THE UMBRELLA REVOLUTION: a blog post worth reading

1 What is the relationship between HK and China? What is occupy central?

HK was given to the United Kingdom in 1842 due to the treaty of Nanjing. In 1997, they were given back to Mainland China. Together with Macau, they are a Special Administrative Region (SAR) 中華人民共和國特別行政區 where they have their own government.

During these few years of absence, Hong Kong people developed their own identity and culture. They flourished under freedom of speech etc. They picked up western ways of doing things and integrated them into their Chinese culture. As such, the cultural differences between Mainland China and HK is very great, I would say even more so than Singapore and China. 

There have been several conflicts between PRCs and HK over the past few decades. Hong Kongers were rather unhappy with Mainland pregnant mums going to HK to give birth; taking up school spaces; buying tons of milk powder to sell in China and behaving rudely as tourists. Many Hong Kong residents do not identify with the whole PRC culture and with HK instead. 

Hong Kong people also want to nominate their own leaders and vote. However, currently in selecting their own chief executive, Beijing gives them three candidates for them to choose from. Hk people see this as a violation of basic law and their rights to choose their own leader. They liken this process to North Korea and Iran who also have one person, one vote but a restricted list of candidates.



Occupy Central is a peaceful civil disobedience campaign in which the leaders would mobilise protesters to stage a mass sit-in to blockade Central district as a means to force Beijing to allow Hong Kong what they consider genuine universal suffrage.

Occupy Central is led by University of Hong Kong law professor Benny Tai Yiu-ting, Chinese University sociologist Dr Chan Kin-man, and Baptist minister Reverend Chu Yiu-ming. Meanwhile, students’ groups – the Federation of Students and Scholarism – are also key drivers of this campaign.

Initially there was only 30,000 people. However, publicity of the event grew rapidly and more people joined in as people got upset of the police use of tear gas against unarmed peaceful protesters. They believe that the decision to use violence against the protesters was politically motivated by the central Beijing government. 

2. But don’t all protests cause trouble and create social instability??

This is not true. Most Singaporeans have never lived overseas in a real democratic country or experienced what real democracy is like. They have been told since secondary school in our social studies textbook that protests are bad and evil, they will ruin our economy, no one will want to invest blah blah.

So, when it comes to news about other cities having protests, they simply reiterate this opinion without questioning if it is true or not. That is the way our education system is like, teaching us to remember things without questioning it.

The truth is protests are really a normal part of every democratic country. When done peacefully, they don't harm the economy. Other countries like Japan, Taiwan, Germany, Switzerland and the USA have protests regularly but are doing quite well. It is simply people's rights to express their views and fight for what they want in a non-violent manner. If they don't do it, who would?

HK’s protests were done in a very peaceful way. Over 50,000 people were on the street but there were no looting, fires, fights among protesters or anything else which were were taught about protests. 

Photo credit: Jason Ng

And even recycling

Photo credit: Rosalind Chen

Hong Kong protesters modeled the values that they are striving to see in their society, namely “equality, tolerance, love, and care" and avoided confrontation and "developing hatred in [their] heart".

They understand that these values will not only help win over sympathizers, but lay bare the illegitimacy of the regime if it moves against them with excessive force. These aren't youthful idealists; these are savvy political operators who understand the secrets of successful nonviolent resistance.

Rather than HK protestors being violent, it was the police who sprayed pepper and tear gas at them. However, these protesters did not respond in violence and even sheltered the police during the rain.

Photo credit: Hk Allies

3. These activists in HK are similar to the ones in Singapore who only know how to kaopeh from behind the keyboard, flame others online and stir up trouble in charity events

While the Hong Lim Park incident took place during the same time as Occupy Central, I think it is totally unfair to liken the ongoing incident and student activists in HK to those in Singapore.

Having interacted with both activists in HK and Singapore, I can attest that civil society culture here in Singapore is really still in its infancy and pretty immature. 

With the exception of some proactive and outstanding individuals, it is on the whole very emotionally driven, reactive and people are sometimes more interested in their own ego issues rather than the cause they claim to fight for. 

They aren’t really good in engaging the public, media and officials to support their causes. They simply treat another person rudely just because they hold a different view or political affiliation. The range of acceptable ideas and approach to activism is very narrow, you either join in their condemnation or you are condemned via personal attacks and flaming. 

Besides being unable to engage the public, they are also bad in engaging one another. Many see activism as just an ego thing and get upset when other activists or bloggers do better than them or receive more publicity. Even female activists who claim to be feminist are being unhappy when other women do well and better than them. 

This isn’t the right way. Activism is about fighting for others and a cause you believe in, not about shooting other activists down or getting more attention and admiration than other activists. 

Sadly, many of these activists are those who are not excelling in other areas in life. As such they place all their self-esteem on the attention they receive for their activism work. 

4. I read The Straits Times that HK’s economy has been badly affected. Why are these people so selfish and irrational

Business man stands in front of barricade in HK. Photo credit: Tyrone Siu

You must understand that Singapore’s news is pretty much state controlled. Things that get published there are meant to contribute to supporting an existing ideology and way of thinking. Our government discourages protests.

As such when things like that happen in other countries, the news companies do their best to paint things in the most negative light possible. The day after occupy central protests, HK’s newspaper and western media focused on the injuries and injustice to protestors. However, Singapore’s newspapers only reported about the damage to the economy.

So if you want a more holistic view of this event, I encourage you to not just read Singapore’s papers but also stories written by Hong Kong and other international media.

