I cried for Hong Kong today.

Today, I cried for Hong Kong.

Watching live footage from different media outlets, seeing friends' updates, reading about it on the internet. What has Hong Kong become? More importantly, what has Hong Kong Government become?

The boycott held by university students and high school students ended on a momentum so powerful that Occupy Central took place 3 days earlier than planned.

I am generally not a very political person, but watching this, throughout its course really made me upset. In particular, how can the government completely ignore its citizens, and their demands? We have the right to practise freedom of speech and as a government, you need to listen to us, because you should be fearful of its citizens. We are the components for the society. In a normal society (mostly associated with a developed country) there will be a voting system in place where its citizens can chose the rightful leader, based on the kind of promises they can make, the regulations they can provide and the results they achieve. However, not with China, and has not been for Hong Kong for a very long time.

When China published the white paper in June, the way they 'expanded' on articles in the basic law, the way they claimed in 2017 they are giving us universal suffrage was the catalyst for this outrage. How dare they insult our intellectual level, by claiming this is a true democracy? And how dare they constantly push it down our throat. The worst? When we oppose against it, they come up with their own allies, saying the opposition are harming the peace for the city.

So we are not allowed to oppose to anything you say, because whatever we say, you will always have a come back, no matter how illogical it is.

This angers me. But what upsets me, is the way the students have been behaving. Peacefully, at times demanding, and yes, I agree, sometimes also without thinking of the consequences (regarding to forcing entry to the government building).

But we have to think about this, there did not used to be barriers around the building, it was public space, people could demonstrate there. It was open space for people to voice their opinion. Does this mean the government is now scared of us? They do not want to hear use anymore, they are blocking the voices of the society out.

Next, what the students are fighting for, is for true democracy. Having a committee, all members nominated by chinese government, pick a few candidates for Hong Kong citizens to choose from is not is referendum. This is like saying, a restaurants have ran out of all dishes but two, you must pick the two and you can't choose to go to somewhere else. Or, you parents let you be in a relationship, but they already have two people for you to choose from and you can only choose these two.

Then the audacity for the Hong Kong Government to create PSAs, telling to 'take it for now' and 'Universal suffrage, you really don't want your vote'. They must think we are really stupid.

And these past few days, watching the peaceful demonstration escalating into a protests, has truly been stressful. The students are unarmed, all protestors are unarmed. They only have umbrella and goggles to protect themselves against pepper spray (which in my opinion, Hong Kong Police have not had very good feedback with the way they use this method in different situations at all). And when I watch the riot police walking up and pressing hard against the protestors, violently ripping away their umbrellas and their purposefully pepper spraying them right in front of their face? And this is after a boycotting week, which means there are participants who have been out and protesting since Monday. These are the future for our city, who have exhausted themselves for our future, and they are met with such level of violence? And don't get me start with tear gas. 

They weren't only aimed at protestors, there were journalists who were attacked also. Police shouting at them saying 'Nothing to film here, put your cameras away' before pepper spraying them.

How often do you see a protest with around 50,000 participants, and not one single police vehicle is destroyed, not one bin or public property set on fire and not one shop damaged? This is how peaceful the protest has been. Yes there might have been charging towards the police. But they were unarmed, there was nothing they could have done to the police who had shields and gas masks and batons. Yet they felt that this was the level of violence that had to be met with tear gas bombs?

I believe police are only receiving and obeying orders from above, so they are also in a difficult situation. It has been nice seeing some updates here and there about police resigning on the spots and joining the protests. But there are also others, whom I feel uses excess forces, almost to an inhumane level. To those I would like to ask why wouldn't you just go a little softer on these weak citizens, who do not pose as a threat?

When it comes down to it, a lot has to lie with the current state of the government. A chief executive who refuses to meet with his citizens, or even fail to address them, is no leader. Only a coward, hiding being a facade of power. And this power, because it was not earned, will never be met with respect. Only with fear. And despair.