#OccupyCentral thread: Give me Liberty or Give me Death!

[Helder Postiga]

Re: 'i'll just make lesser then': Chow yun-fat responds to prc ban for supporting hk


Leave now and protesters’ hard work will have come to nothing, says Joshua Wong

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 05 November, 2014, 4:19pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 05 November, 2014, 6:47pm

Lai Ying-kit, Ernest Kao and Alan Yu

Joshua Wong has helped drive the protests with rousing speeches in Admiralty. Photo: Reuters

Student leader Joshua Wong Chi-fung says now is not the time for Hong Kong’s democracy protesters to withdraw from main roads around the city, after a new poll found almost three in four people think the demonstrations should end.

Wong told Commercial Radio that staying on the streets was the only way to keep pressure on the central government in Beijing to withdraw its decision to tightly control the election of the territory’s next leader.

The 18-year-old convenor of the group Scholarism rejected suggestions that protesters should leave protest camps for now and return when the local government offers its official plan for the chief executive election.

“With the same method [occupation], same turnout, I can’t see any chance the government will retract the proposal at that stage,” Wong said.

A recent Polytechnic University poll found that 73.2 per cent of 554 respondents agreed that protesters should end their blockades now.

But almost 40 per cent of respondents said beleaguered Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and his government should be held responsible for the pro-democracy protests, now in their sixth week.

Asked who has the power to end the protests, 35.7 per cent of respondents said Leung and his government, while just 3 per cent thought the protesters could.

Less than a third of respondents said the responsibility for the street blockades lay with the three founders of Occupy Central, the group which initially helped to plan the protest before student organisers took the lead.

Just 9.5 per cent laid the blame with the Federation of Students and Scholarism, while less than 6 per cent of respondents said the central government and the national legislature should be held responsible.

Almost 35 per cent of respondents think no one can end the protests now.

As student leaders plan to send a delegation to Beijing in a bid to meet central government officials, Wong said that the ongoing protests could keep the representatives safe.

“With protesters remaining, Beijing will not do things arbitrarily to our student delegation,” he said.

He agreed that prolonged blockades would make the Occupy movement lose public support, and said the campaign needed to go further than road blockades to sustain momentum.

One option would be triggering by-elections in the Legislative Council which could act as a referendum on the issue, said Wong.

“The morale is still high in the protest sites. We have 2,000 tents in Admiralty at present,” he said. “We have put so much effort in. If we leave now, our hard work will have come to nothing.”

Wong dismissed a proposal floated by the leader of the city’s largest pro-Beijing party. Tam Yiu-chung, chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, had offered to arrange a meeting between students and central government officials on the condition that protesters end their street blockades now.

“It is exactly because our protests are continuing that the government feels the urge to respond to us,” Wong said, adding that there could be no positive outcome to any meeting under those conditions.

In Mong Kok, people reflected on the new poll's findings. Anson Cheung, 21, a business student, said efforts were being made to explain the ongoing protest to people living in the area. "We know for a fact many people support the fight for real universal suffrage but we also don’t deny it has inconvenienced many people," she said. "But the government is not budging and not sincere so we have no choice but to sit here.”

IT technician George Leung, 27, said: "It's like someone being raped who is screaming and resisting and then a survey is carried out asking people if the victim has been screaming for too long. The government...should respond to public demands."

Music student Lau Man-hei, 22, said the more important aspect of the survey was that many people agreed that it was the government who should bear responsibility for the protests.

Rachel Siu, 33, an administrative assistant, said she initially supported the movement. "But I think it’s getting to the point where many other people are finding it inconvenient and pointless," Siu said. "The government won’t budge. [The protesters] should either retreat or move back to Admiralty if they still want to keep public support."

One man, Mr Ho, who works in the area, said the protesters should not ignore the opinion of the majority."This is ridiculous. If this was the era of Deng Xiaoping, or if he was still alive, they would have cleared the area out ages ago," he said.

 

[Helder Postiga]

Mainland visitors flock to Hong Kong despite Occupy protests

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 05 November, 2014, 9:46pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 05 November, 2014, 10:38pm

Chen Yifei [email protected]

Occupy Central protest sites have emerged as a new attraction for Hong Kong people and overseas tourists, but few mainland tourists have put them on their tight travel schedules. Photo: Dickson Lee

Many mainland Chinese tourists are undeterred by Hong Kong’s ongoing Occupy Central protests and would not cancel future travel plans to the city, although some remained disapproving of the “Umbrella Movement” after visiting protest sites in Mong Kok, Admiralty and Causeway Bay.

“I would like to come [to Hong Kong] again if the opportunity arises,” said 81-year-old Mr Ma from Henan province, despite his strong opposition to the movement which he said was affecting China’s “stability and unity”.

“I think most mainland Chinese are like this [pragmatic]. As long as their lives are not affected by the protests, they will continue to visit Hong Kong,” said Jojo, a 20 year-old student from Shanxi province who is currently studying in Guangzhou.

Such pragmatism has been reflected in recent visitor numbers from China, with the number of mainland visitors increasing 6.8 per cent to 1.09 million over the golden week holiday that began on October 1, recent data from the Travel Industry Council showed.

While the Occupy Central protest sites have emerged as a new attraction for Hong Kong people and overseas tourists – with their iconic art displays like “Umbrella Man”, the “Lennon Wall” in Admiralty and a parody paper statue of Chinese President Xi Jinping shown holding a yellow umbrella – few mainland tourists have put the Occupy sites on their tight travel schedules.

At the Mong Kok protest site, most tourists pass quickly by dragging rolling suitcases, only stopping to take an occasional photo during a break from shopping or when crossing the road.

The South China Morning Post spoke to a number of tourists in Mong Kok and Causeway Bay who took a moment to look around the protest sites and take pictures of them on their mobile phones.

Xie Junjia, from the restive western Chinese region of Xinjiang, said he was planning to visit the protest site in Mong Kok next.

Xie praised the Hong Kong government for its patience in handling the protesters, and said the protesters themselves had adopted a moderate approach in voicing their opinions, unlike their counterparts in his home town – which he said had “a few extremists”.

“From what I saw around the site, the protesters are not having a serious impact on the neighbouring community,” Xie said.

His words were echoed by 25-year-old man from Dongguan, surnamed Hu, who also had the idea to visit a protest site and described the protesters as being “quite civilised”.

But a man surnamed Zhan from Shenzhen, hoped the protests would end soon. “It’s shaking Hong Kong’s economy and affecting local businesses”, he said. The economy was the major issue cited by many mainland tourists who opposed the pro-democracy movement.

Visitors in their 20s to 30s seemed more willing to talk to the Post, and some said they would share their thoughts and pictures about the protests on social media.

