Tag: Hong Kong

Recruited to my doom

I am charged with manufacturing dangerous drugs, involving a cocaine case with about 1,600 grams. It was only after my arrest that I realized the seriousness of the situation. Drug offenses have sentencing guidelines, depending on the type and amount of drugs involved. For cocaine, the relevant range is between 1,200 grams to 4,000 grams, carrying a sentence of 23 to 26 years in prison!

So far, I have spent about two years in prison, and every day I feel very sad—my emotions are mixed with remorse, self-blame, and fear… especially after consecutively losing my closest family members, my father-in-law and my dad! I couldn’t even see them one last time!

One day, I saw an online recruitment ad “Quick money, no experience or education required”, and everything started from me clicking on that ad.

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My life unravelled

I was arrested on September 4, 2023 for drug possession. My life began to unravel in 2016 when I gave birth to twins, but their father went to prison shortly after. 2017 was the hardest year, as my mother was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Between 2018 and 2019, after undergoing colon removal surgery, her condition stabilised but my ex-boyfriend got arrested again in 2019 and since then, my parents and I were jointly taking care of my children.

My family background has been difficult. My dad retired from his civil service job 15 years ago. My mom worked part-time as a restaurant waitress. Since both parents worked, my two sisters and I lived at our grandmother’s house. My elder sister took her own life in 2009 due to emotional struggles, causing deep pain to our family. My father also once attempted suicide but survived. To help support my family, I left school after Form 3, which I now regret. I believe staying in school might have kept me from getting involved with drugs.

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Hard to build, easy to crumble

Everyone makes mistakes at some point in their lives. As a child, when I made a mistake, I would be scolded or punished by my parents or teachers, but in the end, I would all be forgiven. Yet, not all mistakes can be brushed aside, especially when one breaks the law. Such mistakes not only bring legal consequences but also destroy one’s future. I am an example of this life lesson…

I am 28 years old, and I have been in custody for nearly a year now. I was born in Shenzhen (China) and came to live in Hong Kong with my parents when I was 8 years old. Growing up, I was not particularly mischievous; my family always thought I was a sensible person, particularly because I started working part-time since the age of 15 to help with expenses.

But I did have a rebellious moment. Born into a grassroots family and raised in a public housing estate, it was inevitable that I would cross paths with  gangs and troublemakers…

When I was studying in Secondary One, I became acquainted with some friends who suggested me to “follow a gang leader.” to deal with the bullying I was suffering. I wanted others to know that I was not someone to be abused.

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At the bottom of the social ladder

How I got involved in drug trafficking

Let’s start with my family background. Not long after my mother became pregnant with me, and due to the pressing need for money, my father was lured by a friend into committing fraud overseas and consequently sent to prison for a while.

After he came back my parents divorced. I ended up living with my grandmother, my father, and his girlfriend in a cramped public housing unit until my father went to work abroad. That was around the time when I was in primary school. He left me to live with my grandma ever since.

My family has only got elementary education, thus they couldn’t provide me with a nice growing environment. Most of the people I met were of low social status and the same level of education as I had.

I dropped out of high school, earning a living as a manual worker. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I became a part-time logistics worker for a supermarket. I worked in the daytime and went to a night school in the evening. My employer never paid me on time. I didn’t like it but it was hard to find another job at that moment. Coincidentally, one of my friends said he got a job for me. All I knew about the job was that I needed to deliver goods, something I excelled at because it didn’t require much mental effort. Besides, I thought it would be a good workout. I thought I would be doing the same as my existing job, just that I could have a better boss. So I accepted it without hesitation. Continue reading At the bottom of the social ladder

No security with drugs

I was imprisoned for drug trafficking and have now been in a correctional facility for 17 months, awaiting sentencing by the High Court.

Let me share my background. I have been working in a restaurant since I graduated from high school. Around the year 2020, I started to get into debt, my debts began to increase, and due to the impact of the pandemic, my income decreased. Unable to find a job, I had to borrow to repay old debts.

In March 2020, I found an extra job as a night-shift security guard, so I started working two jobs. My work at the restaurant began around 10 am until 10 pm, then I would go home to get ready to report to the security room. I worked all night until 7 am before going home for a nap. Sometimes, due to transportation issues, I couldn’t even go home and had to go directly from the security room to the restaurant to rest after my shift. I was only sleeping 3-4 hours a day.

This situation continued until the moment I was arrested, and I was supposed to work in the security room that night. Over the past year or so, my mental state deteriorated; I was severely sleep-deprived and tired. When I was on vacation, I would drink. Continue reading No security with drugs

The glass between us

When I was 25 years old, I was arrested for trafficking and remanded. Now I’m 28.

From my childhood, I was taken care of by my paternal grandmother, and I can say that we were a happy family. Once, my mother and paternal grandmother had an argument, and we moved out of her home. We lived temporarily with my maternal grandmother for two and a half years.

When I was nine years old, my dad needed to work in New Zealand, and my mum had to run a shop on the mainland. They left me and my younger brother with my maternal grandmother. At that time, she had to take a part-time job to support us. She was often tired when she came home, and many times, I took care of my younger brother and learned to behave well. I knew that my parents did not abandon us; they were simply trying to earn money and taught me the importance of it.

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One wrong move

I was arrested for trafficking in dangerous drugs in August 2022 and I have been in prison ever since.

I am a Hong Konger, born in the 1960s, and I am 63 years old this year. I grew up in a poor family of seven, living in an old housing estate with my brother, two sisters, and parents. There was no material wealth at that time, and my parents had very low educational levels. Even so, this did not affect their teachings. They were strict in disciplining us, and we were very obedient. My academic performance was average, and after graduating from Form 5, I started working with my father.

At that time, my father had a hardware foundry, and I worked in the factory from 1980 til 1996. However, the good times did not last forever, as many factories moved production to mainland China due to economic shifts, business slowed down. I took up a job as a waiter in a karaoke bar to make ends meet.

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A very costly favor

I am 35 years old and currently in prison. I was arrested in 2023 and have been incarcerated for 23 months. I am involved in a case of trafficking dangerous drugs and a case of possession of Class A drugs.

I was born into a typical family of four, with a father, mother, and an older sister. I am the youngest, and no one in my family has ever used drugs; I also do not have a habit of using drugs and have never been in contact with them.

In 2015, I gave birth to a son. After his birth, I took care of him myself, looking after him during the day and working part-time at night to earn money. My husband was a transport worker and a gambler, and our relationship was always poor.

When my son  turned one, my husband and I separated and I moved in with friends temporarily because I had no time to work, and I had to apply for government assistance. When my son entered primary school, my parents retired, and household expenses increased, as did the financial burden. I needed find a job to make a living, so I entrusted the care of my son to his father. I was responsible for my parents’ and son’s living expenses, as well as my ex-husband’s.

The day before my arrest, a friend told me that he had a friend who was busy and asked if I could help by taking a bag of things and keeping it at my place until his friend could pick it up. At that time, I didn’t ask what was in the bag, and my friend didn’t mention it, so I agreed to help without suspicion since we had known each other for a while.

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The chains of regret

I am currently incarcerated at Lo Wu Correctional Institution for drug trafficking.

My life has been marked by significant challenges from an early age. My parents divorced when I was just five months old, and I was raised solely by my father, who worked long hours to support us. This meant I spent very little time with him. My mother remarried and started another family, leaving me with little guidance. I lacked supervision and, compared to my peers, became willful and unruly. My father, a traditional man, introduced me to smoking and drinking at just 10 years old.

Seeking warmth and love, I began dating at 11. By 13, I was pregnant and wanted to keep the baby, believing my boyfriend would support me. However, my parents insisted I have an abortion, thinking I was too young to care for a child. This led to my temporary suspension from school, and I never returned after ninth grade.

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Beyond the stormy waves

I grew up on Cheung Chau in a family of fishermen, raised by my grandmother, and completed my education up to Form 3. As the eldest son, I have one younger brother and two younger sisters. After my mother had my second sister, she stopped working on the boat to care for us, leaving my father to fish alone, which ultimately led to his tragic death at sea.

When I was eight, my father bought a house on Cheung Chau, and our family began to live together comfortably. After finishing Form 3, I took a one-year painting course and started working as an apprentice at a painting company at 15 to help support my family.

At 17, I began dating a girl who was a classmate of my cousin, and her family was also made up of fishermen. Our relationship blossomed over three years, and we enjoyed spending time together while our families got along well.

Tragically, my father developed heart disease at 40, which affected his ability to work and our family’s income. Fortunately, my sister and I were employed, allowing us to support the family, although my father occasionally went out to fish.

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A mother’s broken heart

I started using drugs at the age of 13 and have been using them for 17 years. Methamphetamine, primarily. At first, I was influenced by my peers… I was curious and used them for fun. But when things got difficult at home, constant arguments and scoldings, I decided to run away and joined a group of drug users, thus becoming a drug addict.

At first, I didn’t realise the drugs were doing me any harm since I didn’t seem to have any averse reactions to them. I only saw the effect it had on others, symptoms such as sleeplessness, obsessive behaviour, hallucinations, thoughts of self-harm, and losing control of their emotions.

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If only bad people wore a label

I have been struggling to put pen to paper. Even when I started, I kept rewriting it and it took me a long time to finish it.

I am 28 years old and was born in Hong Kong. I grew up in a broken family. My parents divorced when I was three years old, and I have an older sister and brother. My mother emigrated abroad over 20 years ago, and there are no relatives from my father’s side here. My siblings are much older than me and left home earlier on rather than endure the discordant atmosphere of our home. In addition, my father had to work outside for a long time to support the family, this meant that I was pretty much on my own during my formative years. My father is a serious and traditional person. He made it clear when I was young that I had to “leave home at 18,” so I was deprived of the opportunity to attend university at an early age, and I left home without a solid financial foundation.

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Daddy, why are you behind that glass?

I come from a single-parent family. My father passed away when I was 20 years old, leaving my mother and younger sister dependent on me.

My mother is not from Hong Kong; she came to take care of us on a two-way permit. We relied on social assistance to survive. At that time, my father was suffering from stomach cancer, and my mother had to care for him every day, making our lives very difficult. This situation led me to become very rebellious, and I fell in with the wrong crowd, embarking on a path of no return.

“Just give it a try; don’t worry, you won’t get addicted.” I tried it. After that first hit, I wanted to continue, and I couldn’t stop.

Those so-called friends offered me drugs, leading me deeper into addiction. I started using methamphetamine,. I still clearly remember their words when they first encouraged me to try it: “Just give it a try; don’t worry, you won’t get addicted.” I tried it once. After that first hit, I wanted to continue, and I couldn’t stop.

In the following days, I kept using meth, but using drugs requires money. Where would my money come from? I had to steal, rob, and deceive! I would snatch phones, grab handbags, and steal money from my friends just to buy drugs. Eventually, I met some people with triad backgrounds and entered the underworld, following a boss. The drug circles I was exposed to grew larger and larger. Initially, a small amount of drugs was enough, but gradually I began to use larger quantities and a broader variety, including ketamine, cocaine, meth, and marijuana. The money I earned increased, and it became easier to obtain.

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Five little angels

I’m a 25-year-old Brazilian with five children, currently living through a challenging time. I arrived in Hong Kong on May 8, 2023, and was immediately arrested. I’ve now been in prison for a year, spending holidays and family birthdays in this alien environment. Let me share a bit of my backstory.

I was born in Diadema, São Paulo, a place I scarcely know. At the age of four, my parents separated due to my father’s infidelities. Shortly after, my paternal grandparents moved to the countryside, and my mother distanced herself from me, blaming me for their separation. My father disappeared. Consequently, I moved in with my grandparents in the countryside.

As a child, I cried myself sick, yearning for the love of those who were supposed to care for me from my first breath.

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Hope from within a dark iron cage

I want to share my journey. Previously, despite being in my prime, I felt trapped by various issues, as if being in a dark cage. These stemmed from my violent and misunderstood family background. Reflecting on my past, I see that nearly half my life was spent in a state of lost freedom.

I was born into a typical family. My father was a construction worker, and my mother was a busy retail salesperson. They were often preoccupied with work, so from the age of 12, I had to learn to fend for myself. However, a single phone call dramatically changed my life forever.

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