Hong Kong has more than just democracy to worry about
Chandran Nair says we need to look beyond the current Occupy turmoil and see that solutions to Hong Kong's challenges lie far beyond whether we have a more democratic system or not
Hong Kong residents who have been travelling these past two weeks will have experienced what it is like to have the international media as your only source of information.
You would be excused for being under the impression that the city was in chaos, that the People's Liberation Army was massed at the border and that a revolution was under way.
You would also have learned from leading experts that democracy is a panacea to all ills, and that any non-English-speaking local who looks a bit rough and opposed to street protests is a triad member.
On the bright side, you would probably have been impressed with the restraint shown by both protesters and police. Though there have been some clashes and shows of force, in the context of 200,000 people on the street, both sides have behaved nearly impeccably, especially when compared with what has happened in New York, Ferguson, London or Paris.
Needless to say, the reality is much more complicated than that. Here are just a few things the international media paid little attention to in its coverage.
The first is that, despite pockets of inconvenience, this great city has operated peacefully and efficiently. Unfortunately, this masks the fact that the government is paralysed, does not know what to do and needs our help.