Opinion | Police inaction or violence cannot be justified, no matter the provocation
Albert Cheng says those who oppose the Occupy movement are wrong to suggest the activists are not entitled to the same protection as other citizens
The Centre for Communication and Public Opinion Survey of Chinese University has just confirmed what every citizen should have realised by now: that our society has been polarised by the Occupy movement and the campaign against it.
The centre's latest survey shows that 38 per cent of its 802 Cantonese-speaking respondents supported the Occupy protests, while 36 per cent were against. The younger and more educated tended to be more sympathetic to the Occupy cause and to distrust the police.
The phone interviews were carried out from October 8 to 15, after the police had fired 87 cans of tear gas to disperse the crowds in Admiralty. The centre did a similar poll in mid-September before the confrontation, when 46 per cent said they were opposed to Occupy. Those who were in favour only added up to 31 per cent.
The two sets of results indicate that the wave of so-called blue-ribbon propaganda against Occupy has, by and large, been counterproductive in winning the hearts and minds of citizens.
The televised images of the police under pressure are obviously the most critical factor in the swing of the public mood in about a month. The way the authorities have sought to drum up support for the police might have achieved the opposite effect, by pushing more people to side with the Occupiers.
Last Sunday, Secretary for Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man became the latest minister to lash out at the Occupiers. His portfolio should have nothing to do with the political issues at hand, but he opted to denounce the activists' attitude towards the police.