What were witnessing here is nothing short of a revolution. Its called protests, but whoever has been on the streets these last couple of days here in Hong Kong understands that its much more than that. Ive never seen anything like this, the atmosphere is utterly peaceful while hundreds of thousands walk, talk, sit and sing their way through the streets of Hong Kong calling for this revolution. On the street is an entire generation of people that have grown accustomed and fond of the western ideas of self governance through the UK rule of HK and are now unwilling to accept anything but exactly that. They want to be in charge of their own fate. Nothing less, nothing more. Interestingly, it seems to me that its also partly a generational question which at first sight it shouldnt be. All several generation spanning Hong Kongers have grown up under British rule. And yet, its especially the younger ones who are willing to challenge and take on not just their own government, but the communist party. It might be because they havent experienced what happened in TiananMen or during the cultural revolution. However, it might also be because they understand the power and proliferation of social and more traditional media to the extent that a massacre in HK today is unthinkable despite the tensions of the last days. The older generation might understand that less and worry more. They want peace and quiet restored, because they are scared of change and only think of potential negative repercussions, even if temporary protests might help create a better HK in the longer term future thats less ruled by Plutocrats and more by the actual people. It might also be said that its paradox that its not the older ones that are pushing since they have less to lose from a simple age perspective. But as we can read in many studies, the older people get, the more fearful they become. The young dont understand the full extent of what theyre doing and that may be exactly what it needs to be doing something like this in the first place. If you knew all the problems ahead of time, you probably would never get started. At the surface, this is about universal suffrage. Deeper down, its about Hong Kongs future relationship with the communist party. Yet deeper down, its about all the regions in China seeking for independence. At the bottom, its about the communist party sending a signal to the other provinces who strive for similar developments. No matter how theyre going to act/react and whether universal suffrage will be implemented, the actions and developments during the next days & weeks will form a precedent either way.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 07:03:17 +0000
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