Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project © Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project © Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project View all images ↓
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Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting documents the lives of Hong Kong asylum seekers in the UK, using a pinhole camera made from a suitcase. It sheds light on their overlooked stories through portraits, personal belongings, and memories of Hong Kong.

Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting transforms a suitcase from Hong Kong into a pinhole camera to document the stories of young Hong Kong asylum seekers in the United Kingdom. The project focuses on individuals aged 15–25 who grew up during Hong Kong’s mass protest movements but are legally excluded from the British National (Overseas) visa. Born after the 1997 handover, these young people were forced out of education to seek asylum and endure a state of prolonged, bureaucratic waiting—often alone and without additional financial support. As the 2020 National Security Law silences local media coverage of their stories, the work serves as an archive of a generation whose presence is being erased from both their homeland and their new host country.

Much of the lives of these asylum seekers is managed by the UK Home Office, which classifies this demographic as a "legal gap" due to their birth after July 1, 1997. While the BN(O) visa implies a humanitarian pathway, the 1997 handover date acts as a hard border that excludes the youth most active in the 2003, 2012, 2014, and 2019 protest movements. These individuals are located in temporary housing across the UK, waiting years for status in a system that bars them from the very education they were forced to leave behind. This exclusion is rooted in the unresolved historical relationship between the UK and China—a systemic failure that leaves the most active participants of the 2019 protests in a state of statelessness within the borders of their former sovereign power.

To document the asylum seekers’ individual stories, a suitcase from Hong Kong transformed into a pinhole camera to photograph their portraits and personal belongings. Alongside these images are the participants’ hand-drawn memories of home, written daily routines, and disposable camera photos of their new lives. Each person also responded to the same set of 10 questions — including: What does time mean to you? Who do you miss the most? If you could return to Hong Kong for a day, what would you do? Together with text describing how they arrived in the UK and their reflections, the book explores loss, forced displacement, and memory, asking how we carry on when the home is taken away and becomes a place of no return.

This project is a candidate for PhMuseum 2026 Photography Grant

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© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project
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M, in his temporary accommodation provided by the Home office in Greenwich, London. “I’m astonished at how quickly I turned 20. Looking back at the past four years, I am filled with a sense of dissatisfaction as if I have failed to accomplish anything meaningful. I’ve entered my twenties without any significant achievements. Time feels like an unforgiving ticking countdown.”

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project
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C, in his temporary accommodation provided by the Home office in Nottingham. “Home should be more than a mere survival ground. It should be a sanctuary where I can feel safe and truly live. As an asylum seeker, our lives are far from what you would consider “normal”. We survive on a £8 allowance per week, barely enough to cover transportation expenses."

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project
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G, in his temporary accommodation provided by the Home office in Manchester. “I feel a deep sense of indebtedness to my father, who worked tirelessly to support our family. Whenever thoughts of home arise, I can’t help but feel a sense of guilt because I once made a promise to my father that I would help support the family after graduating, but I couldn’t fulfil that promise."

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project
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N, in her temporary accommodation provided by the Home office in Portsmouth. “At times, it feels as if I am trapped in this place, unable to escape. I have lost the sense of time. I used to feel this sense of urgency; time was running out because there were so many things to do. Now, time is no longer important to me."

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project
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B, in her temporary accommodation provided by the Home office in Leeds. “If I could spend a day in Hong Kong, I would give my grandmother a hug and take her to a dim sum restaurant. We would watch TV together and have the soup she makes. Then, I would like to wander around Mong Kok and visit my teachers at my secondary school."

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project
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K, in her temporary accommodation provided by the Home office in Vauxhall, London. "There are many things I want to forget, but during the application process, they kept asking about my past, and I fear that if I don’t explain in detail, they might reject it. It feels like reopening old wounds repeatedly.”

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project
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J, in his temporary accommodation provided by the Home office in Warrington. “My mother cannot travel by flight, because of her health issues. And I am unable to return to Hong Kong. From the moment I left, I knew deep down that it might be the last time I saw her. Now, we can only see each other through video calls.”

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project
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R, in her temporary accommodation provided by the Home office in Sheffield. "Because of my refugee status, there are many things I cannot do. Handling payment-related matters is also very difficult for me as a refugee. I encounter numerous subtle reminders that highlight my differences from others on a daily basis.”

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project
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W, in his temporary accommodation provided by the Home office in Coventry. “It is unjust that I was compelled to leave for standing up for my home, and defending Hong Kong. Hong Kong rightfully belongs to its own people, the people of Hong Kong. I miss my younger sister, at times I feel like I haven’t fulfilled my responsibilities as a brother."

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project
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S, in his temporary accommodation provided by the Home office in Birmingham. "I feel like time is never enough. While my friends in Hong Kong have graduated and started to pursue their careers, I feel as though I have been stagnant or have faded away in these past few years. Time is running out, and there is a lot I need to catch up on.”

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project
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J's personal object "It contains all the documents related to my arrest. It was all I had when I arrived in the UK. Without it, I would feel like I have nothing here. I am afraid of playing this CD and confronting the video recording of my arrest at the police station. It feels like opening Pandora’s box, and I would rather keep it closed forever."

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project
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S's personal object "It used to hang on the wall of my home in Hong Kong. The night before I left Hong Kong, my mother took it down so I could bring it with me."

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project
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M's personal object "A necklace which brings in symbolises good fortune which I’ve been eagerly waiting for. I hope that things will get better soon."

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project
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N's personal object "This is the only thing from my childhood that I have vivid memories of. It reminds me of the unique happiness that is found during childhood, when we still had the ability to find joy in something as simple as a soft toy."

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - Image from the Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting photography project
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B's personal object "A medical certificate.It is the proof of the medical examination I underwent after being arrested, reminding me why I am here now."

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - C's disposable camera contact sheet
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C's disposable camera contact sheet

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - M's disposable camera contact sheet
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M's disposable camera contact sheet

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - K's disposable camera contact sheet
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K's disposable camera contact sheet

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - S's disposable camera contact sheet
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S's disposable camera contact sheet

© Siu Bon Deacon Lui - N's disposable camera contact sheet
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N's disposable camera contact sheet

Every Time They Ask, We Say We’re Waiting by Siu Bon Deacon Lui

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