TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Hong Kong artist AhTO (阿塗) created this prescient illustration of the famous Jumbo Floating Restaurant (珍寶海鮮舫) sinking to a watery grave to symbolize yet another loss of the city's institutions amid Beijing's crackdown on the territory in recent years.
On June 1, AhTo posted an illustration showing the Jumbo Floating Restaurant sinking to the bottom of the sea with the simple title, "Sink" (沉). In the original Facebook post, AhTo described the scene as "a microcosm of Hong Kong."
In the illustration, a statue of the Goddess of Democracy, a statue created during the Tiananmen Square protest, can be seen protruding from the sea bed. Also seen discarded and surrounded by seaweed is a statue of Lady Justice.
(Facebook, AhTO illustration)
True to AhTO's vision, Hong Kong's iconic landmark sank while being towed in the South China Sea on Sunday (June 19). The artist reposted the image on his Facebook page the next day and wrote in Cantonese, "I shouldn't have predicted it, I should slap myself in the face."
The original post gained 15,000 likes, while the reposted version has received 9,800 likes. On Tuesday (June 21), AhTO uploaded a cartoon joking the vessel was intentionally sunk to add to China's island-building campaign in the South China Sea.
(Facebook, AhTO illustration)
In the first frame, a captain of a tugboat pulling the restaurant is pictured saying, "We've arrived at the high seas," to which another member of the crew says, "What high seas?" The original sailor says in the second frame, "The entire South China Sea belongs to our China!"
The third frame shows the tugboat captain saying, "Hurry up and fill in more territory!" In the final frame, the tugboat appears to have cut the rope connecting it to Jumbo, as it begins to capsize.
