As promised, here are some scenes from our little family excursion to Causeway Bay this past Sunday, when we thought that we could take Lola out and also run some errands (specifically, to visit a car dealership). I hadn't paid much attention to the local news that morning and thought that, given the late night announcement of the retraction of the extradition bill, there would no longer be any protests on Sunday (or at least, a more minimal presence).
Imagine our surprise when we were told the buses were all detouring due to road closures and the closest stop we could get to was off the highway near Causeway Bay. We quickly realized we had underestimated the size and scale and starting point of the march, when at the designated bus stop we saw streams and streams of people dressed all in black shirts, walking slowly and steadily toward Percival Street.
We made many mistakes on our route (taking the bus instead of the MTR, heading toward Gloucester Road and Percival Street instead of a side street, and remaining on the street level instead of taking a sky bridge to get across the main protest artery). Basically, we did everything wrong and found ourselves so far in the thick of the protests that, despite being so close to our ultimate destination, we simply could not get through.
While we failed in achieving our errand, it was an extremely interesting experience and Lola was completely in her element despite the hundreds of thousands of people. She is a city girl not at all fazed by complete congestion and chaos.
Michael, Lola and I really stood out in the sea of black
(we were wearing blue, polka dotted and bright red, respectively). Whoops.
I have to say, I am so proud of the Hong Kong people. It was an incredibly peaceful, calm and methodical protest. No one was acting violently and everyone seemed united by a common purpose. I don't know how late or how long the protest went, but the huge outpouring of support despite the retraction of the bill in some ways made it more powerful - a message that the people here will not be easily soothed by words but rather by actions.
We shall see how long Carrie Lam can remain in power - it's a bit of a pointless exercise, though, because even if she resigns, Beijing will just appoint another sympathetic civil servant who will continue to do the Central Communist Party's bidding while taking the fall for it and claiming that any policy or legislative change is really his or her idea.
Imagine our surprise when we were told the buses were all detouring due to road closures and the closest stop we could get to was off the highway near Causeway Bay. We quickly realized we had underestimated the size and scale and starting point of the march, when at the designated bus stop we saw streams and streams of people dressed all in black shirts, walking slowly and steadily toward Percival Street.
We made many mistakes on our route (taking the bus instead of the MTR, heading toward Gloucester Road and Percival Street instead of a side street, and remaining on the street level instead of taking a sky bridge to get across the main protest artery). Basically, we did everything wrong and found ourselves so far in the thick of the protests that, despite being so close to our ultimate destination, we simply could not get through.
While we failed in achieving our errand, it was an extremely interesting experience and Lola was completely in her element despite the hundreds of thousands of people. She is a city girl not at all fazed by complete congestion and chaos.
There was one photographer on the closed off bridge taking pictures of the crowd below. Can you see him, one lone speck above? He must have gotten some great shots:
Eventually, we gave up on our original destination and took the only way out - down a tiny alleyway.
We shall see how long Carrie Lam can remain in power - it's a bit of a pointless exercise, though, because even if she resigns, Beijing will just appoint another sympathetic civil servant who will continue to do the Central Communist Party's bidding while taking the fall for it and claiming that any policy or legislative change is really his or her idea.
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