Opinion | A New Year’s resolution for Hong Kong’s protesters, police and government: account for the collateral damage of your actions

Between water cannons spraying blue dye and the acrid aftermath of Molotov cocktails, it is understandable that the most vulnerable in Hong Kong have been largely left out of public discourse on the protests.

While the mainstream media portrays the unrest as a battle between two camps – the pro-democracy movement and the ostensibly pro-stability establishment – those who have had to endure the aftermath of the destruction and violence wrought by all parties have been largely effaced from the narrative. 

I was standing across from the Peninsula hotel last week under the blazing sun and beside me a team of harried-looking workers were trying their best to repair traffic lights in time for the evening rush hour. Later that day, I walked past an elderly rough sleeper whose wracking cough told his story – he had been caught in tear gas fired during a police-protester altercation.

That night, I visited a coffee shop that radical protesters had branded a “blue” establishment, where the workers spoke of business declining since protesters took to naming and shaming restaurants for their political orientations.

The past six months have taken a heavy toll on Hong Kong’s most vulnerable. From creating biohazards on the fly and heightening the risk to and strain on street cleaners and repair workers, to the domino effect of the drastic decline in tourist numbers, the unrest has not only thrown under the bus the voiceless but also allowed political forces to use them selectively as scapegoats and battering rams in the ongoing blame game.