“I will post the photos I took [at the protest site] on social media. They are strictly facts. If [the government] wants to censor them, I can do nothing,” said Mario Ma, a 29 year-old man from Guangzhou, who said he disapproved of the Occupy movement as it had blocked main thoroughfares in Hong Kong. Ma said he was able to watch Hong Kong broadcasts about the protests on TVB from his home in Guangdong, but said that positive news reports about the protests had been censored and replaced by commercials.

Middle-aged tourists seen photographing the protest areas or reading banners mostly turned down requests for an interview by saying “I know nothing” or “I don’t want to comment”. Few tourists, regardless of age, would pause to talk to protesters.

However, one visitor from Shenzhen struck up a conversion with an Occupy protester in Causeway Bay.

The man, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was concerned about the protests because his son was born in Hong Kong.

He disagreed with the protesters’ approach and said he was pessimistic about Hong Kong’s future: “The mainland is developing so fast that Hong Kong will lag behind soon, if it continues this way.”

 

[sochi2014]

You will get liberty once you achieved death!

If you are a non believer, you still need to kowtow to Satan !!

LPPL i would say!

But if you are a believer, you will attain liberty before you even dies!

 

[Helder Postiga]

Re: China blocks bbc website after video shows hong kong police beating protester


The public have spoken - they want the Occupy protest to end

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 06 November, 2014, 5:21am
UPDATED : Thursday, 06 November, 2014, 9:22am

SCMP Editorial

A recent survey showed that 73 per cent of the public think it's time to end the occupation. Photo: Reuters

As the Occupy Central impasse drags on, those behind the civil disobedience movement find themselves under growing pressure to review their strategy. The ideas being considered are anything but constructive, ranging from the chief executive dissolving the legislature to pan-democratic lawmakers resigning to trigger a "referendum" in the form of by-elections.

The suggestions are nothing new. The first comes from Basic Law Article 50, which says the city's leader can disband Legco when the government budget or important bills are vetoed. The second was carried out in 2010 by five pan-democrats, who resigned en masse to force city-wide polling the lawmakers intended to be a vote on democracy.

That the government has wasted no time in dismissing the ideas is hardly surprising. Article 50 is not a step to be taken lightly. A similar situation emerged nine years ago when the legislature voted down electoral reforms for 2007 tabled by Donald Tsang Yam-kuen when he was chief executive. But Tsang did not resort to such an extreme step. More importantly, dissolving Legco will not necessarily break the deadlock. It is believed that even if 2017 electoral reforms are vetoed in Legco, Beijing will not yield to pressure and modify the framework. Should pan-democrats continue to hold veto power in the new Legco, the chance of a breakthrough would be just as bleak.

Equally ill-conceived is the resignation plan. Occupy Central organisers already held an unofficial city-wide vote in June, in which 800,000 people expressed their aspirations for genuine universal suffrage. If the ballot and weeks of street protests failed to force any changes, what would another ballot achieve?

Although student leaders believe a referendum is a good way to sustain the campaign's momentum, pan-democrat lawmakers are not so sure. If the 2010 experience is any reference, it does not bode well in terms of the public's response - turnout was a record low 17 per cent. In the end, the five lawmakers did nothing more than waste HK$150 million to regain the seats they had given up. Even if the students can convince lawmakers to take up the baton, there is also no guarantee that protesters will retreat.

People's patience is running out as the campaign enters its 39th day. A recent survey showed that 73 per cent of the public think it's time to end the occupation. The protesters should heed the call and free our streets.

 

[Helder Postiga]

Re: China blocks bbc website after video shows hong kong police beating protester


Protesters, police clash in Mong Kok as 'Guy Fawkes' flash protests raise tensions

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 06 November, 2014, 7:29am
UPDATED : Thursday, 06 November, 2014, 5:40pm

Emily Tsang, Danny Mok, Ernest Kao and Lai Ying-kit

Hong Kong protesters wearing Guy Fawkes masks walk past policemen on a road occupied by protesters as part of the Occupy Central civil disobedience movement at Mongkok shopping district November 5, 2014. Photo: Reuters

Scuffles broke out at the protest site in Mong Kok in the early hours of Thursday, where dozens of protesters were subdued and pushed to the ground by police officers.

At around 2am, scores of protesters gathering on a pavement near Portland Street clashed with police as officers tried to force them back into the protest site.

The protesters, some wearing construction helmets, shouted insults at police and complained about the way officers handled them earlier.

The scuffles broke out after a protester aimed a photographic flash at police before midnight, other protesters said. Television footage showed officers pushing the man, who was bleeding in his face, against metal barricades at a distance from a crowd.

Protesters wearing Guy Fawkes masks hold up a banner near Mong Kok. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Another protester, who suffered scratches to his face, said he was dragged to the ground by policemen and his head was injured during the scuffle.

Three men were arrested.

Sai Bing, 25, a logistics employee, said he was on the front lines when the altercations erupted at around 11pm, when that camera flash was aimed at police. “We saw a bunch of police officers grab [the man with the camera] and take him to the HSBC building and beat him as he resisted,” he said. “I saw blood on his face.”

Bing and a group of protesters rushed to protect barricades at the junction of Nathan Road and Argyle Street, prompting a stand-off with officers.

Suddenly, police geared up with batons and shields. Seeing this, demonstrators donned their helmets and protective gear, Bing said.

“We had no intention of charging them at all. We just wanted to protect ourselves,” he said.

Within minutes, the conflict shifted nearby, at the junction of Argyle Street and Portland Street, when protesters began berating several plain-clothes officers who were walking away from the crowd. Police also blocked an attempt to move barricades from Nathan Road to that junction.

“We surrounded them and scolded them. Suddenly police called in reinforcements and closed us in on both sides [of Argyle Street],” said Bing.

Without warning, police advanced and pushed the protesters back, causing some to fall on the ground.

Zero Lam Tat-wing, 25, said the shoving by police got more forceful and he fell three times.

“Everyone started falling on top of me. I couldn’t move. I also saw blue-shirt officers throwing punches,” Lam said.

Witnesses said officers also unleashed a round of pepper spray.

“From a distance of less than a metre. I was sprayed right in the face. They could have given us a warning. I didn’t even have my goggles on,” said Bing, whose face remains red and blotchy hours after.

Lam said he saw at least five people pepper-sprayed. “It was very dangerous as protesters were not given any prior warning,” he said.

Joy Chan, 22, a Chinese University student, said that during the melee, police tried to kick down their free-standing tent on Argyle Road.

The chaos died down at around 3am or 4am after police agreed to let them have Argyle Street back if they stopped moving barricades, said Chan. Protesters said they felt battered and fatigued after the action.

But Chan said it showed Occupy Mong Kok’s resilience. “Occupy Mong Kok is still standing strong in the fight and I think this is a good thing for the movement. More people will turn up here again.”

