Singaporeans, in general, are not accustomed to the concept of protests and associate them with violence, disruption and futility. Hence, it's an eye-opener when we chance upon protests although in many cases; we do our best to avoid.
When we were in Hong Kong in July 2019, we had to make a big detour to Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier from sky100 observatory as some roads were closed due to an approved protest. I did my best to avoid but i got curious when i saw people looking out by the railings of a overhead pedestrian bridge.
Throngs of protesters at the far end but their route didn't cut through where we were. Frankly, this particular anti-extradition bill protest was still relatively controlled with much less anger, although there were signs in the next few weeks pointing to increasing escalation.
Closure of the MTR station's entrances was announced on the digital signage. It was orderly and surprisingly didn't result in any confusion and chaos.
What i didn't expect was how close we were to the action. It should have been a telltale sign when we chanced upon one of the now many Lennon Walls near Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier; filled with handwritten post-its notes encouraging Hong Kongers to forge ahead, i saw participation from both the young and the old.
And i started receiving airdrop messages pertaining the demands of the protest! Before this, i actually didn't know we could drop messages this way among iPhone users!
I could literally just walk 10 meters and be part of the rally! Honestly, i am keen to check out the protests; however, our dear Alex was dead against my idea. :(
It was drizzling but it sure didn't dampen the spirits of the protesters! "Organisers claimed more than 230,000 attended the march, while police estimated around 56,000 only". If you were to ask me, i didn't feel there were that many people.
Whatever the case, let's just continue to stay away.
=====
For the summary of my seven days' itinerary to Hong Kong (with a day trip to Shenzhen), please click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment