The striving for greater civil and political rights is a never-ending journey. In the past decade, we have seen even nations which hold themselves out as beacons of liberal democracy undermine the rights of their own citizens and of others. But while civic organisations and political parties continue to strive for better rights, they should never lose sight of the real purpose of their cause - to empower ordinary citizens to hold governments accountable, enjoy freedom of speech and assembly, and choose their leaders without fear of persecution or violence. Opting for a world in which human rights are respected, is a vote against the world in which problems can only be resolved through violence. The protests erupting throughout North Africa is the sacrifice that this generation has to make in order to ensure that the next generation can call their governments to account through freedom of speech and the ballot box.
It therefore makes no sense for so-called activists and protesters living in a jurisdiction which already guarantees free assembly, speech and demonstration, to have to resort to violent means. These days, there are organised rallies at which any member of the public can express their opposition to this government in peaceful and effective means. Should the administration abuse its power and attempt to stifle such dissent, there are formal and legal procedures to review those acts and sanction the government if required. The best way to show one's belief in the value of civil and political rights is to exercise them in the appropriate context.
It is unclear how Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen was hurt on Tuesday, but there is no doubt that chaos arose because of the aggressive actions of a handful of protesters. Whatever message they had to express has been stifled by their own actions. Any moral high ground they believed to hold with their views on civil rights and democracy has been undermined by puerile actions that suggest neither respect nor understanding of the purpose of civil rights and democracy. At the end of the day, it appeared as if it were they who needed a lesson in democracy.