Collective Value-Laden Grief Among Hongkongers: We Left, We Grieve, We Live

This qualitative study aimed to examine the collective grief of Hongkongers who have left their hometown and moved to the United Kingdom following the 2019 social movement in Hong Kong. Seventeen participants underwent an in-depth interview. Reflexive thematic analysis was conducted. The main theme, “Collective value-laden grief: Double loss of hometown,” and three subthemes, “Left but still care,” “I am a Hongkonger,” “In values: We grieve, we live” were identified. Participants revealed their value-laden grief over their double loss—the symbolic loss of their hometown, like the loss of freedom, and the loss of leaving the hometown physically. They grieved because of the values they upheld for Hong Kong, but they also left with these values. It is the values that connect individual grief that becomes collective grief. Participants still showed great concern about the socio-political changes in their hometown, and they maintained a strong Hongkonger identity which they perceived to be defined by values, including supporting freedom and justice. Shared values may facilitate their articulation of grief and mutual support among other Hongkongers but also motivate them to live and integrate into life in the UK. The findings have helped us to reflect on the role of values in shaping collective grief and how values may be addressed in supporting people with collective grief at individual and collective levels. Following the socio-political changes in Hong Kong, some Hongkongers left their hometown. We grieve but continue to live with the grief and our values genuinely.


Introduction
Collective grief is not well defined and conceptualized in the literature.Several terms have been used, sometimes interchangeably, to illustrate the phenomenon that a certain number of people are grieving together (Wagoner & de Luna, 2021), such as "collective grief " (Reneau & Eanes, 2022), "public grief " (Jackson & Usher, 2015) and "public mourning" (Walter, 2008).The focus, however, has been on the collective acts and rituals of remembering the deceased in disasters or terrorist attacks, or deceased public figures and celebrities (Walter, 2008).Collective grief in the name of public mourning has mainly received discussion from a sociological perspective, which may be traced to Durkheim's notion for its social function (Jackson & Usher, 2015).Yet, understanding collective grief merely from public mourning may limit the focus to death-related losses and overlook non-death losses.For example, the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had may not only bring collective grief over the enormous number of deaths but also more intangible, abstract and subtle losses, such as of normal routines (McDuffie et al., 2021;Reneau & Eanes, 2022).People may also experience political grief at a collective level when they grieve the loss of values due to political events (Harris, 2022).
A recent study which focused on the symbolic loss of hometown among Hongkongers following the 2019 social movement there also revealed that collective grief was experienced by participants who "experienced close relationships with Hong Kong, who had a strong identity as Hongkongers, and who shared and supported the core values of the old Hong Kong, such as freedom and justice" (Chan, 2024, p. 325).This 2019 social movement in Hong Kong (SMHK2019) started when the government insisted on proposing the extradition law amendment bill which would allow the government to send people in Hong Kong back to mainland China for trial.Hongkongers showed great objection to this change, as they worried that it may lead to unfair trials under the judicial system in China (Cai, 2021).The government refused to withdraw the bill completely despite the peaceful protests of Hongkongers, in which over 2million people participated (Ku, 2020).Later, the movement became a protest against police brutality, and a fight for freedom and democracy (Chan, 2024;Chan et al., 2019).The findings of Chan (2024) enriched the conceptualization of collective grief via this social movement by indicating the connection to shared experience, relationships, identity and values.Young Hongkongers grieved the loss of hometown, in which their understanding of the city was shattered by the loss of freedom and the rule of law, but their love was connected deeply to their complex relationships with the city (Chan, 2024).But unlike other well-defined concepts in the grief literature, like "ambiguous loss" (Boss, 2007) and "disenfranchised grief " (Doka, 2019), collective grief may require further empirical studies in order to enrich our understanding of this phenomenon.
Following the SMHK2019, Beijing has increased control over the city, including the passing of the National Security Law in Hong Kong (Lo, 2021).Some Hongkongers left their hometown.Over 140,000 moved to the United Kingdom (UK) using the British National Overseas (BNO) visa scheme offered by the British government (Home Office of the British Government, 2024).This is a kind of humanitarian scheme provided by the British government which offers a route to citizenship to Hongkongers who obtained the BNO visa and their close family members, as a response to the deterioration of the political situation of Hong Kong following the passing of the National Security Law, considered by the British government as breaching the Sino-British Joint Declaration.The declaration promised that a high degree of autonomy, freedom and rights would be given to Hongkongers after the end of the British colonization of Hong Kong on 1 July 1997.Hongkongers who obtained the BNO visa, unlike refugees who have to apply for asylum, are entitled to work and study in the UK immediately (BBC, 2020;The Guardian, 2020).Building on the previous work on collective grief of young Hongkongers following SMHK2019, this study aimed to further examine the collective grief of Hongkongers who left their hometown and moved to the UK.

