There are many heroes that go under the radar when the news of their actions don't reach you. I had no knowledge of Jimmy Lai until yesterday and he himself had a media empire. The company was raided, had its accounts frozen and ended its life while Jummy Lai went to jail.
Apple Daily was the best selling newspaper of Hong Kong. It was owned by Next Digital (which was raided in 2020 and is defunct since 15th December 2021). According to Wikipedia, Next Digital had a user base of 5.0 million monthly unique visitors in Hong Kong, 12.3 million monthly unique visitors in Taiwan, 1.7 million in the US and 399,0002 in Canada up till 2019. It was the largest publicly traded media company in Hong King. This is on bigger scale than a governments coming after WikiLeaks. The attack would have a scale similar to US government shutting down Fox Corporation for speaking against the current regime.
I Was Clueless About All These Events
I was only aware of the protests in Hong Kong. I even knew about Blizzard Entertainment banning an E-Sports player (Blitzchung) for supporting Hong Kong protests. Despite all the news coverage I saw, there was no mention of the biggest newspaper of Hong Kong and its parent company being snuffed out! Apple Daily was not publishing anything remotely as sensitive as WikiLeaks or James O'Keefe. They simply supported the side that wanted CCP to keep the promise that was made in 1997 to keep Hong Kong autonomous for 50 years.
The Hong Konger: Jimmy Lai's Extraordinary Struggle for Freedom
This documentary covers the basic events in a concise manner. It was a well spent 73 minutes for me. Jimmy Lai is a boy who came to Hong Kong as a nobody and worked from 7 AM to 10 PM. He was 12 years old at the time. Hong Kong gave him enough freedoms to go from a 12 year old kid at a sweatshop to a billionaire.
Jimmy Lai was inspired by The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich von Hayek. Mises Institute has generously provided an E-book anyone can download and read for free. If you are an already a freedom lover and a libertarian, a short summary of the book in cartoons should be provide sufficient context to the values of Jimmy Lai.
The cartoon can be found on Mises Institute website. It is a simple and efficient way to illustrate the idea without asking the large commitment of reading a book. Gaining people's attention is an extremely difficult task today and I don't expect it to be any less of a challenge in future.
Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty
Wikipedia page has not been updated yet for 2023. The previous winners of the prize are:
Google Trends Analysis
People easily forget things. This is a simple fact we can all agree on. Elon Musk pretends to be a free speech absolutist for clout. Then there are billionaires who willingly stay in their country to be arrested and sent to jail in the name of freedom. Jimmy Lai is no perfect being. He isn't even a Julian Assange. But he is most certainly a brave man who stand up for freedom. He could be enjoying his wealth in retirement. Jimmy Lai could live a comfortable life that most of us cannot even afford. He chose different in the name of freedom.
As evident by the statistics shown, people have more or less forgotten about the incidents and moved on. Below is the 2nd longest video and most viewed YouTube video on the topic I could find from mainstream media. Even that is from a Hong Kong publication owned by Alibaba Group.
I Have Done My Part
I don't have money, power or influence to change things. I can research and write things. I do not feel the need to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders. What I want is to help in ways that I can. I can spread the knowledge and help to make sure these atrocities don't get forgotten. If enough people are educated, there is a chance of successful economic and political change that can ensure freedom for individuals.
One of the commentators on the Cato Institute video quoted a poem by William Ernest Henley. I find it to be a pleasing end for the article.
Invictus (Latin: Unconquered)
Out of the night that covers me
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance,
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul.