ELIZABETH TANG Yin-ngor is an experienced general on the protest front: the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions chief executive has been a full-time unionist for the past 15 years. But her WTO mission puts all previous demonstrations in the shade.
"These are by far the biggest protests I have handled," says Tang, 48. As chairperson of the Hong Kong People's Alliance on WTO, she acts as host to thousands of overseas activists seeking to highlight the impact of unfair trade practices at the World Trade Organisation ministerial conference starting today.
The process is like "co-ordinating a battle", says Tang, who is charged with helping activists put across their views to a global audience amid the heaviest security Hong Kong has seen.
In the past few months, Tang has had to spend gruelling weeks on the road sorting out the needs of representatives from around the globe. With a tiny support team, her life has been hectic in the weeks leading up to the WTO talks - and it's about to get worse.
She leaves her Prince Edward Road home early in the morning and it's often midnight when she returns, all the time clutching a crammed appointment book.
Meetings to sort out strategy and logistics fill much of the day, and her mobile phone is all but glued to her ear. One minute she's answering a call from an Argentine activist whose hotel has apparently lost his booking, the next she's helping some Indonesians stranded at the airport. Then there are daily calls from reporters, and briefings for arriving activists.
Her small Nathan Road office serves as a command post for the NGO demonstrations. Three temporary employees help with tasks such as contacting the media, sorting visa hassles and arranging hotel rooms for overseas activists. But Tang is still short-staffed, and ends up handling a lot of the details herself.
"People feel relieved if they can talk to me," says Tang.
On a typical day last week, a debate organised by the Foreign Correspondents' Club was followed by a strategy meeting with alliance members before she rushed off for dinner meetings with international peasants group Via Campesina and fair-trade advocates Focus on the Global South, ensuring another late night.
On the eve of the WTO conference, she was addressing two conferences on labour rights, giving interviews, and taking part in a television station's midnight round of debate on the trade talks.
Her husband, unionist legislator Lee Cheuk-yan, once had the more demanding schedule, especially with the clashes over Hong Kong's constitutional reform. But now he usually beats her home.
"When she is back, I don't dare disturb her," says Lee. "Sometimes she is on conference calls for an hour. We barely have time to talk."
Their daughter Justina, 15, is usually asleep by the time she returns. "Sometimes I don't see her for a whole week," Tang says, although the family managed to have dinner together to celebrate Justina's birthday just over a week ago.
Tang, who has not had a day off in six months, is feeling the stress.
"The pressure is in hosting a big event. No matter how much I do, there are always things unfinished," she says. "But I have made lots of new friends and it is useless to dwell on the problems. I just try my best to get everything done."
The idea for holding joint NGO rallies emerged in the summer of last year when Tang began receiving queries from NGOs abroad. Gathering 34 local groups under the HKPA umbrella, she began liaising with activists around the world on how they could spread their message.
Getting disparate groups to march in step isn't easy, but in February, they reached a consensus on a plan of action. Besides organising three joint demonstrations - the first, a carnival-like march, took place on Sunday - the alliance would also help facilitate their activities in Hong Kong.
It's a struggle meeting the activists' different needs, although the alliance does its best given the limited resources. "Some groups ask to stage their own protests, so we give them the police telephone numbers and application forms for assembly, so they can apply themselves."
The alliance has had a tough time negotiating with police to remove the high fences confining the protesters to a tiny area off Hung Hing Road, some distance from the venue, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. "The Korean farmers were very angry when they saw the site. They said we were acting like the police and suppressing freedom of speech, but it wasn't what we wished either," says Tang.
There's frustration on the home front too - Tang says many Hongkongers misunderstand the aim of the protests, with many recalling riots during the Seattle talks rather than the issues: how some rich countries subsidise their farmers while insisting that other nations open for agricultural imports. "Society is negative about us, it's very discouraging. They criticise us for making trouble," she says.
But Tang is particularly disappointed with local media who seem interested in protest violence.
"Some visitors ask me why the Hong Kong media only concentrate on whether there will be violence, and few have an interest in what they say. Each day local reporters call to ask whether the Korean farmers plan any violent demonstration and seek my reactions to police actions. But when I talk about fair trade, many switch off their tape recorders and stop writing," she says.
Some organisations, such as Oxfam and the People's Council on Sustainable Development, are organising their own WTO-related events.
"It is difficult to get NGOs to listen to you; they all have strong opinions on things," says council chairman Albert Lai Kwong-tak. "It is incredible that they have gathered several hundreds of the groups to do three united rallies and activities. It is very successful."
Henri Gabriel Valot, secretary for Global Call to Action Against Poverty, gives the alliance a thumb's up for promoting team work.
"The HKPA has provided an excellent interface for all these international groups. They play an important role in co-ordinating the rallies, and arranging venues for us to have seminars and activities. Without them, it would be very difficult."
Unlike some of the groups, Tang and her union aren't calling for the dismantling of the WTO, arguing that a body promoting fair trade can replace inequitable bilateral agreements and benefit ordinary people. Their position is that "no deal is better than a bad deal", she says, urging world leaders to consider the plight of the poor in their decisions.
Some activists such as Valot are in two minds over whether more drastic action is needed to gain public attention. But Tang is promoting the power of peaceful demonstration.
Today, the activists will lead thousands of protesters to the Convention Centre, where they will mount demonstrations until dusk.
Tang insists the odds of the protests turning into chaos are slim. Nevertheless, she has a 500-strong squad of marshals ready to separate protesters should scuffles break out. Some groups have also volunteered to document any police violence, she says.
The police closure of schools and other institutions near the venue also have Tang worried. "Have they been tipped off? Will there be violence that I don't know of?" she asks.South China Morning Post
