Letters | Hong Kong’s protests have been hijacked by extremists. Stop wearing black if you don’t support them

Reading Time:2 minutes

Protesters take to the streets in Yuen Long on July 21. The sight of black-clad protesters with makeshift weapons and defences clashing with police has become commonplace in Hong Kong. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 6:25am, 29 Aug 2019Updated: 5:01pm, 29 Aug 2019

What started as a peaceful movement aimed at expressing our concerns about the extradition bill has now been hijacked by a small group of extremists dressed in black who regularly commit acts of violence and vandalism, turning our beautiful city into a lawless state.

If colour is an expression of one’s political inclination, social discontent and/or alliance with certain groups, then one should consider refraining from wearing black during these protests to prevent lawbreakers from claiming they represent the masses, when most Hongkongers are law-abiding, clear-headed and non-violent.

The muddled thinking, lack of civil-mindedness and disrespect for law and order of these “people in black” continues to smear the hard-earned reputation of Hong Kong. Their calculated attack on the police force is helped by the biased media coverage which fails to provide the facts and figures necessary for the public to make a fair judgment of the chaos. The government’s insufficient countermeasures and inability to explain to the public the complexity of our social problems and the challenges it faces in delivering solutions will only fuel the hatred and split our society.

Hong Kong needs diversity to survive. If we fail as a city, the 7 million Hongkongers, a fraction of the 7 billion people in the world, will soon be forgotten because all countries have their own domestic problems to sort out. Only by focusing on facts and figures, wearing different hats and embracing ideas from all walks of life can we become more open-minded and start to move forward.

Colours are beautiful; let’s give Hong Kong the brightness that we all deserve.

J. Chan, Tai Po

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 | Hong Kong’s protests have been hijacked by extremists. Stop wearing black if you don’t support them

Letters | Hong Kong’s protests have been hijacked by extremists. Stop wearing black if you don’t support them