Hong Kong, 2019.
"How's everything there? Did you join the protests?" A common reaction from friends colleagues who are concerned, and strangers knowing I'm from Hong Kong. On the subset, especially in the eyes of the foreigner, the divide is binary. On one side of the table, there is the government that is pro-China, pro-establishment, all things authoritarian. On the other side of the table, protesters are demanding freedom. And some close by have now asked me, didn’t the Hong Kong government withdraw the anti-extradition law, why still protest? Violent images on the media are disturbing for many, and it often blurs the reasons that continue to drive and sustain an ongoing social movement. Protester demands have evolved. In June they began with withdrawal of extradition law, a topic forever touching the nerves of Hong Kongers who have been used to the Rule of Law. Recent social movement history tells it all - 1989, 2003, 2012, 2014 – all about safeguarding personal freedoms a...