My Take | Hong Kong youngsters are mortgaging their future
- Protesters have to realise they are becoming more violent, not the police, and are exploiting freedoms of city as they wreak havoc through their actions
Many people hoped the youthful rebellion would die down after the government conceded and shelved the extradition bill, and apologised. But like a wildfire, it’s spreading. You can’t put it out without causing even worse collateral damage. The only alternative is to let it burn out, but that may take a while.
Government adviser and lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee thinks the unrest will last until the end of the year. Who knows?
We have been here before, with the Occupy protests of 2014. Eventually, the public will get tired of the disturbance and destruction, and demand an end to it.
But if we can’t stop our youth from wreaking havoc at the moment, at least we can counter the malicious narrative being constructed by opposition politicians and their media and foreign allies. If young people think they are speaking truth to power, well, let us old-timers try to speak the truth to them in turn.
First, the police are not getting more violent; quite the opposite. You are. But we are fighting for our futures, you say, so cut us some slack! Well, you are certainly exploiting all the freedoms currently available to you.