Lennon Wall (Hong Kong)

Police arrested a fourteen-year-old girl for drawing flowers on the wall with chalk, threatening her father with removal of custody, and not releasing her back to her family until 20 days later.[12] She quickly became known as "Chalk Girl" (粉筆少女) when pictures of her drawing circulated on social media.[13][14] Her lawyer, Patricia Ho, stated that the government response to a chalk drawing was "disproportionate" and that "police are using whatever mechanism they can think of to stop teenagers from participating in any protest."[14] A short film about her story, titled "The Infamous Chalk Girl" was released in 2017.[15][16]

The day after the occupation started in Mong Kok, the occupation area expanded from Nathan Road and Argyle Street to Mong Kok Road, Sai Yeung Choi Street and so on. Vehicles were trapped because of the full-occupation of all six roadways in Nathan Road while many bus routes had to be rerouted. Meanwhile, those trapped buses and discontinued bus stops became the place where protestors and citizens stuck their opinions of requesting the stepdown of CY Leung and the slogans to call for universal suffrage, which were written mainly on cardboard and papers instead of post tips, which became the prototype for the Lennon Wall in Admiralty.

The Lennon Wall in Hong Kong was created by a group of post-80s social workers, Lee Shuk-ching and Chow Chi. They bought post-its and invited people to write down their hopes and reasons for stay after around three days after police had tried to disperse protesters by firing tear gas. The first post was "Why Are We Here?" . After that, they stuck their posts, left their pens and post-its, inviting others to write their wishes. The message board started to expand and eventually colonised the entire wall beside the staircase heading to the Hong Kong Central Government Offices. Following over ten thousand notes being stuck onto the wall, this wall became the focus of media. Since the theme and format were found to be similar to the Lennon Wall in Prague of Czech Republic, the banner of "Lennon Wall Hong Kong" was set on the outside wall of the staircase which turned the wall into one of the landmarks for the occupied area in Admiralty. The banner of Lennon Wall Hong Kong also became the Facebook page created by Lee Shuk-ching and Chow Chi for recording the posts on Lennon Wall later on as well.

An internet version of Lennon Wall was developed as a historical database to record the Umbrella Movement. Due to the clearance action of police, the originator was apprehensive that those post-its would be obliterated. She decided to create an online Lennon Wall and convert approximate ten thousand post-its into electronic form.

In the study room of Causeway Bay occupation site, some secondary school students who joined the Central occupation used expanded polystyrene to construct a mini Lennon Wall. As the police had already announced that it would proceed with the eviction of the Causeway Bay occupation area on 15 December, citizens went there and left their heartfelt wishes. It became a scenic spot for taking photos.

In the stair outside Central Government Offices, citizens tried to rebuild the Lennon Wall. They stuck posters printed with "It is just the beginning", "We will be back" and "Umbrella Movement" on the wall. The staff of Leisure and Cultural Services Development attempted to stop them. Although police noticed their action, police did not take action to interfere.

During the series of protests against the China-Extradition bill beginning on 9 June, the original Lennon Wall has been once again set up in front of the Hong Kong Central Government Offices staircase. During the months of June and July, Lennon Walls with similar encouraging messages written on post-it notes and regular paper have been put up throughout the entire Hong Kong. This is referred to as "blossoming everywhere" (遍地開花).[17][18]

Known neighbourhood Lennon Walls include Sheung Shui, Tin Shui Wai, Sha Tin, Fanling, Ma On Shan, Tsing Yi, Tung Chung, Tai Po, Sai Ying Pun, Shek Tong Tsui, Causeway Bay, Sai Wan Ho, Chai Wan, Choi Hung, Wong Tai Sin, Kwun Tong, Mei Foo, Kowloon Bay, Whampoa, and Tai Kok Tsui, as well as many others on Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and outlying islands.[19] There are even some Lennon Walls located inside government offices, including RTHK[20] and the Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office.[21] According to a crowd-sourced map of Hong Kong, there are over 150 Lennon Walls throughout the region.[22]

Lennon Walls have also appeared outside of Hong Kong in the cities of: Toronto, Vancouver BC, Tokyo, Berlin, London, Melbourne, Manchester, Sydney, and Taipei.[23][24][25][11] Messages of solidarity for the Hong Kong democracy movement have also been added to the very first and oldest Lennon Wall in Prague.[11]

At midnight on 9 July, more than 200 police officers equipped with shields and helmets stormed into the Tai Po subway that hosted the popular Tai Po Lennon Walls. Police photographed and removed several pieces of paper that allegedly contained the personal information of an officer who, while on duty on 8 July, challenged a peaceful protester to "remember me, and have a fight with me."[26]

Several Lennon Walls around Hong Kong have been reportedly vandalised within the first few days of being set up. To prevent vandalism, the Mong Kok Lennon Wall is situated at a private property with warning messages to ward off vandals.

On 10 July hundreds of people gathered near the Lennon Wall by the Yau Tong MTR station in Kowloon, after word spread that local residents, suspected of being off-duty policemen from the nearby Yau Mei Court, were threatening pro-democracy youth who were tidying up the wall.[27][28] Police later arrived, and the conflict persisted for several hours; a handful of arrests were made by the end of the night,[29] including the arrests of two retired police officers for assaulting democracy activists.[30] On the next day, a pro-Beijing middle-aged man was arrested for physically assaulting two victims, one of which refused to defend himself or retaliate, when he attempted to tear the sticky notes from a Lennon Wall near Kowloon Bay.[31]

Lennon Wall Flag, a flag proposed as an alternative to the black bauhinia flower flag

• 2–31 August 2019 in Gongguan underground walkway, Taipei[32]
• Kuang San Sogo underground walkway, Taichung
• Yingximen underground walkway, Hsinchu[33]

• Shibuya Station[34]

• Grand St/Eldridge St, Manhattan's Chinatown, New York City (NYC's Oldest Cantonese Populated Chinatown to the West including a Fuzhou Populated Chinatown to the East)[35][36]
• 86th Street/Bay 26th Street, Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York City (Home To NYC's/Brooklyn's Newest and Largest Primarily Cantonese Populated Chinatown. AKA: Brooklyn's Little Hong Kong/Guangdong)[37]
• Bedford Avenue/North 6th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City[38]
• Suydam Street/Wyckoff Avenue, Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City[38]

• Gumwall, Pike Place Market, Seattle

• Chinatown, San Francisco, California[39]

• Union Station, Toronto, Ontario[40]
• Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada[41]
• The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

• Berlin Wall, Germany[42]
• SOAS University of London, United Kingdom
• University of Durham, United Kingdom
• Monument to Francesc Macià, Catalonia, Spain

• University of Queensland, Australia[43]
• Melbourne, Australia[44]
• The University of Auckland, New Zealand[45]