Participants
This study aimed to recruit adults aged 18 or above who had moved to the UK after the British government's announcement of the BNO visa scheme in July 2020 and had been living in the UK for at least three months.Other inclusion criteria include being Cantonese speaking and originally Hong Kong permanent residents.

Recruitment and procedures
Recruitment for this study was first conducted by sending invitations by email and a messaging app via the personal network of the author.The author also encouraged those who received the invitation to forward it to people they thought may be interested in joining.Snowball sampling was adopted to encourage participants who joined this study to help recruit new participants.Purposive sampling was also adopted later, which aimed to increase variations in sampling, such as age and educational background.All participants were aware that this study is about grief and loss and provided their written consent.Research ethics approval was granted by the Survey and Behavioral Research Committee of the university that the author was affiliated with at that time .
The author conducted all semi-structured interviews based on an interview guide via an online platform.The interview often started by the interviewer asking when and why participants decided to leave Hong Kong and move to the UK, focusing on whether socio-political changes in Hong Kong in recent years might be an underlying reason.They were invited to share their grief and loss, if any, about leaving.The interviews were audio-recorded.Data collection was conducted between October 2021 and June 2022.

Data analysis
Interviews were transcribed to text, and the transcripts were sent to participants for member checking.Reflexive thematic analysis was used, which emphasizes the researcher's reflexivity and subjectivity in interpreting and conceptualizing the data and in turn generating the codes and themes (Braun & Clarke, 2019, 2021).This article focused on the collective grief of participants, and this inevitably provides a general deductive orientation for the researcher in coding the data.Based on previous work (Chan, 2024), the researcher tended to look for codes which may relate participants' sharing of the grieving experience with their collective identity as Hongkongers and their relationships with their hometown.But the researcher also remained open in analyzing the data inductively.This approach is consistent with what reflexive thematic analysis would like to achieve: being reflexive about the position of a researcher which acknowledges the composition of deductive and inductive analyses (Braun & Clarke, 2021;Byrne, 2022).

Findings
A total of 17 participants (11 female, 6 male) joined this study.The length of stay in the UK ranged from 3.5 months to 17 months, with a mean of 9.7 months.Profile of participants is shown in Table 1.The main theme, "Collective value-laden grief: Double loss of hometown," was identified.Three subthemes were included to help illustrate how the value-laden grief of participants was manifested: "Left but still care," "I am a Hongkonger," and "In values: We grieve, we live."

