We are going to stick our neck out and say something so politically incorrect at this emotionally charged time that we will probably get stoned to death. What we want to say is this: our police have shown great restraint in handling the mass civil disobedience. Officers elsewhere would have used batons to crack heads by now. We see the first stone coming our way already. What do you think would happen if protesters laid siege to the White House, preventing US President Barack Obama and his staff from leaving or entering? Forget about tear gas; you would be lucky if you ended up with just a body full of broken bones. Our police have kept their cool even when humiliated publicly. Which other police force would tolerate protesters vetting everything that is taken in and out of police and government headquarters? Public Eye has deplored many times the previous strong-arm tactics of Police Commissioner Andy Tsang Wai-hung. But unlike grandstanding politicians, we play fair. Our students did an admirable job in making the world aware of our democracy aspirations. Our politicians should learn from them. But the police are also Hongkongers, not our enemies. Fanning distrust between the people and the police serves no interest other than the self-interests of politicians. Public Eye is not qualified to pass judgment on whether the police should have used tear gas two Sundays ago. We did not see it from behind police lines. But even if the commander has made the wrong call, is it fair to label as bad guys a police force that has made Hong Kong one of the safest cities in the world?

We're going to stick our neck out again and say something even more politically incorrect. Joanna Kot has a right to speak her mind despite her idiotic social media postings of outrageously insensitive remarks. Until two days ago, Kot was deputy head of public relations at jewellery chain Chow Tai Fook. A company statement said she had resigned, but we all know she was pushed. Public Eye in no way condones her inane remarks that Occupy Central participants in Mong Kok who were sexually molested had it coming. Our first thought was how such a nutcase could have climbed so high on the PR ladder. An online backlash forced Chow Tai Fook to apologise. But hey, are not even nutcases allowed free speech? Have we all forgotten this democracy principle: I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.