Earlier on Wednesday night, dozens of people wearing Guy Fawkes masks marched to the protest sites in Mong Kok and Admiralty, causing brief but tense standoffs with police.

Around 50 people wearing Guy Fawkes masks gathered on a pavement by Lung Wo Road in Admiralty at about 10pm, chanting "I want genuine universal suffrage". The police briefly closed one traffic lane to prevent them from storming into the road and blocking traffic.

But the masked crowd soon dispersed and wandered around in Central.

Some police officers followed the dispersed protesters and ordered them not to stay on the road. Some of the mask-wearing protesters returned to the protest site after 1am.

Protesters wearing Guy Fawkes masks in Admiralty. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The "flash mob" protests appeared to be related to Guy Fawkes Night on November 5, which commemorates the foiling of a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London in 1605.

In Alan Moore's popular comics turned film V for Vendetta, main character V urges anonymous crowds to rise and fight against the establishment on November 5. The film has since turned the Guy Fawkes mask into a popular symbol among anti-establishment protesters around the world.

Separately, in Mong Kok, about 100 protesters in Guy Fawkes masks also marched within the occupied zone at about 9pm, with some putting up yellow umbrellas and chanting “I want genuine universal suffrage” and “down with Leung Chun-ying”, the chief executive. Some of them also marched inside Langham Place mall.

Two hours later, a brief scuffle broke out between protesters and police officers. A number of protesters were taken away from the protest site by police.

 

[Helder Postiga]

Re: China blocks bbc website after video shows hong kong police beating protester


PUBLISHED : Thursday, 06 November, 2014, 4:23pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 06 November, 2014, 7:52pm

Time for student protesters to consider a tactical withdrawal

Albert Cheng says as public tolerance for blocked roads wears thin, the Occupy movement must prepare for the next phase of action, post clearance

Albert Cheng

Those who have been sleeping on the streets deserve respect. Yet, it is a fact that their action has resulted in major inconveniences and even financial losses to some. Photo: AP

Student leaders need to make a decisive call on where the Occupy movement should head next. If they don't, they will play into the hands of the authorities, given that public tolerance for the disruptions caused by the prolonged protests is wearing thin.

As revealed by the University of Hong Kong's recent opinion poll, the Federation of Students has become the most popular political group in town, eclipsing the political parties and trade unions across the political spectrum. This is to be expected, as the students have achieved in less than two months what pan-democratic lawmakers have failed to attain over the past three decades.

The demand for a complete overhaul of our lopsided electoral system has never been so loud and clear, and the pressure on the establishment for change has never been more intense since China resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997.

Those who have been sleeping on the streets in Admiralty, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok deserve respect. They are the ones who have made the biggest personal sacrifices to pursue the goal of genuine democracy. Yet it is a fact that their action has resulted in major inconveniences and even financial losses to some.

As indicated by a Polytechnic University survey, 73.2 per cent of people surveyed say the protesters should quit the occupied sites. This does not mean the students have lost popular support. The figure only shows that an overwhelming majority disagrees with their tactics of continuing to block some of our main streets.

The idea of asking pan-democrats to resign from the legislature to trigger territory-wide by-elections has been floated. This could be interpreted as a pseudo-referendum on whether protesters should withdraw.

The students can further publicise their demands for true democracy through the by-elections. The total portion of votes the pan-democrats could get, rather than the number of seats they could retain, should be used as the yardstick for success.

Nonetheless, some councillors are dragging their heels. After all, those who resign would be barred from seeking re-election and will suffer substantial financial losses in terms of allowances and stipends.

Meanwhile, the authorities have learned their lesson. There has been no further attempt to disperse the crowds by force. Instead, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying is playing a waiting game. He simply sits back and lets the public grievances against Occupy grow.

Occupy is meant to exert maximum pressure on the Leung administration. Nevertheless, events have taken such a turn that Occupy is exerting even greater pressure on its organisers.

No social movement that is at odds with popular opinion can keep going. Many community leaders have already urged the students to withdraw. I have no intention of adding to the symphony. My point is that the students should not become sitting ducks.

The Federation of Students is considering petitioning top officials in Beijing. They are doomed to be denied entry, let alone get to talk to anybody in the Chinese bureaucracy.

The head of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, Tam Yiu-chung, has pledged to arrange for the students to meet officials in Beijing. Tam, a shrewd opportunist, has obviously been authorised as a messenger. The student leaders should jump at the opportunity.

They might be able to see Wang Guangya , director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. They might even end up presenting their case to Zhang Dejiang , a Politburo member who chairs the National People's Congress Standing Committee.

In the meantime, the students can earn themselves some breathing space to formulate a long-term strategy.

The Chinese authorities are unlikely to budge, but the students will at least be appreciated for their attempt to communicate. If the communist leaders are only interested in giving the students a dressing-down, public support in Hong Kong for them would surge again. The students could then devise, with renewed pubic blessing, the next phase of the movement.

There is a theory that the police will clear the sites after the world leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit have left Beijing. If the students are to persist in Occupy, they should start preparing for the worst. The students should convene a meeting with the other organisations behind the movement to map out a plan for the post-clearance scenario.

They are duty-bound to lead the movement out of the current stalemate, one way or another. They should prepare their followers for a drawn-out war.

It is high time for students to consider a tactical withdrawal and think of other ways to deepen their campaign. That does not mean a retreat in defeat. Nobody can know when the time for a second wave of Occupy may come.

Albert Cheng King-hon is a political commentator. [email protected]

 

[Helder Postiga]

Re: China blocks bbc website after video shows hong kong police beating protester


As things stand, Occupy protests could last into 2015

Andrew Fung says with Beijing seemingly willing to play the waiting game and the students equally determined to stay put, the Occupy protests could last well into 2015

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 06 November, 2014, 6:00pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 06 November, 2014, 7:52pm

Andrew Fung

In the eyes of many Chinese officials, Hong Kong is like a "spoiled child" best left to its own destiny.

The Occupy movement has been with us for over a month, and there seems to be no way to end the deadlock. More and more people have come to the conclusion that the police will eventually have to clear the occupied sites by force. But this is unlikely to happen in the near future, so the current situation may become normalised for months to come.

The Beijing authorities, and hence the Hong Kong government, appear to have adopted the principle of "no compromise, no blood" for now, which means they are prepared to be patient and wait out the protests. Hong Kong's gross domestic product last year was only about 3 per cent of mainland China's, thus any short-to-medium-term damage to the Hong Kong economy as a consequence of its political turmoil will not hurt China as a whole.

However, Chinese officials have also repeatedly referred to the Chinese saying, "If you refuse a toast, you will be forced to drink a forfeit", which implies that the protesters and pan-democrats who want to do things the hard way are likely to find their wish granted.

