Doors were locked and security guards with walkie-talkies patrolled the corridors. Outside, police kept protesters at bay while six vans of reinforcements waited nearby. But all this failed to stop the provisional legislature's critics from sneaking into the public gallery to disrupt the orgy of self-justification that dominated yesterday's final session.
For almost an hour the protesters bided their time: putting security guards on alert every time they coughed or adjusted their headsets. Lawmakers droned on unnoticed as all eyes focused on the public gallery. Even council President Rita Fan periodically cast a nervous glance in their direction.
When the main protest came, it was over in a flash. Activist Leung Kwok-hung and his colleagues shouted their slogans and trooped out as slowly as possible, careful to ensure the photographers got all the shots they wanted.
It was all far more interesting than anything said during the three-hour valedictory debate, notable only for several councillors' unhealthy interest in why Mrs Fan needs to go to the toilet so rarely, and some bizarre assertions the interim body had contributed to the recent Sino-British rapprochement.
Most speakers were obsessed with a final, futile effort to shake off the rubber-stamp tag that has dogged them from the start. Only RTHK-hater Wong Siu-yee seemed to regard it as a badge of honour. Independent Elsie Tu insisted the interim body had acted more democratically than its colonial predecessors but was worried the electorate might not appreciate this.
'The voters must be very clear when they vote next month as to the result of their giving power to opponents of China,' she warned.
