https://twitter.com/freddie1999/status/1160613375665213446
Other netizens have since claimed to have seen her at an airport protest two days later, though no photos or video have emerged as confirmation. Even if she was there, however, she appears to have been absent for several more protests since — something highly unusual for a woman who, for months, has been at the front of the crowd as one of the most visible faces of Hong Kong’s protest movement.
As one Twitter user put it: “Either she has had police trouble, or she is taking a period of rest and recovery. Either way, her absence deserves our attention!”
There are two possibilities for the whereabouts of Alexandra Wong (aka #GrandmaWong).
Either she has had police trouble, or she is taking a period of rest and recovery.
Either way, her absence deserves our attention! A thread: #antiELAB #FreedomHK pic.twitter.com/hcPnOJmgOi
— Ataraxis (@ataraxisfinch) August 25, 2019
Thanks in large part to the visibility afforded by her large British flag — as well as her approachable attitude, and the fact she’s probably 40 years older than the average protester — Wong has become something of a favorite among foreign media outlets looking for interviews among the protesters.
Speaking to Reuters last month, Wong said that, to her, the flag of the city’s former colonial master symbolized a time when young Hongkongers didn’t have to worry about their futures.
“I stand with Hong Kong’s future. I worry about Hong Kong youth,” she said.
“I miss colonial times. The British colonial time was so good for us.”
In the same interview, Wong disclosed that she commutes to protests from Shenzhen, where she was forced to move 13 years ago after being priced out of Hong Kong.
That Wong lives on the mainland has only compounded worries, given Beijing’s increasingly strident anti-protester rhetoric — not to mention recent reports of phones being searched at border crossings for photos of protests, and the recent detention of a staffer at the British consulate who had traveled to Shenzhen for a meeting.
Two people who said they had emailed Wong, one of them a week ago, tweeted that they had not received a response. One journalist tweeted that she had recently asked Wong for her number, but was told she didn’t have a working phone at the time.
Given that Wong was last seen apparently injured and surrounded by police, speculation naturally turned to whether she was in hospital or under arrest.
Ms Wong was removed from the scene on a stretcher as several around her were arrested at Tai Koo MTR station exit. Photo: NowTV screenshot. pic.twitter.com/lEDKcHqBGd
— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) August 11, 2019
Online sleuths, however, said she did not appear to have been admitted into a local hospital since Aug. 11. A representative of the Hospital Authority, meanwhile, told Coconuts HK today that they were unable to provide patient information.
As of press time, police had not responded to a request for comment on whether Wong was in their custody, or whether they were aware of her possible detention by mainland authorities.
