Letters | If Hong Kong protesters want democracy, they need to practise what they preach

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Protesters hold a lunchtime rally in Central, Hong Kong’s financial heart, on November 12. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Published: 7:30am, 15 Nov 2019Updated: 7:30am, 15 Nov 2019

How did a world class city get plunged into such a state of havoc? We have to look back at its colonial history under British rule to understand that Hong Kong has always only been a capitalist society, never a democratic one, as there had never been a one-man, one-vote system at the highest level.

And so, in a capitalist system, where the focus is on making money, there comes a point when wealth is not equally distributed.

Hong Kong is a living proof that capitalism has failed, and that is not without consequences for the city. It will never be the Hong Kong it used to be again; this is sad, but it’s better that we face the truth than remain in denial and act naively believing that protests will bring Hong Kong back to its glory days.

Speaking of the protests, is fascism on the rise? Isn’t it ironic that those shouting for democratic rights violently suppress opposing views? In the name of democracy, protesters even set fire to someone for opposing them.

Democracy requires those with opposing views to engage in dialogue, at most using verbal aggression. Physical aggression should not be used. Yet, this is not clear to our young millennials or Generation Z, shouting so-called democratic slogans.

Wei Ping, Yau Yat Tsuen

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