Collective value-laden grief: Double loss of hometown
This main theme aimed to illustrate participants' collective grief as "value-laden" over their double loss: the symbolic loss and the actual leaving of their hometown.How participants' sharing of their individual grief could be interpreted as collective grief lying in the values rooted in their losses.They shared grief over the symbolic loss of the old Hong Kong in recent years, particularly following SMHK2019.They often mentioned the loss of core values in their hometown-loss of freedom of speech and the press, justice, and rule of law-which in turn brought turbulent emotional grief reactions, such as anger, heartbreaking sadness, and the most common, helplessness and powerlessness.Their individual grief was connected by these shared values to form their collective value-laden grief.
Gwyneth, who had moved to UK with her husband and two daughters, shared the following:  My deepest feeling is powerlessness.We used to uphold those beliefs, values, free-dom…we did not feel threatened and restrained in the past.But in a short time, all this was lost.The most ridiculous is…now because of your speech…You did not feel that threat before, but now you see the chilling effect on freedom of speech.I feel that white terror.
Participants also experienced collective grief over another loss of hometown: the physical leaving.They shared the nostalgia-missing the food, beautiful scenery, and people-and their grief over personal losses.These losses include the familiarity they experienced in their hometown, the close ties with family members and friends living in Hong Kong, not being able to take care of aging parents, and their career, which developed in Hong Kong over the years.Jimmy, in his forties, migrated to the UK with his wife and two children.He shared: I miss my mother [who is living in Hong Kong] very much.On one occasion, when I had just finished work… my mother's image popped up in my mind.I may sometimes think of my mother, but that moment…I missed her so much that I cried.I cannot explain why I was like that.
But again, their individual grief converged as a kind of collective grief when we can understand the values underlying their decision to leave their hometown: their resistance to the deterioration of the socio-political situation in Hong Kong.Agnes, in her forties, moved to the UK with her partner.She said: It is mainly due to SMHK2019.This incident made me realise that this government does not listen to our voices and is autocratic.The authorities' power has been expanded and you are not allowed to speak out.People who just participated in ordinary assembly, or politicians in the society were prosecuted.Then, I think I can no longer stay in Hong Kong.
All participants somehow related their leaving with the symbolic loss of their hometown although more personal considerations were involved in the decision-making process, such as the feasibility of leaving, the perceived risk of staying in Hong Kong and the educational prospects of children.
The values underlying their grief were particularly manifested when the majority of them claimed that this is not an ordinary meaning of "migration." They felt that they were forced by the authorities to flee Hong Kong, as they could not tolerate the socio-political changes-which they perceived as unacceptable losses in relation to their values of upholding freedom and justice.
Hang-tung, in her forties, moved to the UK with her husband and two children.She said: It is not migration, for me, it is a kind of fleeing…From the positive side, we choose to leave but in the form of fleeing.But the context is fleeing…but of course people with other beliefs did not perceive it like this.But for us, we feel as if we have no choice…this is the only way.Otherwise, either you need to become a chauvinist or….but you don't know how you may resist.Either you become depressed or anx-ious…Either you witness your children becoming someone you don't want them to be or…in my case….probably my daughter cannot tolerate it and she will be convicted [if she stays].
However, the collective grief of some participants was also rooted in their values, but instead of perceiving their leaving as forced, they considered it their pursuit of a new life and living, which is more congruent with their values.Their grief over leaving, the actual loss of Hong Kong, was complicated by the symbolic loss.They experienced ambivalent and paradoxical feelings about leaving: they missed their hometown, but that hometown was actually lost and thus they may wonder if they really miss this place.

Left but we still care
This sub-theme helps to illustrate how participants' collective grief over the double loss of hometown could be manifested in their continuous connections with Hong Kong.They seemed to tell us that they left, but they still care very much about their hometown.Participants, despite varied in that regard, showed concern about the socio-political situation of their hometown.Some participants still experienced strong emotional grief reactions in their symbolic loss of hometown-seeing what was happening in Hong Kong, which they considered ridiculous.Again, their emotions are rooted in their values, which made them continue to react to the perceived losses of Hong Kong.Benny, in his sixties, moved to the UK with his wife.He said: I still feel angry watching the Hong Kong news now…when seeing the forced closure of different media, like Apple Daily and Stand News.I think that anger is the same as when I was living in Hong Kong.But the difference perhaps is that I can have my reactions; I can express my reactions here.If I was still in Hong Kong, perhaps I dare not express my anger.
But their collective grief was also affected by the actual loss-leaving.Being physically out of Hong Kong, some participants felt a bit detached, relieved and grateful, as they were not affected personally by the ruling of the authorities now.They now lived in a place which may be more congruent with their values but that also induced guilt and powerlessness in witnessing the loss of hometown when living away from it.Tiffany, in her twenties, moved to the UK alone.She shared the following: I had survival guilt…and that's why I keep looping the Hong Kong news.I think I am selfish if I don't keep watching it.I got the chance to leave and do not need to suffer from what is happening in Hong Kong.I may thus overcompensate…because I cannot contribute much but also cannot suffer with them….If I no longer feel sad after watching the news and become numb… then I will be worried about that.

