Declaration of Hunger Strike

Dear citizens,

Being Cheated and Oppressed Once Again!
I am May Yip Mee-Yung. My family have been living in Wanchai old district for 2 generations. I used to live in Ship Street, which was then re-developed and I was forced to move out. Yet, I still had a stair-corner stall selling hand-made crystallite jeweleries in Lee Tung Street, co-existing with the printing and wedding-card industries there. Unfortunately, another re-development project is forcing me to move out of this street.
Since 1997, I have been very concerned about the district's redevelopment. I witnessed how senior government officials cheated LegCo members and citizens alike with the so-called 7 principle promises when the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) was founded. These promises never materialised. More damaging is the fact that the LegCo has given the URA entitlement to make use of Lands Resumption Ordinance; that is to say when the URA fails to come into terms with affected parties, the Ordinance can be used to rob the people's properties.

10 Years of Fruitless Communication

I have been concerned with issues of urban re-development, and for many years I have been seeing government officials, trying to communicate with them. The concerns and problems faced by the community have never been dealt with sincerely. I felt so angry and hopeless. Fortunately in 2003, H15 Concern Group was founded by some enthusiastic community members. With the help of professionals and people from other sectors, we submitted the first ever bottom-up, people's planning proposal to the Town Planning Board (TPB). The proposal addresses the interests and benefits of both the community members, who may choose to leave or stay, and even the developers. Indeed, most community members want only a flat for a flat, and a shop for a shop. In other words, that is to urge the URA to follow its own principle objectives of preserving community network and local characteristics. Unfortunately, the TPB rejected our proposal by some technical reasons hitherto unprecedented in its dealings with proposals submitted by developers. What makes one indignant is that TPB gave a green light to the URA's proposal on Lee Tung Street, despite the gross number of 192 objections out of 196 representations received during public consultation. At this moment, I can see how the government policy biased towards developers' interest very clearly.
The Secretary of Development arranged a meeting with H15 Concern Group earlier in Nov, 2007, we thought there was still a chance to right the wrongs. Yet, the meeting made no difference at all in terms of outcome. During the meeting, the Secretary of Development kept pointing back to some technical issues concerning not demolishing the buildings. To address these issues, we have drafted yet another proposal which aims to revise the proposal presently submitting to TPB by URA. This submission is now waiting to be put on TPB meeting scheduled on Jan 11, 2008. In the mean time, we are also making appointment with the new URA chairman, Barry Cheung Chun-Yuen. Although we have been making such an appointment for several months and I have been even phoning him daily, we hear no reply yet.

Fake preservation, Takeover by substance

URA announced its pseudo preservation proposal just about time with Christmas approaching, I am utterly shocked by its ingenious pretense to cover up its interested schemes. I have been running about with the owners of printing firms and wedding cards shops who are forced by URA to move out. Without the very clustering of shops, most owners have been losing 50-90% of their business. In fact, many wedding card shop owners have spoken openly in the last few days to express their concerns. Should Lee Tung Street, a place of production, turned into some sort of retail area as proposed by URA, these small shops will not survive. They have been co-existing and mutually relying on each others' expertise and specialties. Such a proposal by URA is considered by many shop owners as ruthless and ungrateful. This is to say the shops in question have moved to the outskirt of the project area and they have been enduring drastic drop in business and revenues. Such clearly goes against URA's goal of “livelihood improvement”. Worse, whoever wishes to enter the industry in the future will have to move in to the project's theme arcade. With the foreseeable raise in rent with the completion of project, shop owners will be reduced to merely working for the government like wage labour. Should they decided not to move in, they will be forced to run out of business by the hectic competition imposed by the theme arcade. The renown status of Lee Tung Street is in fact the fruitful outcome of all of these shops, residents and practitioners' decades long effort, URA is shameful in breaking down the cluster and to threaten the shop owners' livelihood in such unbecoming manner.

The Powerless' Resistance

Today, URA is making the matter worse in launching a structural demolition of Lee Tung Street. As an ordinary citizen who is powerless and without resources, I have run out of all possible means. I have done all I could have done, and what the government and URA have offered us in turn?. I have no other means and measures but to fight my last fight with my own body. I am now going on a hunger strike at the crossing of Lee Tung Street and Queen's Road East, so as to express my unbounded sadness and fury.

Stop Demolishing Lee Tung Street!

Barry Cheung Chun-Yuen (Chairman of the Board of the URA) come to meet the Concern Group immediately at Lee Tung Street!

May Yip Mee-Yung 92542017

聯署內都是亂碼，看不到。

太累,無法好好剪了,
只將前面部份剪出,支持者的部份再看吧
想看論壇的朋友請去:
leetungvideo.wordpress.com
...
還有,既然這些被認為{沒有新聞價值}
唯有請大家幫手轉貼利東街台去所有你所知道的網上社群,
幫街坊將她們的講法傳出去!
謝謝

利東街may姐絕食行動已到了非常危險的時刻，但她仍然不願意放棄，現時更到政府總部閘內繼續絕食，等候發展局長林鄭月娥，要求發展局介入事件，要求林太下令暫停利東街清拆工程，並要求城市規劃委員會提早審議h15提出的「折中規劃方案」。

今晚六點半政總門外有聲援集會,請各位到政府總部聲援。請注意,即使may姐昏迷進入醫院,在政總的集會依舊會繼續進行,而且更加應該進行。

12月27日 上午09:00

請特 閣下下令暫停清拆-H15項目及責成發展局盡快召開城規會

以免重蹈覆轍 (景賢里的翻版)到了知錯的時候已經太遲了

各位朋友

利東街的may姐絕食超過九十小時,今早已移師政府總部,要求發展局介入事件,要求林太下令暫停利東街清拆工程，並要求城市規劃委員會提早審議h15提出的「折中規劃方案」。但她仍然不願意放棄，終於在林鄭月娥出場又講了幾句風涼話後,不支暈倒,現已送往瑪麗醫院。

今晚6:30pm支援的朋友會在政府總部大門外,舉行晚會,聲援may姐,更加,要支持利東街的精神–參與式的規劃,真正的基層民主精神!

MAY姐以近六十歲的年紀,支持了超過九十小時,希望大家,也不吝嗇兩小時,來為真正堅持的基層民主精神,加入你的聲音!同時表達我們對may姐及她的利東街同伴,多年努力的最大敬意和希望may姐早日康復.

影行者

may姐表示喜見昨夜聲援團體和朋友的誓師大會，喜見一群朋友因她絕食行動的召喚，而願意延續利東街的基層民主精神，並成功告訴公眾重建不單只是賠償的問題。故將於今晚十時半於利東街皇后大道東，開設一個答謝大會，感謝多日來支持她的朋友和團體,並於十一時十五分召開記者會，簡報現時狀況及去向。
誠邀大家出席