Opinion | In a divided society, the choice of silence is ours to make
Alice Wu says everyone has the right to form their own opinion about events, then choose whether to speak up or stay silent amid the noise
As a community, perhaps the one thing we can all agree on is that Hong Kong is at a crossroads. No matter where you fall on the political grid, we are, together, moving towards an unknown. In the air is the thrill of the possibility of change, yet also the stink of division and animosity.
This is not a call for calm. I believe in people's right to oppose, and I support people's freedom of expression. I also support the right to law and order. I believe these aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.
This is not a dilemma. Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, sees the seemingly opposed forces we struggle with to be more "yin and yang", quoting John Stuart Mill in support: "A party of order or stability, and a party of progress or reform, are both necessary elements of a healthy state of political life."
One of the biggest crises occurring alongside what is happening on the streets threatens the very heart of individual freedom. Some of the campaigns to persuade and crusades to "win" have rendered a significant part of our community silent. In the midst of all the screaming, we may have turned a deaf ear to the many who have chosen silence.
Take this as a plea for all to recognise the right of others to be silent. While indifference is often expressed in silence, silence doesn't equate to indifference. To fail to notice the difference is dangerous.
No one should have to apologise for holding a different view, or simply questioning motives or legitimacy. No one should feel trapped in speaking only in binary terms framed by opposing camps. No one should be forbidden to support the right to dissent while supporting law and order. No one should be deemed anti-Beijing for supporting democracy. No one should be barred from being given time to observe what has been occurring, work through their own feelings, and arrive at their own conclusions. No one should be stripped of their right to think freely. No one should have to face bullying, harassment or attack because their "silence" is misconstrued, because they don't wish to publicise their stance, or because their conclusions do not fit snugly into right-wrong, good-evil, just-unjust planes.