Photo Courtesy of BBC News
In September, several hundred angry activists gathered outside the Hong Kong Gov-ernment headquarters and seized several major city intersections to protest against China’s Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress decision on a proposed electoral reform. Protesters, many of which were students, camped outside and obstructed traffic, compelling police officers to use forceful tactics to remove them. However the government’s unorganized methods of handling the cri-sis, such as firing 87 rounds of tear gas and attacking protesters with pro-government mobs only increased the number of protesters, which reached a peak of over 100,000 people.
Also referred to as the Umbrella Movement, the recent strings of protests in Hong Kong have caught the world’s attention with their severity.
In an act of defence, protesters used umbrellas to shield themselves from the tear gas, hence the word "umbrella" in the protests’ alternate name. The chaos sent around 165 people to the hospital and protective older adults to flock the streets. As of late, the number of protesters is dwindling and police are beginning to take formal action to clear the occupied areas. By agreeing to some conditions, the local government has shown that they are willing to consider some concessions as they have agreed to hold multiple negotiations with student leaders in a public forum. Though the fight for the future of Hong Kong is an on-going process, the protest has led to promising opportunities for following generations.
As a 19 year old university student, Kwong Hiu Tung, stands in the heart of Hong Kong, she says, "People used to say the society of Hong Kong is very indifferent, but what I’ve seen here is that Hong Kong people are very united".