Hong Kong protesters are so freaking nice
HONG KONG (CNNMoney)| 1 Oct. 2014
Big demonstrations are always a little uncomfortable. Trash piles up, personal space is non-existent and bathrooms are in short supply.
Add the threat of tear gas, pepper spray or the sting of a police
baton, and political protests can often make for angry crowds.
Not so in Hong Kong, where protesters will help you
over a police barricade, recycle your water bottle, ply you with fruit,
and never forget to say please and thank you.
It's tough to say
for sure, but the pro-democracy demonstrators of the "Umbrella
Revolution" might just be the world's nicest protesters.
The
crowds camping out across Hong Kong have already set up a recycling
system, and teenagers can be seen sorting through rubbish at every
protest site. On Twitter, there are even photos of kids helping the
trash man load his truck.
Some protesters have set about distributing food and water. Others are
handing out face masks to help protect against tear gas, and
grandmothers offer surplus umbrellas. In the local parks, protesters
stick to sidewalks and don't trample the grass.
They are efficient, and unfailingly polite.
Why are they so nice? Hong Kong has a long history of peaceful protest,
and many of the students and young workers now speaking out in favor of
free elections would have spent their childhoods attending annual July 1
marches, which are typically used to express dissatisfaction with
Beijing.
And the city state is generally a polite and orderly society. People
line up for buses and give up their seats to the elderly. Social harmony
is a priority and violent crime is exceedingly rare.
These values stand out even more in the wake of heavy-handed action by
police on Sunday. After declaring the protests illegal, police fired volley after volley of tear gas at protesters, but failed to disperse them.
Many Hong Kong residents were shocked at the police action. But
tensions have since eased considerably, and riot police have been pulled
off the streets.
There are other signs of healing. After a thunderstorm rolled through on Tuesday evening, images
surfaced of protesters sharing their umbrellas with police officers --
the same umbrellas that only two days earlier had been used to protect
against pepper spray.
No comments:
Post a Comment