What passes for "normal" these days in Hong Kong

 

 There are visible scars in the landscape in Hong Kong these days

One shudders to think of the fiery horror that ensued

on these steps and overhead pedestrian walkway

by Hong Kong Polytechnic University :(

 

I have to be honest: I am still trying to process what ensued this past weekend; especially on Sunday.  For as if the events of Saturday were not bad enough, Sunday saw horrifying scenes play out in shopping malls where people had gathered to chant and sing in protest -- and, in one case, play the violin -- and the streets of Mongkok after the police turned up to turn Mother's Day into a nightmare (a la Halloween last year).

It's bad enough that they assaulted and arrested protestors (including some who are really on the young side and apparently were doing not much more than singing Glory to Hong Kong).  But they also fired pepper balls inside a shopping mall (causing agony to people who inhaled the pepper, including a baby who had been at a food court with its mother), targeted first aiders (not for the first time), journalists (ditto), lawmakers (yet again) and just about any one in the vicinity, really.  All this to cap a week in which the police really have behaved badly in so many ways.  

Ironically, yesterday saw me venturing into the part of Hong Kong which had seen quite a bit of police along with protest action -- for an appointment with my dentist, whose clinic is located in Mongkok.  Not even 24 hours after scenes like this and this had occured in the area, Mongkok was sort of back to normal -- in that shops were open for business (including well-supported yellow eateries), there were vehicles going about on the street and pedestrians on the sidewalks.  

Except that, if you really look around, you can see the physical scars of encounters between police and protestors on its very physical landscape.  And when you talk to people in Hong Kong these days, many of them will admit to feeling more worried or downright fearful for their own personal safety but also Hong Kong's too (and this without even taking into account the ongoing Wuhan coronavirus pandemic!). 

With regards to the latter: it really doesn't help to learn that, in their wake of their violently putting a stop to the pro-democrats' filibustering in the Legislative Council on Saturday, the Hong Kong government confirmed today that the controversial National Anthem Bill will top the list of 10 government bills tabled to the full Legislative Council on May 27th.  Oh, and yesterday saw Carrie Lam accusing educators of "poisoning" students when, if anything, Hong Kong's school system should be applauded for having incalculated critical thinking in its pupils.

Here's the thing though: I really can't see Hong Kongers accepting all this without a fight.  Even while the Chinese communist regime has tried so hard, via its enablers in the ranks of the Hong Kong government and police, to clamp down on free-thinking Hong Kongers, people are still seeing through their lies and determinedly making a case for their five demands.  

In case it's needed, here's a reminder of what this movement's five demands are: 1) Withdraw the Extradition Bill (the only one thus far that has been acceded to); 2) Revoke claims that protestors are rioters (If singing and chanting are rioting...); 3) Amnesty for those arrested (This epecially since so many of the arrests look to be made to instill fear in people rather than for genuine reasons); 4) Independent investigation of police conduct (Do I need to even justify this?!); and 5) Genuine Universal Suffrage (Ditto!).