Just Saying | There will be blood if Hong Kong protesters continue to blur the line between people power and mob rule

Yonden Lhatoo is alarmed by the 15-hour siege of police headquarters by mostly young protesters and the implications for the rule of law in a deeply divided and troubled city

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A protester throws an egg into the wall of the police headquarters in Wan Chai. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:38pm, 22 Jun 2019Updated: 10:59pm, 22 Jun 2019

I devoted my last two columns to appeal for understanding of Hong Kong’s youth and their frustrations in the context of why they have been taking to the streets with such intensity against the government’s now-suspended extradition bill.

Their sense of feeling alienated, downtrodden, disrespected and left behind is very real, and they have made it abundantly clear to our hitherto deaf government officials nestled in their ivory towers that the young voices of this city can no longer be ignored as inconsequential or fringe talk.

Having said that, I have serious issues with what they did on Friday, besieging police headquarters for 15 hours straight in a radical protest involving the use of mob mobilisation and guerilla tactics the likes of which Hong Kong has never seen before.

Police, apparently under strict orders to avoid any confrontation, retreated inside the building while a howling mob outside sealed all entrances with metal barriers to make sure no one could get in or out. I dread to think of the consequences if a fire had broken out in the premises, but hey, this is what democracy is all about, purportedly.

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