Shiu Ka-chun (; 3 June 1969 – 10 January 2025) was a Hong Kong social worker and activist, and a lecturer at

Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) is a public Liberal arts education, liberal arts university with a Christian ethics, Christian education heritage in Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The university was established as Hong Kong Baptist ...

. He was one of leaders in the

2014 Hong Kong protests A series of sit-in street protests, often called the Umbrella Revolution and sometimes used interchangeably with Umbrella Movement, or Occupy Movement, occurred in Hong Kong from 26 September to 15 December 2014. The protests began after th ...

. In 2016, he was elected to the

Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, colloquially known as LegCo, is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under People's Republic of China, China's "one country, two systems" c ...

through the

Social Welfare Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance p ...

functional constituency. Shiu resigned along with 14 other remaining pro-democracy legislators from the Legislative Council on 11 November 2020, after the central government had unseated four of pro-democracy legislators the same day.

Early life, activism, and term in Legislative Council

Shiu was a social worker and activist, and a onetime lecturer and associate director of the Centre for Youth Research and Practice at

. He participated in social movements and some illegal protests, including in the

, a 79-day-long

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

against the Beijing government's restrictions on the electoral method of choosing the

Chief Executive of Hong Kong The chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and head of the Government of Hong Kong. The position was created to replace the office of Governor of ...

. He was one of the core members, along with the Occupy Central trio, Benny Tai, Chan Kin-man and Chu Yiu-ming. He voluntarily reported to police after the trio and Cardinal

Joseph Zen Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, SDB (, born 13 January 1932) is a Chinese Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Hong Kong from 2002 to 2009. He was made a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 and has been outspoken on issues regarding human rig ...

had done the same, towards the end of the Occupy event in early December 2014. In 2016, he was elected to the

through the

functional constituency. On 24 April 2019, Shiu was sentenced to eight months in prison after having been convicted, two weeks earlier, of public nuisance charges in relation to the protests in 2014. The following day, Shiu was taken to hospital due to an irregular heartbeat. Having recovered from a successful

angioplasty Angioplasty, also known as balloon angioplasty and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, is a minimally invasive procedure, minimally invasive endovascular surgery, endovascular Medical procedure, procedure used to widen narrowed or obstructe ...

procedure, Shiu was transferred to prison by 7 May; his application for leave of absence to attend Legislative Council meetings was refused by prison authorities. After his release, Shiu was advised by Hong Kong Baptist University in January 2020 to stop teaching pending a disciplinary review, and in late July 2020 that his contract as lecturer would not be renewed beyond August. Pointing to his excellent evaluations in teaching by students and the department head, Shiu said that the decision had "totally been a matter of political persecution". On 11 November 2020, Shiu resigned from the Legislative Council together with 14 remaining pro-democratic legislators in protest over the unseating of four pro-democratic legislators through a ruling by the central government on the same day. Drawing on his personal experience of imprisonment in 2019 for his involvement in the Occupy Central movement, Shiu learned about and began to focus on prisoner rights and prison conditions. Later he founded the prisoner rights support and advocacy group Wall-fare to provide support to those imprisoned for their participation in the 2019 Hong Kong anti-government protests. Wall-fare also addressed prison living conditions and advocated for prison reform, such as exposing the

Correctional Services Department The Correctional Services Department (CSD) is responsible for the management of prisoners and prisons in Hong Kong. The Commissioner of Correctional Services reports to the Secretary for Security. History Although the Chief Magistrate (now C ...

's interference with inmates' "private meals" and highlighting issues of excessive heat within prisons. Due to pressure from various sources including political pressure, Shiu announced the disbandment of Wall-fare in September 2021, bringing an end to the organization's operations.

Illness and death

In early November 2024, Shiu wrote on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

that he had felt stomach discomfort the previous month and that, after an initial diagnosis with

gastritis Gastritis is the inflammation of the lining of the stomach. It may occur as a short episode or may be of a long duration. There may be no symptoms but, when symptoms are present, the most common is upper abdominal pain (see dyspepsia). Othe ...

and a later suspicion by specialists of a duodenal obstruction, he had been diagnosed with

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...

. He had then undergone surgery to remove half of his stomach, resulting in him losing 15 kilograms of weight. In early January 2025, Shiu stated on social media that due to the worsening of his condition, he had begun

palliative care Palliative care (from Latin root "to cloak") is an interdisciplinary medical care-giving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating or reducing suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Man ...

. Shiu died of stomach cancer at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong, on 10 January 2025, at the age of 55.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shiu, Ka-chun 1969 births 2025 deaths Hong Kong social workers Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2012–2017 HK LegCo Members 2016–2021 Alumni of Hong Kong Baptist University Political prisoners held by Hong Kong Deaths from cancer in Hong Kong Deaths from stomach cancer Prisoners' rights activists