Advertisement
Hong Kong protests
OpinionLetters

Letters | Why Hong Kong rioters should know better and let city return to days free of violence

  • The city has done a great job keeping Covid-19 under control, and government policies must be a strong contributory factor
  • A return to normality can include dialogue about Hong Kong’s future, but it shouldn’t include violent and destructive acts

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
Protesters gather for a peaceful rally in Victoria Park on August 18, 2019. Photo: AFP
Letters
Those people, mainly young, who have returned to the streets and shopping malls with the conviction that carrying out destructive and violent acts is the way to get their message across, would be well advised to investigate what happened during the riots of 1966. At that time the British, of whom I am one, were the so-called colonial masters and their reaction was far more direct and decisive than that of the current-day Chinese administration based in Beijing, who have been a model of patience and understanding in comparison.

On the first day the British army garrisoned here came onto the streets with bayonets attached to their rifles. On the second, since the bayonets did not scare the rioters, they began to fire live bullets. One person was shot and killed. The next day they had to do very little to restore calm.

So far, nobody has been killed by the Hong Kong police, a body which, despite the criticisms it has received – often from the “democratic” supporters of the protesters and rioters – has generally acted with the same patience and understanding as the Hong Kong government and the Chinese administration. However, this patience might be wearing thin!

What should be taken into consideration by the participants, and their apologists, in violent acts directed against the government, is the incontrovertible fact that the government, together with the fantastic medical staff and the cautious approach adopted by the Hong Kong people, have done a magnificent job combating Covid-19.

We must be the envy of the world in having only four deaths, however tragic they may be, in total. This isn’t an accident. One amazing statistic after another can be quoted and the policies of the Hong Kong government must be a strong contributory factor in this success.

Instead of doing everything to try to topple them, especially Chief Executive Carrie Lam, why don’t we just thank them and let them carry on striving for the good of Hong Kong?

I can only speculate that the vast majority of Hongkongers are completely fed up and disgusted with the violent acts and only want Hong Kong to return to the normality of the days before the violent protests. This normality can, of course, include dialogue and discussion about what we would like Hong Kong to be in the future, but it shouldn’t include violent and destructive acts by thugs, condoned by their backers.

Advertisement