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Letters | To understand Hong Kong protests: don’t get angry, get rational

  • We should not pass judgment based on anecdotal evidence or attack people’s character instead of their behaviour
  • We must accept that citizens need to abide by the law, and that actions have consequences

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Hong Kong riot police wear protective masks during a protest rally on November 2. Photo: Ivan Abreu/SOPA Images via ZUMA Wire/dpa
I was born and raised in Hong Kong, and love the city. The people of Hong Kong are smart, efficient and often charitable. Its international status sometimes hides its darker side, that it does not always embrace diversity and inclusion.
In Cantonese, there are nicknames for people of different races. There are derogatory nicknames for mainland Chinese. Decades of world-beating economic successes have created a deep-rooted and subtle sense of pride and entitlement. The pursuit of capitalism and colonial elitism has created a chasm between the haves and have-nots, the will-haves and the will-not-haves. This creates a dangerous level of resentment among the populace.

Let’s apply Aristotelian “first principles” to reason out the current climate in Hong Kong. First, a rational and calm mind is always better than an irrational and angry mind. If you are outraged after watching some YouTube videos, you translate specific incidents into anger; or if you think a few cases against the police translate to the whole system not working, then your emotions have taken over your reasoning, and it is time to pause and delay actions.

Second, a citizen needs to follow the law, and accept the consequences in acts against the law. Regardless of the situation, attacking others is against the law; obstructing police is against the law; vandalising is against the law.

Third, ad hominem behaviour is not acceptable, where one attacks other people’s character and motives rather than their behaviour. Rather than condemn the violence of specific individuals, some people declare the whole class of protesters, police and their families to be shameless, and flawed in character.

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