Letters | Why be afraid to wear black in Hong Kong? Resist the Yuen Long white T-shirt attackers with peace and love

When violence is used for the purpose of abuse, it involves the repeated use of coercion, in the form of physical, psychological or sexual abuse, to control another person. Your online news and videos vividly showed how physical violence was repeatedly and continuously applied to almost all the people in the station indiscriminately. Were the violent acts coercive and threatening enough to become a form of control? The responses of my family and friends were telling.

Whether overseas or in the city, their texts advised me to avoid wearing black and face masks when I was out and about, especially in Yuen Long. Some of my social worker friends felt their own and their clients’ safety had been put at risk, so they not only reminded each other to be cautious but also called for prayers, as the matter was beyond our control.

My son told me twice, “Mama, for your safety, don’t wear black clothes when going out.” I tried to ease his mind, saying, “Son, maybe we should all wear black. When they cannot distinguish their targets because everyone is in black, they may give up.”

He replied, “No, their target is to beat people up, especially those in black clothes!” If this is not violence, coercive and abusive, what is?

Let’s resist and confront violent abuse through peaceful, rational, non-violent, law-abiding behaviour, so that we have no fear of wearing black or any other colour, or of visiting any district in Hong Kong.

Anne Wong, Sha Tin