{"id":6844,"date":"2014-11-04T16:13:12","date_gmt":"2014-11-04T08:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=6844"},"modified":"2022-11-11T17:09:07","modified_gmt":"2022-11-11T09:09:07","slug":"bob-kraft-civic-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2014\/11\/bob-kraft-civic-square\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pastor of Civic Square"},"content":{"rendered":"

American Bob Kraft is on a mission to “do the right thing”<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Henry Lee<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the scorching sun and pouring rain, protesters taking part in the occupation of Admiralty starting in late September sometimes sat quietly, sometimes sang songs, sometimes conducted heated discussions and sometimes slept. Among them was a silver-haired, 57-year-old American man, sitting on a folding chair and facing the now fenced and heavily guarded forecourt of the Central Government Offices popularly known as Civic Square.<\/p>\n

Varsity <\/i>first met the American, Pastor Bob Kraft, before the Occupy action began. He was setting up a tent and some hand-made banners outside the District Court in Wan Chai. Kraft was there to protest about what he saw as inadequate family rights and child rights in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

\"bobkraft6\"<\/p>\n

Kraft is always speaking out against injustice in society and is often seen at political events and protests. He undertook a 106-hour hunger strike for family rights and child rights in the summer of 2013; he protested on behalf of the elderly who do not have money to fix their teeth and he went to the \u201cBlack Cloth March\u201d organised by Occupy Central to call for genuine \u00a0 universal suffrage in Hong Kong. His devotion to such causes is driven by his past.<\/p>\n

Kraft was a high school student in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s when there were lots of protests against the Vietnam War and racism. He recalls that on his first day of high school, students started a class boycott to demand more student rights. He says this made a big impact on him.<\/p>\n

After high school, Kraft says he joined the army and was stationed in West Germany during the Cold War. This experience consolidated for him the idea that freedom could make a difference to people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n

Although he served in the military, Kraft\u2019s great interest was,<\/ins>\u00a0in fact, in tennis. After he left the army, he worked as a tennis coach and ran a business selling sportswear. All went well for him, but he started to question his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou reach a point when you just say, this is really not the most important thing in a person’s life. You can’t go any further,\u201d says Kraft. \u201cI just turned my life into a direction; that is helping people, instead of helping myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, in 1986, Kraft sold his business and went to the Pacific and Asia Christian University in Hawaii before embarking on church work in Asia. He travelled to seven nations in Asia, including the Philippines, and was shocked by how the disadvantaged lived there. The experience opened his eyes to inequality and injustice and showed him that where there is injustice, there can be no human rights. Kraft resolved to lead a meaningful life, helping the underprivileged and speaking out against injustice.<\/p>\n

In 1992, Kraft settled down in Hong Kong after marrying his Chinese wife. As a pastor, he has to be concerned about the lives of the people in his community. He sees people in Hong Kong facing worsening social problems, such as unfair working conditions, housing problems, poor family relations, and unfavourable government policies. \u201cThe anger of the people is about the living standards of people\u2026It\u2019s becoming unbearable for people\u2026They almost can\u2019t sustain their living,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Tensions, resentment and dissent in society have risen in recent years. In 2013, around 120,000 people gathered in Civic Square, outside the Central Government Office (CGO) to oppose the government\u2019s decision to reject HKTV\u2019s application for a licence to operate free terrestrial television services.<\/p>\n

After other protesters had left Civic Square, Kraft chose to stay and camp out there with some of the HKTV staff who had stayed behind to continue their protest. After two weeks he told the HKTV protesters he would continue to stay because it was hard to get a spot in that location and it was important to express opinions.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then it was just me and the tent.\u201d Kraft says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After that, he stayed in Civic Square for nine months. During that period, Kraft witnessed many stories that were never captured on camera. He recalls a woman who protested frequently at the CGO with a big banner. The first time that he saw her protesting, he saw security guards grabbing her and taking her to the interrogation room. After she left the room, Kraft talked to her and explained that she had the right to protest. He says that after speaking to her, the woman realised there was nothing the guards could do to remove her.<\/p>\n

