My Take | Hong Kong Occupy leaders crave arrest and persecution

Some of the original grandees of the Occupy movement, who have disappeared from the scene lately, are ready for a second act.

Having been upstaged by young protesters and student activists, the three "gentlemen" of Occupy Central say they want to turn themselves in.

The Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, Benny Tai Yiu-ting and Dr Chan Kin-man say they "tentatively" plan to surrender to police. But why "tentatively"? One supposes they can always change their mind, as they frequently do. Having promised something like Occupy Central with Love and Peace, they have delivered nothing of the sort. The occupiers are neither loving nor peaceful; and they didn't occupy the Central business district either.

Indeed, many have repudiated the trio's leadership, which was non-existent to begin with. You would hope these three men would have the good grace to admit defeat and go home. But no, they say they have achieved some of their goals. When you have a shipwreck in the middle of nowhere, you can always claim that has been your destination all along. Whatever you think about the student leaders, at least they can lead a crowd and square off with government honchos on TV. That's more than you can say about those three gentlemen.

Now Shiu Ka-chun, a social work lecturer at Baptist University and an Occupy steward, says he is ready to join them in surrendering to the police. "Civil disobedience has two elements - paralysing the city's operation and self-sacrifice," he said. But Shiu complains people are unwilling to sacrifice themselves. "We have done the disruption but not many people are willing to do the latter part."

But who is asking anyone to sacrifice themselves? Police have not issued arrest warrants. You can perhaps claim to have committed a crime and demand an officer arrest you. Our gentlemen are so desperate to be seen being persecuted they are begging for an arrest.