I am a Hongkonger
This sub-theme further illustrated how their collective grief over the double loss of hometown is related to their identity as a Hongkonger, which they often defined as upholding certain core values and beliefs-not only like freedom and justice, but also being considerate and responsible as citizens.They were proud of being a Hongkonger with these values and qualities.Values became the latent connection between their Hongkonger identity and their collective grief.Hang-tung shared: I am a Hongkonger forever.Until my death, I am still a Hongkonger.I fully understand why we left…no matter if we perceive it our choice or being forced to leave.We will be with this Hongkonger identity…which connotes our personal growth…we learnt to understand what values are correct, like freedom and the rule of law.We brought this identity together with these values and beliefs when we left our hometown.
Many participants particularly wanted to differentiate their identity as a Hongkonger from others, in which they perceived that Hongkongers had their own values and shared different ideologies and cultures.This identity is defined by values rather than ethnicity.Hiu-nam, in her forties, moved to the UK with her husband and son.She shared the following: We have our own culture…maybe other people may say you are still Chinese like they are.But are we the same?No…we are different in our heart.We are honest and frank.If we do not accept some values, we will say no.We won't just fanatically say I love the country but physically reside overseas.We are forced to leave…we really love Hong Kong.Hongkongers are more authentic and consistent.

In values: We grieve, we live
This sub-theme describes how values played a role in supporting participants in coping with their collective grief over the double loss of hometown while adjusting to UK life.Participants all shared their great efforts in adjustment despite living with different levels of grief.Some participants perceived that mutual understanding and support among "fellow travellers" (literally "people walking on the same road" in Cantonese) who share similar values is crucial for coping with their grief.Chung-yiu, in his thirties, moved to the UK alone.He shared the following: Among those who were fleeing together from Hong Kong and those who worked together in the movement, the trust is high.Otherwise, I will be very cautious about sharing things about the 2014 and 2019 social movements…If I understand we come from the same stand and network, I will share.Otherwise, I will be cautious….It is not easy to find someone to suddenly share with.I want to share with others, as a way to vent the sadness.

Gwyneth also shared:
We come from a generation of people "moving to the UK"…Three of us were crying together…we used a whole package of tissues.We shared our feelings, and our grief echoed.We shared that loss and separation…too sudden, and we were forced [by the authorities] to leave.
Others downplayed their expression of grief but adopted more action-oriented coping by emphasizing their adjustment and integration.They also facilitated other Hongkongers' adjustment and integration in the new environment.Yet, these coping strategies may also reflect their determination to maintain and uphold values through action.Ka-shing, in his forties, moved to the UK with his wife and two children.He shared the following: I cannot open books about SMHK2019, the 721 incident [An incident happened in Yuen Long, a town in the New Territories of Hong Kong, in which a group of thugs indiscriminately attacked citizens with no police intervention and claimed to protect their homeland against the protestors (Lee et al., 2019)].If I open those books, the memories will emerge, and I will inevitably feel heartbroken.Thus, I dare not open the books.Maybe I can do so one day…but not now.What I need to do is to look forward, survive and re-establish my home here.I need to work very hard to face life…I told others that I deliberately avoid reviewing the past too much; otherwise, I cannot have the energy to adjust proactively.My role now is to let other Hongkongers know that it is not that difficult to move to the UK.I hope I can perform this role and help those who haven't decided to make a move.

