You have chosen the side of the tanks
Translated by Guardians of Hong Kong July 02, 2021
On a Causeway Bay street in the evening of 4 June, my attention was focused in particular on the faces of the policemen. Most of them had plodding eyes, dragging their feet and yelled occasionally to embolden themselves. Some were wearing glasses of scholarly looks, some have fair skin. And there was one who is stout and out of proportionally broad, seemingly unwell – take care.
Not surprisingly, these long arms (policemen) of the regime are just like any ordinary citizens like you and me. Some are tall, some short, some fat and some skinny. As in the Berlin Golden Bear best film “There Is No Evil”, there is really very little difference between them and us. If we take one step, we would have crossed over to their side.
To those civil servants from Home Affairs and Food & Environmental Hygiene departments: please look into the mirror and look at what you are doing. Since when do you have the legitimacy to disrupt District Councillors’ activities to distribute white candles, hang June 4th banners and call on folks to attend the vigil? Since when are these activities incompatible with the duties of District Councillors? You searched their offices and issued warning letters. You take side with the autocracy, supporting One-Country-One-System. Perhaps you would say this is not what you want to do. Perhaps you would say you were ordered to do so and had no choice. Nevertheless, please remember it is the taxpayers who are paying your salaries.
To the policemen and those wretched mercenaries, please go home and watch again the June 4th oppression footage. Today, you have chosen the side of the tanks.
The football pitches in Victoria Park were blocked off. The emptiness exacerbated the paleness of the green and the silence was a stark contrast to the bustling surrounding. The final curtain fell and the sea of candles for 31 years extinguished. In this huge park, there is no room for candle lights nor a bunch of white flowers. What is it telling? Freedom should be cherished. Tyrant power incites fear.
Hongkongers are asking, “What are you afraid of?” The reasons are: they are scared that a single spark can start a prairie fire; they are conscious of their own guilt.
Wearing uniforms, the police uphold their appearance but not the law which has gone awry. Your acts to restrict freedom are worse than those back in the colonial days. I come to realise that an unaccompanied person can be charged with unlawful assembly. By merely saying “I must keep this promise (to pay tribute) that has been ongoing for 32 years”, one can be charged with sedition. Anyone can be stopped by random, searched and asked to provide identity proof. The first sentence one will hear is “according to Capitulus xxx, Section yyy…” This is not rule of law but weaponised legalism.
All senior police officers and top government officials are masters in acting. They do all these under the pretext of “pandemic control”, maintaining “public order”, safeguarding personal freedom of the others, “perfecting” the election system, etc. They pretend that Hong Kong has rule of law, One-Country-Two-Systems is still intact, everything is normal. They pretend that they do not know the world know their pretence.
When freedom perishes, promises broken and when lights in Victoria Park are extinguished, Hongkongers will disperse out to the world. Their candle lights that follow will light up the world.
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The article was first published in Ming Pao Daily and this online version is an expanded one.
Author: Allan AU Ka-Lun
Source: Stand News #Jun08
#aukalun #police #June4