Just another day in a Hong Kong that is still, against the odds, fighting the good fight

No more Lennon Walls in Hong Kong :(

But protest slogans and symbols still haven't

all vanished from some shops (and homes) :b

One year ago yesterday, Carrie Lam belatedly announced that she would be withdrawing the controversial extradition bill whose proposal was the catalyst for the anti-government/pro-democracy protests that are still ongoing (even if no longer in the form of large scale street protests and a calendar as packed as last September's!  

But while the Lennon Walls have been destroyed and there's a lot that people are no longer allowed to chant and say out loud in public, don't think that Hong Kongers have been entirely silenced and suppressed.  For one thing, the Yellow Economic Circle still exists and continues to be well supported.  And that now includes people's support of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, including by buying ads in it to effectively turning many of its pages into veritable Lennon Walls.  

On the other side of the coin, there are the "blue" (pro-Beijing) and "red" (Beijing-owned) stores and organizations that people have chosen to boycott.  And while it has yet to open in Hong Kong cinemas (unlike in other parts of the world), the "Boycott Mulan" campaign already is up and running -- and has been so for some time (thanks to this latest movie version of the Mulan legend having pro-Beijingers as its lead actress and actor). 

Add to Hong Kongers' boycott list pretty much anything that the government tries to "sell" or even give away free: like the "granny underwear" masks or the Wuhan coronavirus mass testing. Incidentally, the latter began being offered this past Tuesday and the much publicized scheme was supposed to just go on for a week but now has been extended for a time; presumably in the hope that the number of test takers would get closer to the 4-5 million number that the government had hoped would be the case.  (I'm thinking no chance since, one day before the original scheduled end date of the scheme, just a little over 1 million people had signed up for the tests -- a number of them only after being required to do so by their employers!)

More than incidentally, Hong Kong reported seven new Wuhan coronavirus cases today: the lowest number since July 3rd (where were five cases); and the fourth time this week that the daily numbers have been single digit figures.  And for the record: The mass testing has thus far only produced six "positive" results; with four of those test takers having been previously confirmed patients who now are asymptomatic and do not require further treatment because they have Wuhan coronavirus antibodies.   

Another development that has helped brighten up the mood somewhat is the discovery that Google Streetview's recently updated Hong Kong images have resulted in a digital time capsule with captures of quite a bit of protest graffiti throughout the city, and some of its old Lennon Walls!  Consequently, rather than feel upset by the Hong Kong Institute of Architects having chosen to skip mentioning its 64th anniversary this year in favor of trumpeting its 65th anniversary in 2021 (presumably for fear of 64 resembling too much 6.4 -- the shortform way in which Hong Kongers refer to the Tiananmen Square Massacre of June 4th, 1989), I'm just going to laugh at their overly cautious ways which have caused a Streisand effect rather than the opposite result!