Making a point to be "yellow", lift up the spirit and "connect" (in protest and against the odds) this weekend

  

See the words "Stay Strong" and "Hong Kong" on shop fronts

and "Be Water" on the umbrella? :)

 

Call it rebelliousness on my part.  But after I saw all those cops out on Friday (and literal red flags -- of China (and to a lesser extent Hong Kong -- as in there really were fewer of them out about!) flying in abundance in recent days), I decided that I needed to go out and really support the Yellow Economic Circle yesterday and today! 

 

And while it's true that I do tend to regularly eat at "yellow" (i.e., pro-democracy) restaurants (and make a point to avoid "blue" (pro-Beijing/police) ones), this weekend saw me eating out ONLY at "yellow" eateries, shopping from "yellow" shops (including a bookshop and one specialising in "yellow" merchandise) and going and watching "yellow" movies at a "yellow" cinema.  In other words, spending my money in a way that supports and helps my allies.  (And for the record: yes, this is entirely possible to do!)    

Doing so helped to lift up my spirit quite a bit.  Much more, I know, than if I had stayed and stewed at home.  This not least because, then, I'd have spent quite a bit of time on the internet and social media -- and thus been even more upset than I already am by Elon Musk's decision last night to not only limit access to Tweets for those who haven't registered to be Twitter users but also those who have (with the current "temporary" for non-"blue" checkmarked users being able to READ -- not Tweet -- just 1,000 Tweets a day; which has been estimated to mean 1 hour on Twitter or less!).

For those who aren't on Twitter (which is still the majority of the friends I have in "meat space" (as opposed to "cyber space"): this probably will not seem like a big deal at all.  But despite my having been on that social media site for less than two years (not long at all -- as some people have been there for more than 10 years), I really do feel that I've become a part of a community that has a number of members that I value there; this despite my not having met the vast majority of them in real life -- or even knowing their real names (since many of us use pseudonyms there)!

Re the last: this means that if or when Twitter dies, it will cause me to lose contact with many of the people I regularly interact though -- with little knowledge and ability on our parts to (re-)connect elsewhere!  (So... I sincerely hope that, among other things, they realise that I have this blog and can contact me through it!)

Speaking of feeling connected to strangers: I came across a very good 2006 Christian Science Monitor piece on Audrey Eu (how different and much better Hong Kong would be if someone like her could have been its Chief Executive *sigh*!) where, among other things, she shared her experiences of the July 1st, 2003 march against Article 23 in terms that allied with my memories of many other years' July 1st marches (and many of the marches that took place in 2019):

We didn't expect a half-million people at all. We knew it would be big, but didn't expect 500,000. It was an extremely hot day, and everyone was literally withering under the sun. It was quite a strenuous walk. There were many bottlenecks and we were often stuck for a very long time. At one place we were stuck for nearly an hour.

"But people were buying soft drinks, handing them out, and everyone was very happy and in a jovial mood. People were passing around mints, sweets; it was like a family - a huge family outing where we all know each other, and feel like we are all seeing a bosom friend. People weren't known to each other, but they were all connecting.

Sadly, of course, there was no pro-democracy march yesterday.  But trust me when I say that I felt connections to others, including complete strangers, at the members of the Yellow Economic Circle that I spent time in this weekend.  And also whenever I saw such as people holding up yellow umbrellas this (rainy) weekend, in yellow (as well as black) clothing and/or wearing yellow or black masks in the street.  

More than by the way, on two separate occasions today, I found myself walking (with a similar marker of "yellow Hong Konger" identity) behind people with yellow umbrellas.  And I must say: it really did feel good; not least because it helped confirm for me that at least some -- and, I truly believe, the majority of -- those people I walked along the march route with on many an occasion are still around and really f**king loving Hong Kong.