Plucky Occupy founders showed poor political judgment
I admire the three co-founders of Occupy Central for their selflessness in fighting for what they genuinely believe to be good for Hong Kong.
I admire the three co-founders of Occupy Central for their selflessness in fighting for what they genuinely believe to be good for Hong Kong.
However, they showed poor political judgment when they thought the movement would pressurise the central government into giving Hong Kong a more democratic political structure than the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress put forward for the chief executive election in 2017.
The central government has a track record of not yielding to pressure exerted on it in public. As predicted by commentators since its inception, the movement's tactics backfired.
Also, the Occupy co-founders had overestimated their political capabilities if they thought they could rein in the radical elements among the protesters. They should have expressed their disapproval and bowed out when the student leaders sneered at the SAR government's proposals announced during the meeting with leaders of the Hong Kong Federation of Students. Those proposals were actually secured through the hard work of mediators.
It was clear at that point that if there was any chance at all for the protest to end without prolonging the nuisance caused to the public, the three co-founders would have to take the lead when it came to retreating and honouring their pledge to surrender to the police.
They refrained from taking this course of action until after the violent scenes on the morning of December 1. It was only then that they came out and publicly disagreed with their political allies.
Though these three leaders deserve public censure, their opponents who mocked them acted in a mean and childish way. It would have been better for these pro-establishment individuals to stay quiet. Their actions can only aggravate divisions in our community.
Are these outspoken critics of the Occupy movement willing to make the same personal sacrifices as the Occupy Central trio have been willing to do because they are fighting for what they believe to be right?
Ng Hon-wah, Pok Fu Lam
