Hong Kong's Occupy Central looked at taking over more sites, said founder Benny Tai
Occupy Central considered taking over Queensway and Causeway Bay in their original plan, although in the end it was the protesters who seized those areas spontaneously - one of them for only a short period of time.
Occupy Central considered taking over Queensway and Causeway Bay in their original plan, although in the end it was the protesters who seized those areas spontaneously - one of them for only a short period of time.
Occupy organiser Benny Tai Yiu-ting revealed this in an interview with the last week.
The plan of the co-founders, as revealed earlier, was to hold a march from Victoria Park to Chater Road on October 1 and then camp on Chater Road overnight. They expected police to take action on October 3 following a two-day public holiday.
However, the scheme was actually more than that.
"At that time we were waiting for police to grant us a letter of no objection for the march. We decided that if police refused to do so, we would dash out from Victoria Park and sit on the road outside the Sogo department store and also Queensway in Admiralty," he said.
The founders also imagined occupying Connaught Road from Chater Road if police took no action to clear them.
In the end, developments forced them to change the script - moving to Admiralty and bringing forward the start date to September 28 to support students arrested for storming the forecourt of the government headquarters.
"Looking back, our plan was too conservative. Even if it was implemented, it would not have attracted as much public support," Tai said.
The academic has taken leave for the next semester starting in January. This was again part of the original script as he initially thought Occupy would not happen until next year.
Relieved that people have gone home safely, he will now spend the time writing a book on the causes and effects of the movement, including its impact on governance and rule of law.
At the beginning of the movement, the three founders introduced 10 people, including professionals, businessmen and a social worker, as staunch supporters of Occupy. Only two of them turned themselves in to police earlier this month.
Tai said he would not blame the absentees. "The original contract was about a controlled situation with a very short duration. But it turned out another contract was on the table."
