What my father Jimmy Lai teaches me from behind bars
Imprisoned Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai's daughter wrote a personal account describing his journey from communist China to solitary confinement and his enduring gentleness despite receiving a 20-year sentence.
According to Washington Examiner, Jimmy Lai was born to a well-to-do family in mainland China shortly before the communist takeover transformed his relatives into enemies of the state. His father fled to Hong Kong seeking opportunity, while his grandmother faced daily public humiliation, forced to kneel on broken glass each morning as a warning to others about what befalls families of those who escape.
From age 8, Lai worked as a train station porter, growing up fatherless and learning survival through hardship rather than guidance. At 12, he escaped to Hong Kong where he labored his way to success as a business and media entrepreneur through determination and integrity.
His daughter recalls a private tenderness that contrasts sharply with his public reputation for toughness. She remembers him comforting her after her brother and cousin cut her hair, promising professionals could make it grow back. He rewarded her academic achievements with ham, cheese, or books, and spent an hour consoling her by phone after she failed to complete her first college exams due to poor time management.
Lai’s newspaper, Apple Daily, defended the freedoms promised to Hong Kong citizens by the communist government in mainland China. After pro-democracy demonstrations drew nearly a quarter of the city’s population to the streets, authorities launched a crackdown on dissent.
The media entrepreneur was arrested, tried, and convicted for his commitment to freedom. On February 9, 2026, having already served over five years, he received an additional 20-year prison sentence for believing in freedom and supporting a marketplace of ideas and information. For Lai, who turns 79 this year, the sentence amounts to life imprisonment, as Washington Examiner reports.
He has spent all but two days of his five and a half years behind bars in solitary confinement. His health is deteriorating rapidly. During summer months, he suffers painful heat rashes in a tiny cell where temperatures reach 110 degrees without proper ventilation.
Family visits were reduced early in his imprisonment to just 24 hours annually, roughly 30 minutes per week. Yet his daughter describes his generosity of spirit as boundless. In his most recent letter, he first asked about her birthday, expressing how much he wished to celebrate with her.
The imprisoned publisher remains wise and practical even in captivity. He reminded his daughter not to regard helping others as a burden but as a privilege, both to be able to assist them and to recognize the value in doing so. This conviction has only strengthened during imprisonment.
He unites his suffering with prayer for others, viewing it not as a burden he can shed but as a privilege and blessing he feels unworthy of receiving. When his daughter resists praying for those who have mistreated him, he reminds her how fortunate they are to know God’s grace and how desperately others need it.
Lai quickly forgives wrongs but never forgets kindness. He prays for those who wrong him, whether guards or people who have celebrated his downfall. When he struggles with forgiveness, he asks God to help him overcome his shortcomings and encourages his daughter to do likewise. Yet he remembers every generous gesture ever shown to him, even those received as a child.
During his trials, a glass defendant’s box held Lai for most proceedings. A gap in the glass allowed his daughter to insert her hand and squeeze his for the first few years. Guards turned a blind eye, perhaps sensing their stubborn natures or possessing their own sense of mercy.
With information from Washington Examiner