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Kraft sets up a tent on the pavement outside the CGO.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kraft says that before the fence went up, there were around five to ten protests a day outside the CGO, most of which were never covered in the news because they were too small-scale. It was with this in mind that he began to take videos and photos and posted them on social media, which in turn helped these protests grow.<\/p>\n

The police and security guards did try to get Kraft to leave Civic Square, but to no avail. \u201cI knew that it was a public area\u2026I have the right to protest under the Basic Law,\u201d says Kraft. Growing up in a liberal nation, Kraft thinks freedom and individual rights are imperative and correct. \u201cMy conscience said it\u2019s correct. Freedom of speech, freedom of writing, is correct. What I did was spoke the truth, nothing more than that, nothing improper,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But Kraft\u2019s days inside Civic Square were numbered. On July 18 this year, when he was not at the site, the government put up a three-metre high perimeter fence. When he returned to Civic Square the next day, his tent and his belongings were removed.<\/p>\n

Now, members of the public are no longer permitted to enter Civic Square on weekdays. Kraft believes this is unlawful. \u201cThe CGO is saying we have to protest between Saturday midnight and Sunday 6pm. What kind of law is that? There is no law like that,\u201d says a furious Kraft. So, with the help of legislator Albert Ho Chun-yan, \u00a0<\/del>he is planning to apply for a judicial review against the government’s decision.<\/p>\n


\nBut well before any legal proceedings could begin, the people\u2019s anger exploded on the night of September 26 when students breached a security barrier in the fence and entered the forecourt to \u201creclaim Civic Square\u201d. This came at the end of a week-long class boycott to protest against the National People\u2019s Congress Standing Committee\u2019s restrictive framework for the Chief Executive election in 2017.<\/p>\n

Kraft is impressed with what he has seen of student power in Hong Kong. He recalls a march led by Scholarism to oppose Beijing’s decision on the 2017 election, where more than 1,000 people marched from the CGO to the hotel where Li Fei, the chairman of the Basic Law Committee, was staying. Kraft was one of the protesters.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwenty people were leading 1,500. What happens if there are 200 students? What happens if there are 2,000 students? How many can they lead? Millions!\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Kraft finds hope in Hong Kong\u2019s passionate young people who he considers to be future pillars of society. \u201cI believe this is an important time for the future of Hong Kong, for the students…They are developing their mindsets of what is good and what is right for the future of Hong Kong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"bobkraft8\"
Kraft followed Scholarism and secondary school students to march towards the CGO for the class boycott on 26 September.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His care for the next generation is not just confined to the student protesters. As a father of two, Kraft has been extremely transparent to his children about what he does. His son, eight, and daughter, 12, have seen how he helps people and are being educated on how they can also make changes in society.<\/p>\n

Because of his frequent participation in political events, Kraft\u2019s children have had the chance to talk to different people, including members of the Legislative Council. He describes this as another form of education. \u201cPeople in Hong Kong read the newspaper…They get a one-sided view, that is the newspaper view or the reporter\u2019s viewpoints. But my children actually have more than one view. They have my view, and they have some other views of other people,\u201d Kraft explains.<\/p>\n

Fighting on the frontline of Hong Kong\u2019s political battles, Kraft is grateful that he has his children\u2019s support and understanding. \u201cI think their suffering would be much greater if I don’t do something about it. So I may have to pay a high price,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am saying what I feel is correct, I am not bothering anybody, I am not violent, I have a voice,\u201d Kraft says. \u201cIt is always right to do right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edited by Sharon Lee<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He pitched a tent to protest alongside staff of HKTV, he is suing the government over the closure of Civic Square, he can be seen on the frontline at many of Hong Kong’s social movements. American veteran and pastor Bob Kraft tells Varsity he is always protesting because fighting injustice is the right thing to do. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1978,79],"tags":[311,22,316,163],"class_list":["post-6844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-133","category-people","tag-civic-square","tag-democracy","tag-justice","tag-protest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6844"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7052,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6844\/revisions\/7052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}