The Chinese government claims comprehensive jurisdiction over the Hong Kong special administrative region. If needed, it will not hesitate to abandon its previous policy of granting special favours and concessions to Hong Kong, and quicken its implementation of a plan to develop Shanghai and Shenzhen into international finance centres, which will reduce Hong Kong's role in the Chinese economy. The SAR's economic significance to China has already declined over the years, and it will be further marginalised.

In the eyes of many - or even most - Chinese officials, Hong Kong is like a "spoiled child" best left to its own destiny and undeserving of more concessions and special care. Some businessmen visiting the mainland have brought back stories of Chinese officials harshly criticising Hong Kong in conversations, with some making derogatory remarks.

Meanwhile, some Hong Kong officials have told friends about the cold reception and stern faces that greeted them when they travelled up north to meet their counterparts.

The State Council has made it explicit, in its white paper published in June, that China's sovereignty, security and development interests take precedence over Hong Kong's stability and prosperity. This implies that the latter can be sacrificed in order to safeguard the former. As things stand, there is no immediate need for the authorities to clamp down on the protests, as long as national priorities are not threatened.

On the streets, however, the protesters have firmly entrenched themselves. Repeated opinion surveys and media interviews have reaffirmed their great determination to stay put and defend the sites, in the vague hope of gaining some ground towards "genuine universal suffrage". It is the people in the occupied zones who have been refusing to evacuate, forcing the leaders of the Federation of Students to go along with them.

When the student leaders brought back for consultation the government's suggestions on submitting an opinion report to Beijing and setting up a multiparty platform, it was the masses in occupied Admiralty who flatly rejected the offers.

All along, the more radical protesters have been influential. By now, representatives of these small, radical organisations have successfully gained admission into the protesters' top decision-making core group, comprising leaders of the Federation of Students, Scholarism and the original Occupy Central, in descending order of their influence.

The Occupy leaders have been racking their brains to come up with one idea after another on what to do next, including meeting with central government officials, going up to Beijing during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit meeting, and triggering a de facto city-wide referendum with the resignation of one (or five) pan-democratic legislators. All these ideas appear whimsical or impractical in solving the deadlock. And, each time, the Occupy protesters stressed that these ideas would not pave the way to voluntary evacuation.

Meanwhile, the Admiralty occupied zone has grown into a self-sufficient community, with voluntary division of labour among the masses who set up and manage the barricades, tents, resource centres, clinics, study corners and art exhibits. It has been reported that the resource centres have ample supplies to last the coming winter, and more are pouring in.

The sustainability of this community is ensured by the free movement of its inhabitants, who take turns to go back to their own home for a good rest and better food. In the daytime, there are often only several dozen protesters at Admiralty to keep watch for government clearance actions, while many others go to college or work, returning in the evenings and on public holidays.

Most important of all, the inhabitants have developed among themselves a spirit of comradeship, an attachment to the territories they "possess", and an identity of the community they have collectively built. Any clearance action by the government or the anti-Occupy forces will be perceived as an encroachment upon their "rights" to their "home village".

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government and people have reluctantly and grudgingly found ways to adapt to this normalisation of the Occupy movement. But the longer the occupation goes on, the bigger the chance people may get seriously hurt, for example through arson, violent fighting, or even a bomb explosion. Any such event could spark off riots, leading to harsh police repression.

Without a breakthrough, the "Hong Kong commune" at Admiralty is likely to stay with us well into 2015.

Andrew Fung is chief executive officer at the Hong Kong Policy Research Institute

 

[Helder Postiga]

Re: China blocks bbc website after video shows hong kong police beating protester


Occupy art students host free 'fine-dining' buffet, with a biting political message

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 06 November, 2014, 7:33pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 06 November, 2014, 10:48pm

Alan Yu [email protected]

Keith Cheng Ka-chon (right, in black) will be your server this afternoon. Photo: Alan Yu

Those taking in the scene at the Occupy Central protest camp in Admiralty will find a strange addition to the landscape: a buffet of food that can be eaten al fresco, on a table draped with white linen and laid with silver cutlery and candles.

On the menu: pineapple buns, pineapple slices, jelly, baby cabbage, cheese and cured ham.

A political performance art of sorts, the “fine dining” experience, located at the flyover linking City Hall and the Tamar government headquarters, is designed as a culinary tour of the Occupy movement, playing on Cantonese puns, according to creator Keith Cheng Ka-chon, a university student.

“The pineapple bun is the main entrée because it’s uniquely local, and as we’ve been eating them for the past few decades,” says Cheng of the first course.

“We may have noticed that there actually isn’t any pineapple in the bun, just like how the universal suffrage [framework] we’ve been given doesn’t really involve [genuine] universal suffrage.”

Two people can dine at the table at any given time, and any passersby are welcome. Cheng and two fellow performing arts students act as servers.

Passersby can enjoy a meal in this performance art installation and 'fine-dining' experience. Photo: Alan Yu

The next item is packaged cheese, whose Cantonese name rhymes with “peaceful, but treated as troublemakers”. Cheng says this is how protesters participating in the more than month-long civil disobedience movement are viewed.

The demonstrators are seeking a free choice in the election, and have sustained the campaign des[ite Beijing’s refusal to recant its restrictive election reform framework and the Hong Kong government’s offers of alternative solutions, such as sending a report to China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress, about the Hong Kong people’s views.

Next in the meal is “14K cured ham”, a reference to Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s remark in a newspaper interview that free elections are unacceptable because it would give the city’s poorer sectors, those who make less than HK$14,000 a month, a vote.

Then there is baby cabbage boiled in warm water, which Cheng says symbolises how people who have not been to the protest sites are “getting slow-cooked by the government”.

The menu items all symbolise something about Occupy. Photo: Alan Yu

For sweets, there is apricot agar jelly (rhymes with “the unfortunate National People’s Congress” in Cantonese) and pineapples, which to the student epitomises real suffrage.

“The past month has been like a dream. People never thought this would happen,” says Cheng. “A lot of what we used to believe in has been shattered, like how we used to trust the police.

“Food is something everyone likes, so we thought this would get people’s attention,” he added.

Cheng and his team will have a larger display on November 19 at the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre in Shek Kip Mei.

Cheng said the original idea for their installation was to focus on features of Hong Kong that are often overlooked.

But after Cheng got tear-gassed on September 28, when Occupy kicked off, he and his fellow students decided to change the theme of their show.

Cheng has an installation planned, featuring objects from the scene on September 28, along with visuals and audio to bring those events to life.

