A Hong Kong dental clinic fired one of its dentists, Lee Ying-chi, for conducting a peaceful protest to mark the anniversary of an apparently government-sanctioned mob attack that occurred in 2019 (Streamline Feed, July 31, 2026).
Dr. Lee Ying-chi [shown above], a vocal member of the League of Social Democrats, was dismissed with immediate effect following her appearance at the Yuen Long MTR station on July 21, 2026. Her firing highlights a chilling reality for Hong Kong professionals: political expression, even when entirely peaceful and symbolic, carries immediate economic and professional ruin….
On the anniversary of the attack, Lee arrived at the Yuen Long station carrying a mini watermelon.
The watermelon was an allusion to the so-called Watermelon Man, one of the “alleged white-clad attackers who participated in the brutal 2019 assaults.”
Despite being arrested, he was never prosecuted by Hong Kong authorities, becoming a symbol of the perceived impunity granted to pro-establishment vigilantes. By displaying the watermelon, Lee was silently demanding accountability for a dark chapter in the city’s recent history….
On the night of July 21, over 100 men armed with rattan canes and metal rods stormed the Yuen Long MTR station. Dressed uniformly in white shirts, the mob indiscriminately attacked commuters, journalists, and returning protesters.
The government claimed that “it was a ‘gang fight’ between the white-clad men and a black-clad group. Pro-democracy protesters commonly wore black during the city’s 2019 protests and unrest.”
Whatever exactly happened in 2019, Lee Ying-chi’s bosses were unwilling to risk keeping her on after she had the temerity to publicly remind others of it. “They asked me to sympathise with their situation. They said the organisation is big, and if they don’t do this, it would affect the organisation’s partnership with the government.”
They asked her to resign. She wouldn’t. They fired her.