Discussion
Our findings on the main theme and three sub-themes show that participants experienced a type of collective grief after their move to the UK following the SMHK2019 which is value-laden: people grieve together because they share the values (e.g.freedom and rule of law) and experience similar losses.Collective value-laden grief, instead of focusing on public acts of mourning (e.g.collective rituals) (Walter, 2008), may help enhance our understanding of the way individual grief turns into collective grief.In facing non-death losses which may be more symbolic and ambiguous, individual grief may be connected by shared values to form collective grief.In other words, people grieve together because of their shared values over the losses.Along this line, if one type of collective grief is value-laden, this study may also lead us to reflect on other types of collective grief.For example, our previous study of collective grief among young Hongkongers following SMHK2019 indicated that their collective grief may not only be connected by the values but also their love for the hometown.Therefore, it may be worth proposing that collective grief could also be emotion-laden.For example, the collective grief over the death of celebrities or public figures could be understood as a type of collective emotion-laden grief in which people grieve together due to their shared emotions (e.g.shock and sadness at the death of Kobe Bryant due to an accident) (Bingaman, 2022).
In fact, our findings do not imply that collective grief is purely value-laden, but values are central in understanding the grief of our participants.Alternatively, in grieving other losses, emotion-laden grief may become central.The typology of collective grief may also help us to better understand how it has resulted.For example, people may experience collective grief over the enormous number of deaths during COVID-19 even though they may not experience the death of their loved ones.This type of collective grief could be better understood if we understand that this type of grief is more value-laden than emotion-laden: people grieve together because of their shared values in humanity or in some cases justice (Cooper & Williams, 2020).Future studies can be conducted to provide more evidence of the different types of collective grief (e.g.value-laden, emotion-laden, and mixed types), which may help conceptualize and understand collective grief over different losses.
In addition, our findings indicate that participants' grief may be complicated by their double loss-the symbolic loss of hometown and the loss of physically leaving the hometown.The awareness that the impact had on experiencing different types of losses, both actual and symbolic, and their interactions may be important in supporting grieving people.For example, just focusing on Hongkongers' nostalgic grief (e.g.missing the cuisine of the hometown) and ignoring their grief over the symbolic loss of hometown (e.g.grieving the loss of freedom) may lose the essence of supporting them.Similarly, such insight may be used to understand and support people who experience both the death of a loved one and the symbolic losses during the COVID-19 pandemic (Kumar, 2023).
Our findings on the sub-themes "Left but we still care" and "I am a Hongkonger" further reveal that our participants, though they left their hometown and migrated to the UK, experienced something different from migratory grief.Migratory grief has been conceptualized to include two components, "identity discontinuity" and "attachment to homeland" (Casado et al., 2010;Chang et al., 2023).Our first sub-theme may be comparable to "attachment to homeland," in which participants also showed great concern about the hometown.In fact, participants also shared their nostalgic yearning for Hong Kong, but the attachment to homeland was complicated by ambivalent feeling, including detachment and relief, yet anger, helplessness and guilt toward the socio-political changes of their hometown.Our second sub-theme can be comparable to "identity discontinuity," but instead of showing doubts or getting lost in their identity, the majority of our participants maintained a strong identity as Hongkongers.It seems that their grief does not come from the confusion of self as a result of moving to the UK (Casado et al., 2010); instead, their grief over the symbolic loss of hometown is rooted in their Hongkonger identity, often defined by the values, beliefs and culture that they uphold.Despite the subtheme "I am a Hongkonger" being very specific, the implications of findings may also lead us to reflect on how a strong identity affiliated with the hometown may bring pros and cons to people in both voluntary and forced migration (Huang et al., 2018).
All these findings suggest that the collective grief of the participants who left Hong Kong and moved to the UK cannot be understood merely as migratory grief.Instead, it can be better understood if we realize that it is value-laden, which is directly related to the double loss: the symbolic loss of hometown (e.g.loss of freedom) and the actual loss of leaving the hometown physically (e.g.perceived as being forced by the authorities to leave).
Our findings on the sub-theme "In values: We grieve, we live" particularly indicate the centrality of values in coping with their collective grief, irrespective of their preferred coping styles (e.g.some were more intuitive, like sharing grief with others who shared their values; some were more instrumental, like living to become a good example of a Hongkonger) (Martin & Doka, 2000).Our findings also suggest that participants may find it difficult to share their collective grief with others either because their losses are ambiguous, especially for those who do not share their values (Boss, 2021), or they encountered practical barriers, like lacking trust in people who do not share their values, or the people with whom they can share live far away from them.Therefore, our findings may help reflect the way we may support people with collective value-laden grief at both individual and collective levels.At the individual level, it may be important to consider how we may integrate the values which lead to the loss in supporting people who experience the grief.For example, a meaning-oriented approach in grief therapy may be a good match for working with meanings and values, such as helping grieving Hongkongers to understand, accept and search for the meaning in their grief via acknowledging the values and beliefs, but also their occasional doubts underlying the losses (Neimeyer, 2017;Neimeyer & Wogrin, 2008).It would be also be important for helping grieving Hongkongers to rebuild and reestablish their new life in the UK, where their values become the motivation and the will-to-meaning (Frankl, 1988;Lukas & Schönfeld, 2019).For example, it may be therapeutic, if Hongkongers, despite all the difficulties, may find the meaning in leaving their hometown by seeing how they may now live more authentically in a place where freedom of speech is allowed and where they may experience freedom from fear.Values become the key area which may help connect the loss-orientation and restoration orientation in coping with the losses (Stroebe & Schut, 2010).At the collective level, a public health approach could be used to develop online resources for the community of Hongkongers who experienced the collective value-laden grief after residing in the UK (Breen et al., 2022;Ummel et al., 2022).For example, an online hub with songs, poems, and life stories which acknowledge their values and value-laden grief may provide great comfort to Hongkongers who may otherwise find it hard to share their grief.