 

[Revenge]

PUBLISHED : Friday, 07 November, 2014, 5:05am
UPDATED : Friday, 07 November, 2014, 5:05am

Hong Kong students don't deserve seats on chief executive nominating committee

Alex Lo [email protected]

Regina Ip proposes giving seats on nominating committee to students

There is at least one thing in Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee's proposal about redistributing seats in the future nominating committee that most people would like.

This involves reducing the absurdly high number of seats - 60 out of 1,200 - that the agriculture and fisheries subsector has been assigned under the old election committee. But beyond that, it's not clear why we should give protesting students seats on the nominating committee which will pick candidates for the 2017 chief executive election.

The idea from the chairwoman of the New People's Party seems to be driven wholly by a need to address the political demands of the Occupy protesters. But there is a problem. First, the leaders of the Federation of Students don't recognise the nominating committee, which as far as they are concerned will have zero legitimacy. That's why they are in the streets in the first place, to fight for what they call civil nomination, which would either neuter or replace such a committee. It goes without saying they don't want any seat on what they consider an illegitimate and democratically unrepresentative body.

Second, it's not clear who and what the federation represents. It appears their power base primarily rests in Admiralty but has limited influence in Causeway Bay and Mong Kok. Neither the student leaders nor anyone else could really claim to represent or speak for the "umbrella" movement. So far, the students have been fighting for what they call "real" universal suffrage. Would they represent the pan-democrats in the newly reassigned seats in the nominating committee? Would not other pan-democratic groups with a longer history and better organisation deserve those seats?

Now Ip seems to argue the federation could represent young people. But as far as I know, the student leaders have never really tackled youth issues such as education, lack of employment, poor housing prospects, social mobility and economic opportunity. Far more qualified social workers, economists and even political parties have pondered and worked on such issues.

So while we should welcome new ideas at a time when nobody seems to have any good ideas for overcoming the Occupy impasse, Ip's proposal is not workable.

 

[Revenge]

Occupy sites the front line for a generation that got ripped off

Protests are really about young people raging against a system that has made them serfs

PUBLISHED : Friday, 07 November, 2014, 6:30am
UPDATED : Friday, 07 November, 2014, 6:30am

Perry Lam

What the Occupy Hong Kong movement has revealed isn't how much the protesters love democracy, but how much they hate the status quo.

The Occupy Hong Kong movement has been with us for some time now. What came as a revelation isn't how much the protesters love democracy, but how much they hate the status quo.

You can tell by their impossible demands and intransigence that the last thing they want is for things to return to normal. It's apparent that they consider themselves not only fighters for democracy, but also victims of the oppression and tyranny of the status quo.

Many people didn't see it coming, for the protesters had kept their anger and frustration mostly to themselves until they became galvanised and emboldened by the movement. The American writer Henry David Thoreau said most people lead lives of quiet desperation. Many of the protesters would certainly agree.

There's a lesson to be learnt here. Public discontent may lie dormant for years, but it should never be considered extinct. The price of good governance, like the price of freedom, is eternal vigilance.

It's a sign of how complacent and out of touch the government had been that it seemed to be caught unprepared for the volcanic eruption of dissatisfaction and hostility unleashed by the movement.

Without exaggeration, the Occupy movement is a generational war. The so-called Occupy Generation, whose members are mostly students and young workers born during and since the 1980s, believe that they are fighting for a better future for themselves, and they never tire of reminding the media and their detractors that time is on their side.

They obviously feel no qualms about making life inconvenient, even difficult, for others in their fight for a better Hong Kong. Collateral damage, apparently, is nothing to lose sleep over.

This may sound heartless but it has always been the privilege of young people to exhibit little compassion, empathy or concern for anyone's interests but their own.

In The Other America, American political scientist Michael Harrington writes that poor people are poor because they made the mistake of being born to the wrong parents. In Hong Kong, many young people are dispossessed because they made the mistake of being born in the wrong age. They've missed the age when property prices were still affordable by those who were determined and hard-working enough.

Those good old days are long gone. Through no fault of their own, today's youth are condemned to a lifetime of servitude imposed by a runaway property market. Living in a society in which the value of everything is largely determined by its sale price, they feel deprived and disadvantaged if not downright poor.

If war is too important to be left to generals, changing the world is too important to be left to the young and the restless.

But these young men and women wouldn't be playing havoc with law and order if they had not been let down by adult society.

It is said that if you don't like how the table is set, turn the table. This is exactly what they are doing.

Perry Lam is a local cultural critic

 

[Revenge]

Police donation fund 'may be for legal support' of suspended officers

PUBLISHED : Friday, 07 November, 2014, 6:30am
UPDATED : Friday, 07 November, 2014, 9:24am

Emily Tsang [email protected]

Police Commissioner Andy Tsang Wai-hung is said to have approved the call for donations.

Two major police unions have made a call for donations to support officers whose livelihoods have been hit by the Occupy pro-democracy protests.

But one police insider suggested yesterday that the fund was in fact intended to provide legal support for seven officers suspended pending an investigation into the alleged beating of Civic Party activist Ken Tsang Kin-chiu by officers.

The Junior Police Officers' Association and the Hong Kong Police Inspectors' Association set up the welfare foundation with the blessing of the police commissioner. They are seeking contributions from members and other officers until November 20.

Chan Cho-kwong, chairman of the junior officers' group, said Police Commissioner Andy Tsang Wai-hung had approved the move last week. He said applicants would be assessed by a six-member panel. A decision on whether to support the officers involved in the beating allegation would rest with the panel.

"The purpose of the donation is to help those fellow officers whose families and whose own well-being have been affected by the Occupy movement," Chan said. "The most likely use of the money is to help those who are injured during the action, or to help officers requiring funds for legal assistance."

But a police source suggested the fund had really been set up partly as a legal fund for seven officers who have been suspended pending investigation into allegations they beat Tsang after his arrest. The source added: "But it would be politically difficult to be seen to do it for that purpose."

 

[Revenge]

Most Hongkongers want Occupy to end now, says DAB poll

Executive councillor defends survey, which some have criticised because party staff conducted it

PUBLISHED : Friday, 07 November, 2014, 6:30am
UPDATED : Friday, 07 November, 2014, 6:04pm

Tony Cheung, Peter So, Emily Tsang and Timmy Sung in Guangzhou

Occupy Central co-founder Benny Tai Yiu-ting (left) walks past tents at the protest site at Admiralty. Photo: AFP

Two-thirds of Hongkongers want the Occupy protests to "end immediately", an opinion poll conducted by the city's largest pro-establishment party has found.

Staff from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong personally interviewed 5,531 residents aged 12 or above last month. They also found that 77 per cent of Hongkongers agreed that police should clear the occupation sites when the time is right.

However, an activists' leader questioned the validity of the poll, which was conducted by DAB district office staff.

