Shades OffIn a Hong Kong full of hatred, fear and violence, can we trust anyone any more?

Weeks of suspicious activity around protest sites, threats and undercover police activity have scarred Hong Kong. What once might have been seen as simple interest in a fellow citizen’s well-being is now generating mistrust

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A gas-mask-clad protester faces down riot police during a protest on August 25. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:00am, 27 Aug 2019Updated: 9:24am, 27 Aug 2019

A month or two ago, I had no problem being grabbed on the arm by a stranger. Being blind and living in a city where many people are imbued with a Good Samaritan streak from their Christian school education, I had become used to their uninvited help. But, two months of verbal and physical clashes between authorities and pro-democracy protesters have created an environment of fear and loathing. Hong Kong is now a tortured place; we no longer know who we can trust.

There have been lies and twisted logic from the government. Beijing has spewed threats and vitriol towards those with democratic ideals. Police actions have too many times raised doubts about the professionalism of some officers. Thugs, believed to have triad connections, have carried out attacks with perceived impunity against demonstrators, journalists and commuters. Social media is awash with messages of hate.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s explanation for the introduction of the extradition bill behind the turmoil has never been convincing. The panel she has set up as a first step towards calming tensions comprises the usual government hangers-on, giving the impression she is not sincere about handling protesters’ grievances.

Her insistence that the violence be investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Council, whose members are largely pro-establishment, rather than a non-partisan tribunal, raises concerns about impartiality. These have only added to the loss of faith in her governance.

Mysterious mainlanders are in our midst, taking close-up pictures of citizens. Two such people were viciously turned on by a suspicious crowd of protesters at Hong Kong International Airport earlier this month.

A woman journalist was similarly surrounded by angry local reporters at a government press conference for zeroing her camera lens on the faces of those who asked searching questions of officials. Are they really visitors or journalists as they claim, or spies?

Police have admitted to posing as protesters, although deny allegations that their “plants” are egging crowds on to break the law. When two officers recently approached me and asked where I was going and where I lived, I felt uncomfortable. These are the people we rely on to provide law and order and keep our streets safe, yet I did not feel protected in their company.