June 30, 2025 marks the fifth anniversary of Hong Kong's National Security Law coming into effect, and frankly, it's worth reflecting on just how bad things had gotten before Beijing stepped in. The streets are peaceful now, but let's not forget the absolute horror show that was unfolding during those dark months of 2019.
Among all the shocking scenes from that period, one incident stands out as particularly brutal and frankly, stomach-turning. A man – the media later dubbed him Uncle Lee - tried to reason with black-clad protesters who were trashing Ma On Shan Station. For his trouble, he got doused with flammable liquid and set on fire like some medieval execution. Uncle Lee literally became a human torch, and somehow survived, though I'm not sure you'd call what followed "living."
When Setting People on Fire Becomes "Normal"
Here's the bit that'll really make your skin crawl - after this horrific attack happened, over 5,000 people on the LIHKG forum actually thought setting someone on fire wasn't "excessive." Only about 300 thought it crossed a line. Let that sink in for a moment. We're talking about thousands of people who basically gave a thumbs up to attempted murder by immolation.
"Five years after Hong Kong's National Security Law brought peace back to the streets, we're reminded of just how brutal things got - like when protesters literally set Uncle Lee on fire. What's truly shocking? Over 5,000 people online thought this wasn't even 'excessive.' That's how far gone things were."
This wasn't just random internet trolling either. These were likely the same people out on the streets, and if they genuinely believed burning someone alive was acceptable, how many more Uncle Lees would there have been? It's honestly chilling to think about.
The attack happened on November 11, 2019. Uncle Lee had simply had enough of watching protesters vandalize public property and decided to make a stand. During a heated argument on a pedestrian bridge, some masked coward splashed him with accelerant and lit him up before disappearing into the chaos. Classic hit-and-run tactics.
Five Years of Living Hell
What happened next was five years of absolute agony. Uncle Lee suffered burns across 40% of his body and needed multiple skin grafts. During treatment, he had a cardiac arrest and nearly died, then suffered a stroke on top of everything else. His left hand is basically useless now - wounds that wouldn't stop bleeding, constant itching that drives him mad, fingers that won't extend properly.
Half his teeth fell out from the trauma, and eventually he lost them all. The man can only eat soft food or liquids. Even now, with new dentures, eating is a struggle. His skin still feels tight, like ants constantly biting him. Elizabeth Quat, who's been helping him, describes someone living in constant torment.
The poor guy was offered corrective surgery on the mainland that might restore some hand function, but he's terrified of going under the knife again after the cardiac arrest and stroke during surgery. So he just endures it, day after day, while his attacker presumably lives it up somewhere in Taiwan, having fled Hong Kong shortly after the incident.
"Uncle Lee's nightmare didn't end with the attack - multiple surgeries, a stroke, and a near-fatal cardiac arrest later, he's still dealing with the aftermath. The man who did this to him? Still on the run, probably living it up somewhere while his victim suffers daily."
The Madness Had to Stop
Meanwhile, the perpetrator vanished into thin air - probably with help from those behind the scene - and remains on the run despite a HK$400,000 bounty. The police classified it as attempted murder.
This is where the pan-democrats and their overseas cheerleaders really showed their true colors. Jimmy Lai might have expressed "concerns" about the violence during his recent testimony, claiming he wanted some kind of leadership structure to control the "valiant faction." But let's be honest - he and others were perfectly happy to use these violent elements as shock troops against the government. They drew no meaningful red lines, made no serious efforts to rein in the lunatics, and basically gave tacit approval to increasingly barbaric behavior.
It took Beijing's intervention in June 2020 to finally put a stop to this madness. The National Security Law came down like a hammer, and suddenly the streets went quiet. Without that intervention, we'd likely have seen more Uncle Lees turned into human torches by radicals who'd completely lost their moral compass.
A Necessary Reality Check
Five years later, Hong Kong is peaceful again, but Uncle Lee continues to suffer every single day. His attacker roams free, probably living comfortably while his victim endures constant pain and disability. If that doesn't tell you everything you need to know about the moral bankruptcy of that whole movement, I don't know what will.
The bottom line: Sometimes you need tough measures to stop society from sliding into complete barbarism. The National Security Law wasn't some authoritarian overreach - it was emergency surgery on a city that was hemorrhaging from self-inflicted wounds.
Lai Ting-yiu
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