Furthermore, the idea that MNCs will stop investing and shift their HQ away is simply exaggerated. HK has way too much financial and political incentives for people to withdraw their business. Furthermore, other cities have protests all the time but are still receiving strong foreign investment. 

Even if it may have an impact, is the economic growth or justice more important?

Additionally, I don’t think the Occupy Central protests are undermining HK’s international image. As Blogger Wong Sze Wai on South China Morning Post says: 

Freedom, judicial independence and a clean government have always been the qualities which uphold Hong Kong’s international image. It is the authorities who more and more blatantly undermine these qualities, while the people are defending them in their own ways. Who are the ones who are actually undermining Hong Kong’s international image?
There are a lot more demonstrations, protests and marches in London than in Hong Kong. These protests have not seemed to cause any damage to London’s economy or its international image.

5. The students shouldn't protest. It will affect their grades and learning.

The dumbest comments I have seen so far is those about how students are compromising their education.

Firstly their studies are not being affected. Students are bringing their homework to the protest

Photo credit: BBC

Teachers also conduct lessons during the protest

Students taking note during lesson conducted at the protest site. Photo credit: Tyrone Siu

People offering help

Author and lawyer Jason Ng providing help to students during the protest

What you have to really think about is the point of education. Is it doing well in exams? Getting good marks? Being an obedient kid who takes orders without questioning?

Or, is it being a useful person who speaks up for others and contributes to society? 

Personally, I like the attitude of HK students more than Singapore students in general. While we often criticize them for being materialistic, most of them are a lot more concerned about society as compared to Singaporean students. They also have the courage to stand for the things they believe in.

I have seen this spirit when thousands turned up to show their support against the Tiananmen Square incident despite the super heavy rain. It really touched me. I have never seen a Singaporean student fight for a cause in a peaceful way like that.

Quoting popular Hong Kong blogger Jason Y Ng:

There were casual conversations about the Sunday crackdown and the government’s next move. What were once talk-of-the-town topics like the new iPhone 6 and tabloid rumors about actor Nicolas Tse are now completely irrelevant. Even Facebook walls received a facelift: food porn, selfies and narcissistic rants have all given way to protest updates and stories of random acts of kindness.

Three days in, the Umbrella Revolution has already elevated the intellect of an entire generation. In all, it took 87 canisters of tear gas to jolt our youths out of their political apathy. Many now realize that politics affects them personally and that the subject is not as untouchable as their parents and peers had made it out to be. They also realize that video games, karaoke and television shows may have been social anesthesia designed to divert their attention from what matters and turn them into a bunch of fai tsing (廢青; literally, useless youths) who follow rules that they had no part in setting up. Awoken and armed with a new sense of purpose, these students have risen to the occasion and reclaimed their future.

Really liked the way he described it and hopefully Singaporean students will be able to be like this too some day. 

6. Aren't these people being unpatriotic?

I think we need to differentiate between being unhappy with policies and unhappy with countries. These people are protesting not because they hate Hong Kong but because they love the place and want to protect the rights and freedom of their people. They want to preserve what makes HK special from other Mainland Chinese cities – respect of human rights. 

7. Why can’t they negotiate rationally or try other methods of solving the problem besides protest?

Quoting Wong Sze Wai:

 Before saying that, please spend some time to research what the campaigners have done in trying to "negotiate rationally". Please research how many proposals on political reform they have submitted in the hope that the government will consider. Any negotiation is two-way. If one side has already shut the door, how could the other side continue to "negotiate rationally"? After doing the research, please ask yourself: "If I were them, is there anything I could do to continue the rational negotiation?"

Please also do some research on what they have done all the way through to be constructive. Only then, ask yourself: "On top of all these, is there anything I could do to be constructive?"

If you cannot come up with a proper answer, please don’t criticise these people as "unconstructive".

8. Are these students being idealistic? What makes you think they have a chance against the Chinese Communist Party and People’s Liberation Army?

If everyone thought this way, we will have no progress in our world and society at all. Think about the state of the world a few decades ago and about leaders like Martin Luther King and Gandhi. If these inspirational people given up because they felt they were not strong enough against authority, what kind of life would African-Americans and Indians be living today?

If everyone obeys the authorities because they think fighting against the rich and powerful is futile, there will be no human rights, justice or democracy in the world. We, the common people, would be slaves for them and under their control forever and ever.

9. What is going on in HK isn’t really our business. Why was there a useless event on Wednesday in Hong Lim Park?

I feel that instead of only being concerned about events in Singapore and Singaporeans, a truly global minded individual should also be concerned and care about injustice that is happening around the world. All of us are human beings who need rights, love, autonomy and freedom. The only differentiating factors are skin colour, a human construct like nationality and religion.

The event in Hong Lim park on Wednesday was to provide a platform for HK students to express themselves and show support while overseas. It is also an opportunity for locals here in Singapore to express support for the values they believe in. Not trouble making or anything, just a bunch of people standing in a park to talk about a cause they believe in.

Singapore is not the only one. There are groups in Taiwan, Japan, UK and Australia who are coming forward to gather and show their support. All these are very important because they get media attention. This will to raise global awareness of this issue and contribute to pressuring China to allow Hong Kong to elect their own leaders. So I don’t think it’s slacktivism or anything. 

Solidarity event in Times Square, New York

The author (me) is a popular lifestyle blogger in Singapore who was previously working in Hong Kong's Sing Tao News Corporation as a local news reporter.