Reflexivity of a researcher
When I wrote this article, I had left my hometown, Hong Kong, and had been living in the UK for over a year.My personal experience over this time has inevitably affected my understanding and conceptualization, and generation of themes.SMHK2019 remains a historical event that many Hongkongers and I will never forget.Therefore, I acknowledge that this experience has affected my generation of themes.In that sense, this is not only their grief, but "our" collective grief.I also saw the continuity between this study and my previous study on the collective grief of young Hongkongers following SMHK2019 (Chan, 2024): the impact the aftermath had on the social movement, including the drastic socio-political changes, no matter whether they stayed in or left the hometown, whether younger or older.
I saw the centrality of values in our collective grief, and I was aware that the values have given me meaning in coping with my grief.But my reflections on values have also made me better realize their limits.Valueladen grief is still grief, and at times that grief is heartbreaking.But grief does evolve over time.I may now become more available to reflect on this value-laden grief.Shared values join people in this collective grief, but we may also need to be conscious of its exclusiveness.For example, children following their parents' decision to move to the UK may be too young to share and understand this collective value-laden grief, and in turn they may feel upset and frustrated about this move.Alternatively, I am also aware of my ambivalent feelings when seeing people who seem to have forgotten SMHK2019 and the values underlying in this event.
Will value-laden grief become more disenfranchized by the authorities when propaganda would like to deny the losses and even reframe the socio-political changes as gains (Chan, 2024;Doka, 2019)?Will we Hongkongers one day surrender and change to see the positives in all these losses?Although it may be difficult for others to understand this collective value-laden grief, as long as our values are upheld, we may continue to share it with this world: We are experiencing this collective grief, but we are also living with our grief and values genuinely.I am also aware that the collective grief over the intangible loss of hometown may not only be experienced by Hongkongers but also people who may be forced to leave their hometown for various socio-political reasons (Hou et al., 2020).

Conclusion
This study continues to describe how Hongkongers were affected by SMHK2019.Participants shared a kind of collective value-laden grief over the symbolic loss of the hometown and the actual loss of leaving.Their values, like upholding freedom and justice, connected their individual grief to form collective grief.Despite leaving, they revealed a strong identity as Hongkongers and showed great concern about their hometown.They grieve, but they also live with their grief, and values have become the key which may facilitate their coping with both grieving and living.

Table 1 .
Profile of participants.
age Gender Education level Job area/work status (in Hong Kong) Job area/ work status (in the uK)