Daisy Chan Sin-ying, convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, said: "According to our volunteers, some residents or business owners in the protest sites are actually sympathetic towards the Occupy movement."

She dismissed the call for protesters to leave, as Beijing had failed to retract its restrictive framework for the 2017 chief executive election.

DAB vice-chairwoman and executive councillor Starry Lee Wai-king said based on the poll results, the DAB would urge the protesters to leave. Photo: May Tse

On why the party did not commission an independent body to conduct the poll, DAB vice-chairwoman and executive councillor Starry Lee Wai-king explained that they wanted to "understand the residents' [opinion] directly".

"It isn't only the DAB which is doing this kind of poll," she added.

On Wednesday, Polytechnic University said its pollsters found nearly three-quarters of respondents felt now was the right time to stop the civil disobedience action.

Lee said based on the poll results, the DAB would urge the protesters to leave, the police to enforce the law and officials to launch the next round of public consultation on electoral reform.

Speaking in Guangzhou, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said: "It's not a question of when the government will clear the protest sites, but when initiators [of the movement] and participants decide to leave."

He also questioned whether it was necessary for representatives of the Federation of Students to go to Beijing to reiterate their demand for public nomination of chief executive candidates, since central government officials had repeatedly said the idea was not in line with the Basic Law.

The federation has pinned its hope on former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa and Hong Kong's representative on the National People's Congress Standing Committee, Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, setting up a dialogue.

This means it may defer sending a delegation to Beijing, which it had intended to do next week to coincide with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, until it hears from the pair.

 

[Revenge]

Government must build paths for real engagement

Stephen Vines fears consequences of alarmist talk about Occupy protests

PUBLISHED : Friday, 07 November, 2014, 1:00pm
UPDATED : Friday, 07 November, 2014, 7:45pm

Stephen Vines

There are alternatives to the current system of mutant democracy and command from a remote leadership. They require trust in the people of Hong Kong. Photo: AP

The time has come to start thinking beyond the present crisis in Hong Kong, as it is now crystal clear that we cannot simply go back to where we were.

Right now, the anti-democrats are doing most of the talking about the future but are doing so in irresponsible terms, warning of the long-term damage likely to be inflicted by the umbrella movement. This alarmist talk is dangerous; not least because it might be self-fulfilling, most tragically if a decision is taken to violently suppress the movement. Demonising those who dare to protest makes it easier to justify a bloody response, and it precludes the dialogue that is required to defuse the situation.

Were a real dialogue to take place, the anti-democrats might be able to appreciate the quality of their interlocutors. Anyone who has bothered to talk to the protesters knows that most of them keenly appreciate Hong Kong's realities. They realise that democracy will not be achieved any time soon and that challenging the might of the Chinese state is an unequal battle. Yet this is not producing fatalism but an understanding that they are involved in a long-term struggle demanding sacrifice.

While they are thinking about what this entails, they are bombarded by suggestions that demonstrate a poverty of understanding. The younger generation is urged to simply return to their studies and wait until they are older before engaging in politics. Some suggest they should get involved in political parties, while others say they should spend their time focusing on pragmatic day-to-day issues and abandon idealism.

In other words, they are being urged to either shut up or look to older models of achieving change that have produced precisely the frustration that led to the current protests.

The diehard anti-democrats simply refuse to appreciate the value of the creativity and civic-mindedness of a generation who have been dismissed elsewhere in this newspaper as mere children. These "children" are displaying an enormous wealth of talent and have demonstrated impressive levels of maturity that explain why they have so much support from all levels of society.

The question remains how to use their talent and commitment. Obviously, a move towards genuine democratic government would produce meaningful participation in society. We know this will be strenuously resisted by those currently holding power, but there are modest steps that can be taken.

The establishment can help itself and defuse some of the anger directed against it by building structures outside the confines of those that characterise public life in Hong Kong. As matters stand, public consultation exercises tend to be farcical, advisory bodes are largely packed with pro-establishment figures and the limited dialogue with opposition personalities tends to be stilted and non-productive.

It requires both imagination and willingness to think anew about how a new level of engagement can be achieved. The alternative is prolonged disruption and stalemate.

The established order probably believes it can get away without change and has formidable resources to sustain itself; plus, it has the backing of a dictatorship. However, as Mao Zedong famously observed, what looks like great power often turns out to be no more than paper tigers.

There are alternatives to the current system of mutant democracy and command from a remote leadership. These alternatives require a great deal more trust in the people of Hong Kong.

The problem is that the proponents of the status quo speak proudly about their patriotism and love of Hong Kong but, in truth, believe that its people are somehow inferior.

Stephen Vines is a Hong Kong-based journalist and entrepreneur

 

[Revenge]

Occupy Central threatens ‘Hong Kong security’, Beijing advisers warn

PUBLISHED : Friday, 07 November, 2014, 3:03pm
UPDATED : Friday, 07 November, 2014, 4:30pm

Gary Cheung [email protected]

Occupy Central "has some elements of a ‘colour revolution’ and has already threatened ‘Hong Kong security’,” the two academics wrote. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Two mainland academics who advise Beijing on Hong Kong affairs have warned that Occupy Central protests have threatened “Hong Kong security”, which is a crucial determinant of national security.

The new jargon was invented by Huang Ping, vice-chairman of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, and Chen Xinxin, a legal affairs expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in an article published in the latest issue of the Hong Kong and Macao Journal.

The association, chaired by former deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Chen Zuoer, is a high-level think tank set up by the central government last year to study Hong Kong affairs, including the Basic Law and political reform.

In the article entitled “The Unlawful Nature of the Occupy Central campaign in Hong Kong”, Huang and Chen said the protests, which have paralysed parts of the city for six weeks, had upset social order and undermined the foundation of the rule of law.

“It also has some elements of a ‘colour revolution’ and has already threatened ‘Hong Kong security’,” the two academics wrote.

The Occupy movement was labelled by Vice-Premier Wang Yang last month as a “colour revolution”, a reference to uprisings in post-Soviet states.

“Hong Kong security is a crucial determinant of national security of China, which is Hong Kong’s sovereign country,” they wrote.

The academics argued that the Basic Law had put forward the concept of “security of the Hong Kong special administrative region”.

They cited Article 18 of the Basic Law. It states that the central government may issue an order applying the relevant national laws in Hong Kong in the event that the National People’s Congress Standing Committee decides to declare a state of war.

Article 18 also states that the central government can apply national laws in the city if it decides there is a state of emergency caused by turmoil within Hong Kong which endangers national unity or security and is beyond the control of the special administrative region government.

“It shows the drafters of the Basic Law expected the chief executive to put Hong Kong security as the most important consideration in discharging his or her duty,” the academics wrote. “The chief executive and Hong Kong police must take into account this concept when they tackle unlawful occupation activities.”

