South China Morning Post
Advertisement
Advertisement
Hong Kong extradition bill
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more
A protester sits before lines of police in riot gear outside the Legislative Council in Admiralty on June 12. Photo: Dickson Lee
OpinionLetters

Letters | Hong Kong extradition protesters, you are not alone: millions around the world are with you

  • Behind those who marched against the extradition bill and have continued to protest are the online protesters doing their bit to support those on the ground
Hong Kong extradition bill
Letters
Letters
Why you can trust SCMP

Like most of Hong Kong, I spent all of Wednesday frantically refreshing Twitter, because there’s not much else you can do when your home is on fire and you’re a thousand miles away.

Three days after Sunday’s record-breaking protest against the extradition law, people were out on the streets again. While the numbers were unclear, the crowds were big enough to bring Admiralty to a standstill for most of the day. Protesters occupied flyovers and overpasses to stop the second reading of the extradition bill from going ahead. Though the reading was cancelled, people remained in the streets for hours. The police’s attempts to disperse the crowd led to violent clashes. Hong Kong erupted in a cloud of tear gas and pepper spray. But the people did not budge until sundown.
The crowds at Admiralty were impressive, but they were nothing compared to the crowd seated behind the screens. For the past few days, people have been up at odd hours of the morning, in time zones across the world, to follow the events. Gatherings to show support have been held globally. There are hundreds of Instagram stories and Twitter feeds full of nothing but images of the protests. Hongkongers across the world have brought their own lives to a standstill to follow the protests.

Even though we can’t be there ourselves, the urge to do something is irresistible. We can’t just sit still as Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor declares her conscience is clear. We can’t just watch as rubber pellets rain down on our fellow Hongkongers. I considered booking flights to Hong Kong every time a new update came in yesterday. But there’s not much we can do from afar other than like, share and retweet.

There is an invisible crowd, another million strong, behind you as you face the riot police, [on] the internet with petitions and photos so that everybody sees the fight you’re fighting for all of us

So we remain glued to our laptop screens, exhausting the refresh button; sharing any crucial updates and demanding more. This is the first time in years that my phone has not been set on silent. What’s happening right now is simply too important to distance ourselves, no matter how far we might physically be.

And to the protesters: though we cannot be on the front lines with you, we’re following you every step of the way. There is an invisible crowd, another million strong, behind you as you face the riot police. While you occupy the ground, we traverse the internet with petitions and photos so that everybody sees the fight you’re fighting for all of us.

It is clear by now that the world is watching. For as long as you keep protesting, we will not let them take their eyes off you. Add oil, Hong Kong. We’re with you.

Teele Rebane, Chiang Mai

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Protesters against extradition bill should know that millions around world are in support
Post