Hong Kong's future lies beyond the street chaos
Bernard Chan says that, as a community, Hong Kong must work harder to convince its dispirited and politically aware young people that we can build a future for them
Like most people in Hong Kong, I was in a state of real shock on Sunday evening and the following day. The scenes of disorder around the government complex in Tamar and elsewhere, and of police firing tear gas into crowds, left me stunned.
These are things we see on news reports from cities far away in the Middle East, Europe or the United States. I never thought I would see on television such things coming live from government and commercial districts just a kilometre or two from my own home.
After the shock had died down, I felt sadness. Texts and emails from friends all over the world asked if I was OK.
Hong Kong - such a safe and stable city - suddenly has a reputation around the world for chaos.
Reputations, especially as a result of media news coverage, can be unfair or misleading. That's what I told myself. And I believe it more than ever now. I am confident that this unrest in our streets does not reflect the real Hong Kong, or the Hong Kong of the future.
But it is a sign that things have gone wrong, and it should make all of us calm down for a while and ask ourselves what is happening, and what we can do about it.
It is easy to point fingers and blame some individual or group. It is wrong to hold the frontline police responsible. They do a tough job, and they were working under very tiring and difficult conditions.