Political commentator Johnny Lau Yui-siu, who covered the drafting process of the Basic Law in the 1980s as a journalist, said that compared with constitutional development, the concept of national security, let alone “Hong Kong security”, was not the focus of discussion among drafters at the time.

“The two academics simply invented a new term to serve the political needs of targeting Occupy Central,” he said.

Lau said there was no need to panic about the idea of “Hong Kong security” floated by the academics. “I understand that Beijing won’t send the People’s Liberation Army to the streets in Hong Kong unless there is serious looting and disturbances,” he said.

 

[Revenge]

Re: China to ban movies featuring hong kong celebrities that support the protest


Occupy protests breaking law, but not undermining Hong Kong's rule of law

Michael C. Davis says while Occupy protesters are clearly breaking the law, they are arguably not undermining the rule of law through their peaceful civil disobedience campaign

PUBLISHED : Friday, 07 November, 2014, 5:02pm
UPDATED : Friday, 07 November, 2014, 7:45pm

Michael C. Davis

The case for civil disobedience not undermining the rule of law may be especially high when the civil disobedience itself is non-violent and reasonably confined.

A small group of lawyers has added to the chorus of establishment figures denouncing the Occupy movement as undermining the rule of law. Are they right?

As the protests stretch well into their second month, we are hearing increasing calls for them to end. Some of these are calls of prudence, suggesting withdrawal and alternative strategies to promote the protesters' cause. On the other side, officials and now a small group of establishment lawyers have accused protesters engaged in civil disobedience of undermining the rule of law.

Do protesters using civil disobedience to promote democracy and better secure Hong Kong's core values pose the risks to the rule of law that officials and pro-government lawyers claim?

It is important here to distinguish between breaking the law and undermining the rule of law. The non-violent protesters have clearly broken the law by not complying with the Public Order Ordinance and, further, by not clearing those areas covered by court orders. Both are purposeful law-breaking in furtherance of a non-violent civil disobedience campaign. We should bear in mind that civil disobedience by definition involves breaking the law in support of a higher ideal that is the aim of the civil disobedience campaign.

Some argue that the anti-Occupy demonstrators who physically attack protest sites are comparable, but these attacks appear to have been neither civil disobedience nor non-violent. Clearly, the scales shift heavily against any protesters on the street employing violence and the police would be duty-bound to protect other protesters from such violent attacks.

The police also have a duty to investigate fully the widely publicised alleged attack by a group of officers on an already subdued and handcuffed protester.

Rampant law-breaking in a society may sometimes contribute to undermining the rule of law, in that it may create a situation of distrust towards lawful authority, degrading general adherence to the law. Examples might include rampant corruption, cronyism or high levels of violent crime and lawlessness.

But not all law-breaking effectively undermines the rule of law. The case for civil disobedience not doing so may be especially high when the civil disobedience itself is non-violent and reasonably confined, and is a protest against the government undermining democracy or the rule of law.

A more direct threat to the rule of law typically comes from government. As the term "rule of law" suggests, the ruler may more readily put the rule of law in jeopardy. The commitment of the rule of law is that nobody is above the law and everyone is subject to the law applied in the ordinary manner. Further definitional refinement may include notions of justice, adherence to human rights and so on.

The white paper and the National People's Congress Standing Committee decision call the government's adherence to basic principles of the rule of law into question. The white paper, claiming that sole authority over the Basic Law resides in the central government and comprehensive jurisdiction in the NPC Standing Committee, appears to abandon Hong Kong's internationally guaranteed "high degree of autonomy" and put the Standing Committee above the law.

Why should the Basic Law make distinctions between matters of central authority and matters of autonomy if all are matters of central authority? The Standing Committee decision makes mincemeat of the promised "universal suffrage", thus further degrading the human rights guarantees in the Basic Law.

By putting the Standing Committee above the law and redefining basic human rights guarantees in an unrecognisable manner, the State Council and the Standing Committee have put Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and rule of law in jeopardy. The failure of the local government to guard Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and its seemingly complicit role in the Standing Committee's decision implicates it as well.

The pro-democracy civil disobedience campaign aims to correct this situation by putting in place a government that will better represent Hong Kong people. Such a government may be more responsive to local concerns and better guard Hong Kong's high level of autonomy. Beijing and Hong Kong officials might be persuaded that such a circumstance may be more favourable in an open society such as Hong Kong than the contentious situation their policies now encourage.

Even the Hong Kong Bar Association recently acknowledged that there is a division of opinion among jurists over the legitimacy of civil disobedience strategies that aim to support such basic human rights. Judges may sometimes be reluctant to strictly enforce laws against such non-violent protests due to regard for competing free speech concerns. Academic debates on this have identified the lack of democracy as one of the conditions generally thought to support a degree of legitimacy for civil disobedience.

So, overall, there is a good case to argue that the two recent Beijing decisions and related policies present a greater threat to the rule of law than does the civil disobedience campaign. Is either one desirable? Of course not. But when protests are a product of poorly considered government policies, the way out is for the government to change the policies.

If pro-government lawyers and politicians want to do a special service for our community, they could accomplish much more by using their access to Beijing and Hong Kong government leaders to better convey the concerns so eloquently raised by Hong Kong's young people.

As a professor who teaches our young people about the foundations of our legal system, I have been amazed at how clearly our youth, even at the secondary school level, have appreciated the risks the recent Beijing white paper and the Standing Committee decision entail.

In this context, leadership by those in government, or if not, by those close to the government or Beijing, will be crucial to turn around the failed policies and better represent Hong Kong concerns. The lack of such leadership vision explains a lot about the current impasse and threats to Hong Kong's rule of law.

Professor Michael C. Davis, of the University of Hong Kong, specialises in constitutional law and human rights

 

[Revenge]

Canto-pop star Denise Ho vows to fight on for democracy despite mainland backlash

Artists face a dilemma in deciding whether to back the student protests for real universal suffrage - whether to follow their conscience or bow to Beijing, which can exclude them from the lucrative mainland market

PUBLISHED : Friday, 07 November, 2014, 4:19pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 08 November, 2014, 3:20am

Vivienne Chow [email protected]

Denise Ho: "It is time to reconsider our priorities." Photo: Sam Tsang

Wearing a black T-shirt and minimal make-up, Denise Ho Wan-see blends right in among thousands of protesters on Harcourt Road in Admiralty. For more than a month, the Canto-pop singer and celebrity has joined students camped outside government headquarters to call for an open election of Hong Kong’s next leader.

Despite the risks for her career, she vows to stay until the end.

“Students are fighting for genuine democracy, which is what Hong Kong has been fighting for many years for,” says Ho, 37. “As adults...we must fight for them.”

