Letters | Occupy Central failed, but at least Hong Kong stood up for something

Despite the political reality, we exercised all our freedom to fight for what we believed in, and we were not afraid to pay a heavy price

Reading Time:2 minutes

Pro-democracy protesters holding symbolic yellow umbrellas gather outside the government headquarters in Admiralty to mark the first anniversary of Occupy Central, on September 28, 2015. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 10:35am, 14 Apr 2019Updated: 10:35am, 14 Apr 2019

I refer to your article, “‘Naive’ Occupy leaders found guilty” (April 10). While the nine leaders were convicted and await sentencing, I wish to reflect on the impact of this civil disobedience movement almost five years ago.

It is indeed sad to see how divided and polarised our city has become since 2014. Like most Hongkongers, I was not politically conscious before then. The movement has changed my orientation. The year-long obsession of the media and everyone here over local politics was overwhelming. It seemed that nothing else was of any interest to us any more.

The chaos lasted for a stretch of 79 days, disrupting law and order. Joshua Wong and the Hong Kong story made up the cover page of Time magazine twice during this time.

All my foreign friends and relatives predicted a no-win outcome for the movement from the start. It was obvious that we locals were the only ones blinded by naivety. But I am proud of Hong Kong all the same. Despite the political reality, we exercised all our freedom to fight for what we believed in, and we were not afraid to pay a heavy price for it.

The leaders now to have to face imprisonment for what they did. I feel bad for them. They are tragic heroes, shouldering all the blame. Consider this: if the government wasn't so incapable and disappointing, would people be opposing it so fiercely? If we were all so selfish and uncompromising, we wouldn’t have ended up being so divided.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x

.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Letters | Occupy Central failed, but at least Hong Kong stood up for something

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Despite the political reality, we exercised all our freedom to fight for what we believed in, and we were not afraid to pay a heavy price

Letters | Occupy Central failed, but at least Hong Kong stood up for something

Despite the political reality, we exercised all our freedom to fight for what we believed in, and we were not afraid to pay a heavy price