Focusing on Yuen Long once more one year on

Numbers and letters which, taken together,

have much (sad) meaning for Hong Kongers

The feelings are still very raw one year on

One year ago today, much of Hong Kong watched aghast on live stream as well as videos posted on various websites and social media platforms as a bunch of thugs attacked people who happened to be at the wrong place and the wrong time: namely, Yuen Long MTR station late one Sunday night.  The day after, I was in shock and filled with anger.  Those feelings have persisted to this very day: this not least because justice has most definitely not (yet) been served and, also, because, still more evidence of police misconduct (or, at the very least, dereliction of duty) that night has come to light in recent days.

Here's a link to a great investigative video about police (in)actions in Yuen Long that evening by public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK)'s Hong Kong Connection team which aired just last week.  (For those, who prefer to read a summary of it, go here.)  Thanks to their efforts, it's come to be known -- and the police have belatedly admitted -- that there were plainclothes police officers at the scene when the mob of attackers -- clad predominantly in white shirts -- gathered in the vicinity of Yuen Long MTR station in a manner which plainly was unusual and suspicious. 

In the days since the RTHK report was broadcast, there has been still more findings that make people further distrust and not respect the police.  Among the upsetting revelations: that the police had put the victims and suspects of the attack the same room before an identification parade and read the victims’ names out loud, exposing their identities.

Something else that might make your blood boil is the realization that the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) concluded earlier this year that the police did not collude with the armed gang that attacked passengers at Yuen Long MTR station on July 21st, 2019. And this not entirely unexpected conclusion on the supposed police watchdog's part is why, for many months now, one of the Hong Kong protestors' five demands is for there to be an independent investigation of police conduct. 

On the one year anniversary of those disturbing events that upset Hong Kongers so much that many of us were unable to sleep that night, here's also sharing what Professor Clifford Stott -- one of those international experts hired to advise the IPCC, only to resign after realizing its limitations -- noted in a recent Tweet: "[W]hat is most significant about Yuen Long is not merely [Hong Kong Police Force] failures, which are self evident, but the fact this incident led to a catastrophic decline in public perception of police legitimacy. Thus police inaction in turn amplified & further radicalised the protests."  

In Yuen Long today, a number of brave souls turned up to voice their dissent and called for justice for the victims of the mob attack and for Hong Kongers to never forget what happened in that northwestern New Territories town on July 21st last year.  In contrast to a year ago, the police elected to go for a show of strength there today: with some 200 riot police officers being at the scene to do such as stop a few lawmakers from holding a press conference in the area as well as clear a mall connected to Yuen Long MTR station of protestors and journalists. 

At times like these, I must admit to wondering how the (relatively) good apples among the Hong Kong police feel about what's going on -- not only in Hong Kong at large but among their brethren.  Actually, I also find myself wanting to know whether there are any good cops left in Hong Kong; this especially in light of some 500 officers having quit the police force in the past year (or, to be precise, between last June and this past March) -- including the host of Police Report TV program jointly produced by the police and RTHK.  (Incidentally, it was announced earlier last week that this weekly program will have its final episode this August; it first went on air in 1973, 47 years ago.)