Denise Ho (left), lawmaker Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung and Anthony Wong wield umbrellas at the Mong Kok protest site. Photo: Edward Wong

Ho’s vocal support for the Umbrella Movement might turn out to be career suicide. Over the past weeks, there have been repeated calls for pro-Occupy celebrities to be banned from the mainland – including a commentary in Beijing mouthpiece Xinhua which condemned Ho as well as actors Anthony Wong Chau-sang and Chapman To Man-chak for “betraying” their motherland.

Recently Wong’s face and name were removed from a mainland promotional poster for new movie Gangster Payday, despite Wong playing the lead role.

Sources at three TV stations and a newspaper on the mainland told the Post that their companies had received orders banning them from producing content featuring listed celebrities. One list contained 47 names.

Musician Anthony Wong Yiu-ming, who performed for student at Admiralty alongside Ho and actress Deanie Ip, is also allegedly facing a ban from performing on the mainland.

It’s all about money,” said critic Jimmy Pang Chi-ming.

China is a major entertainment market and celebrities have no choice but to remain either politically silent or pro-China in order to survive, Pang said.

Singer Deanie Ip (in white) at the Admiralty protest site. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Of last year’s record global box office takings of US$35.9 billion, US$3.6 billion came from China, making it the world’s largest movie market after North America.

That’s a result of the staggering 27.5 per cent box office growth in China from 2012 to last year, compared to 1 per cent growth in North America during the same period.

And with major music markets in North America, Europe and Japan remaining stagnant or in decline, China has become the land of hope, even with its rampant copyright infringement.

“Do you dare to upset China? It could be a career suicide,” Pang said.

US saxophonist Kenny G, who long ago lost his appeal in the West, moved quickly to clarify that he didn’t support the Hong Kong protests when he was photographed visiting the Admiralty camp.

China’s Foreign Ministry was even moved to issue a warning to the smooth jazz star, who has a built a second career on the mainland.

Film director Wong Jing announced on his Weibo that he had “unfriended” Ho, Wong and To, with whom he had previously collabourated. He claimed the protests had ignited the anger of Hong Kong’s “silent majority”, and he cheered police violence against the protesters.

“Wong [Jing] had to take sides because he has a new movie starring Chow Yun-fat,” said Pang, referring to From Vegas to Macau II, the sequel to a gambling comedy that grossed nearly 600 million yuan in China during Lunar New Year. Chow has repeatedly expressed sympathy for the protesters, saying he does not mind making less money if he upsets the mainland.

In comparison, the Hong Kong market is peanuts. Wong Jing’s latest offering, horror-comedy Sifu vs Vampire, grossed just over HK$2 million by the end of October. He cannot afford to let the sequel go wrong, said Pang.

Wong Jing denied that in an interview with state media CCTV, claiming that he came forward because Hong Kong society is not “mature” enough to sustain the kind of democracy demanded by students.

“We just want a peaceful Hong Kong,” the director said.

Film director Wong Jing (left) is opposed to the protests and has praised police action, while Kenny G (right) caused a furore after he turned up at the Admiralty protest site. Photos: Ricky Chung, SCMP Pictures

Ho has enjoyed growing success in the Mando-pop market in recent years, with reportedly 80 per cent of her income coming from the mainland. But the Canadian-educated singer says she values democracy and social justice far higher than money.

“As a singer and a public figure, my first priority is not money or fame. Those are just a bonus. If I lose the materialistic success, so be it,” she says.

She could still make a living out of opening a café or becoming a farmer, Ho says. Running for Legco might be a possibility in future.

“At the very least, I’m very happy now to be with the students and the public.”

Ho’s path echoes that of her mentor, the late Canto-pop queen Anita Mui Yim-fong.

In 1989, Mui called on Hong Kong celebrities to support students’ pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square, staging a 12-hour fund-raising Concert for Democracy in China at the Happy Valley racecourse.

The Chinese market remained closed at that point, meaning celebrities in Hong Kong felt freer to voice their political stance. The concert featured a star-studded line-up, including Jackie Chan, and drew a crowd of hundreds of thousands.

Mui’s support for students in Beijing earned her a ban from China.

Twenty-five years later, Ho formed Hong Kong Shield, an alliance of artists, academics and media professionals to support the student movement. Politics aside, Ho wants Hong Kong to reconsider how much its cultural and creative industries now defer to the mainland.

“There’s been an excessive emphasis on China. If we only fulfil the needs of one market, that is not healthy,” Ho said.

Mainland narratives that dominate Hong Kong-China movie co-productions are an example.

“[Those movies] have lost the characteristics of Hong Kong,” she said. “We are losing our local spirit, which is the problem.”

But focusing only the Hong Kong market is not possible, said sports and culture lawmaker Ma Fung-kwok. Ma said this would mean Hong Kong cutting itself off from China.

Ho said the explosion of creativity demonstrated at the month-long protests could offer a new chance for the city’s cultural development. Mainstream show-business has long been out of sync with the real world, full of cynical money-making ventures.

“To create means to express, we need to go back to the original motive,” she said.

“Over these past decade, Hong Kong people have placed freedom and democracy as low priorities. But now is the time to reconsider our priorities.”

Additional reporting by Nectar Gan

 

[JohnTan]

HK Protest Leaders High! Demands Talks With 11 Jinping In Peking!

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/as...aders-request-formal-meeting-beijing-20141107

Hong Kong protest student leaders request formal meeting with Beijing
Published on Nov 7, 2014 6:27 PM

HONG KONG (AFP) - Hong Kong protest leaders made a formal request Friday to speak with China over political reform, calling on a pro-Beijing politician to act as their mediator.

Protest numbers have dwindled since mass rallies mobilised tens of thousands demanding fully free elections for the city's next leader.

But demonstrators are still entrenched at key intersections with a "tent city" spread across the main Admiralty site.

Fruitless talks with the Hong Kong government two weeks ago have led to an impasse and protest leaders now want to bypass the unpopular local administration altogether.

This is evidence that the protests leaders are high. Police ought to search their protest sites for illegal drugs. They actually demand to talk to Peking leaders directly. Even normal China peasants don't get to see the top CCP leaders. Why HK so special?

Send in the tanks!

 

[pointshoar]

Re: HK Protest Leaders High! Demands Talks With 11 Jinping In Peking!

Unrealistic demands maybe but they are persistent and brave and most likely have some sort of backing.

 

[chuckyworld]

After APEC, the student protesters should start to be worry what CCP government will do.

CCP will never agree to the students demand, once they do the whole country will be split up in no time, CCP will not allow it to happen, maybe in another 50 years China will be a much more free country.....

 

[eatshitndie]

Re: HK Protest Leaders High! Demands Talks With 11 Jinping In Peking!

he's already there with a yellow umbrella.