Residents issue own rallying cry
What's the best way to vent anger about rowdy protesters constantly gathering outside your home? By staging a protest of your own, of course.
People who live near the central government's liaison office in Western - often used as the finishing point for marches - are fed up with the protesters and the police security measures that often prevent them from going home.
More than 20 residents - including the heads of owners' corporations of ten properties - protested at police headquarters in Wan Chai yesterday.
They submitted a letter demanding that the police improve crowd control measures and set guidelines for protest organisers. Two big rallies this year have worn the patience of residents - the rally over the death of activist Li Wangyang on June 10 in which 25,000 people took part, and the annual July 1 march.
The liaison office has become a focus for anger in recent months, amid claims Beijing's representatives are interfering in Hong Kong affairs.
Tsang Moon-biu heads the owners' corporation at the Kwan Yick Building on Connaught Road West, right next to the liaison office.
Tsang, who has lived in the building for 30 years, said: 'It's really been the last two years that protesters have become more radical.
'We respect people's freedom to protest, but I don't understand why they still need to be rallying deep into the night when all the officials are gone, and there are just two security guards.'
Tsang said roads would often be blocked and public transport rerouted, while police and protesters would block the entrance to their homes.
He said residents had sought advice from councillor Lo Yee-hang, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong.
Frank Yeung Ho-kei, a fellow resident, said: 'Most of our residents are old people who are often superstitious, so naturally they are deeply disturbed when protesters are carrying fake coffins and flower wreaths.'
