Just Saying | The extent of Hong Kong’s crisis: let the numbers do the talking
- Just how bad has it become in the city? Yonden Lhatoo says the numbers tell the story after six months of mass protests, street violence and social strife, with no end in sight
Sometimes, simple numbers can tell a story louder and better than words.
Six months into the biggest political and social crisis Hong Kong has ever experienced, there’s still no glimmer of light at the end of the pitch-black tunnel we’re trapped in, no silver lining to the clouds that have blotted out our horizon, only deeply divided views as to what or who is wrong. And cold, hard statistics that speak for themselves.
Since the mass protests first broke out in June, triggered by the government’s ill-fated extradition bill, more than 900 demonstrations, processions and public assemblies have been held across the city. Keep that in mind when talking about how much freedom we have – or don’t – in Hong Kong.
With many of these gatherings descending into street violence by a radical minority, police have arrested well over 5,800 people. That surpasses the total of just under 4,500 for the 1967 leftist riots, considered Hong Kong’s worst-ever disturbance.
The youngest arrested so far is aged just 11 years and the oldest, 83, testament to the extent of public participation in this revolution and representative of a wide demographic ranging from prepubescent children to venerable octogenarians.
