A Walk Among The Umbrellas Two - Night of the Living Umbrellas

**Again, I will not be expressing political views on this blog entry. I am simply expressing what I saw last night. Nothing more, nothing less.**

A few nights ago Shane Titus, my good friend, and new dad to a beautiful baby girl, asked me to join him on a walk to Occupy Central on was said to be the busiest night of the whole protest. October 1st.


The physical approach to the demonstrations this time would be different. We would start in Causeway Bay and work our way towards the protest through Wan Chai, into Admiralty, and finally out the other side of it in the Central District.

We began in Causeway Bay on Hennessey Road where there were about 2,000 or so protestors sitting in with many signs and one person doing most of the talking.

A message on the street made with water-bottles encouraged people to boycott work on Friday.











We continued our walk down Hennessey, mostly on the road itself, as it had, and still is, closed off to traffic. It's a surreal experience walking in the middle of a road that is normally for vehicles. It's a very satisfying and freeing experience in many ways.

After a short time, Admiralty neared. Approaching Admiralty wasn't hard, besides having to walk through Lockhart Rd and being solicited by the occasional lady-of-the-night. Awkward, but hilarious.

The walk through Admiralty itself took a lot longer than the previous day as there was more to see and experience. There were a lot more people but not in a unbearable way by any means. Between navigating through the thickest of the crowds, and out the other side of the gated area near Central took about 45 minutes to an hour.

Shane and I finished the night with a reflection/conversation at Holly Brown's coffee shop. A joyful way to finish the night to say the least.



Tonight was a bit different from my exposure to it on the afternoon walk I had a few days prior. But not significantly so. The safety, the cleanliness, the joy and spirit of the protestors were still high. Very high. I could have pushed a shelf full of expensive China through the place and it would have come out without a scratch. Courtesy, politeness, passion, and positive energy abounded.



All of the protestors were well fed, well hydrated and kept cool. The place was insanely clean. Along the various supports holding the pedways and overpasses were piles of properly sorted recycling and garbage. All throughout the protest were garbage bags. All in good condition. none misused or spilled over.

I, admittedly, did wonder where they all went to the bathroom, as I could not see any port-a-potties, or anything of the like around. Good bladders on those protestors, I must admit.




There were a few differences though....and none of them bad. For one, the people. Shane and I estimated that between all the occupied areas, that we went through, and the others we didn't, there were between 300,000 and 500,000 people involved in some capacity in the protest that night. That's
somewhere between 4% - 7% of the whole population of Hong Kong involved in the movement. The population of Hong Kong is 7.5 million people, thereabouts.

Another key difference was the activity. When I was down in the movement a few days ago, there was the occasional speech here and there, but nothing major. Tonight, on the other hand, in the heart of Admiralty, there was one man talking to most of the crowd, and there were many other smaller speeches happening throughout the protest areas. A lot of people were sitting, many were standing or walking, some sleeping. A lot were listening and clapping.

A third key difference was the presence of the yellow ribbons. People were handing them out everywhere and almost everyone was supporting it. I have rarely seen a protest that ran into such overwhelming support than this one. I didn't hear a single naysayer, or person trying to contradict it. The only vague thing I encountered was a local man talking rather passionately to a few other westerners about how he had been inconvenienced going to work for a few days. 

A fourth difference were the various banners. During the day walk I did on Monday, there were a few visuals scattered here and there. This time they were everywhere. Hanging from the pedways, people carrying them, written on umbrellas, hanging from tents. Some with writing, others depicting politicians or even Pokemon characters. All with the same message: the people of Hong Kong want a fully democratic election. And they want the current Chief Executive removed from his current position.

A final key difference was the lack of security/police presence. They could not be seen anywhere along the road from Causeway to Central. The only presence we saw was on a hill, where there were about 15 - 20 large police vans and policeman waiting on a side road. Unarmed. But in uniform. Apparently most of the riot police were stationed in various car parks above and around Admiralty area in case they needed to be called in. I did not see them, so cannot comment on the validity of this. All I do know is that their lack of presence seemed to make it easier to walk through. 

A slightly amusing observation was the many lights in the office windows of the People's Republic office building in Admiralty, and the obviously large binoculars they were using to observe the demonstrations. 

It was...in a nutshell...a non-violent protest as best demonstrated as it could be. It was an interesting walk. A slightly better understanding of their situation, and a very positive experience overall.

A Walk Among the Umbrellas - the Occupy Central Hong Kong Protest

I'm sitting at my desk, on my vacation week off, and needed to blog. This isn't about 21C Learning this time. It's about something even more astonishing I experienced today. Something that attests to the greatness of Hong Kong....thus far.

Today, I decided to go to the gym and then take a walk down to the Admiralty/Central area. Into the thick of the Occupy Central student protests that were taking place in the area. After getting out of the subway, I left the Admiralty train station and expected a loud, perhaps slightly anger-filled energy around the area. What I experienced was far different.

Please note, I am not expressing my political opinions about the situation here. I am simply expressing what I saw.  Nothing more, nothing less.

I walked onto the street that lead to the main protests (literally in this situation, as the road was closed to cars) and began my casual stroll on Connaught Road. Typically this road is filled with daytime traffic, business people going about their day with latte and suitcase in hand. A Rolls Royce, or Ferrari may grunt on by. People on cellphones, not watching where they're going, would be a normal occurance.  The road was wide and relatively empty on my downhill approach. A few young people in black shirts carrying boxes of water and food. An interesting start to what I was about to experience.

The closer I got to the protest the more I felt...safe. Amidst the large office buildings, Audi dealership, and other businesses along the main route, there were throngs of sweaty people. But that's pretty normal for Hong Kong. There was no violence. There was no major "disobedience." It was simply thousands of university students sitting, standing (a few shouting), sleeping, and being otherwise very safe and helpful. 

There are large concrete roadblocks which, at first glance, look like they are there to contain the protestors, when in reality, they are simply part of the highway. And in sheer helpfulness, many people have set up ladders, or climbable barriers to help people get onto the main street. when someone is on one, others are on both sides to help them get up.

The center of the protest was simply a lot more people, in black shirts sitting, standing, a few shouting, eating, drinking water, and being otherwise safe and helpful.  On one side there is an abandoned city double decker bus with the face of a man on it whom people appear to be slapping while others commend them for it.  

I don't know what the media is portraying about this protest, but it is not violent and is not chaotic. It's organized. And the students are well fed, hydrated and taken care for. Everyone is walking around with cool patches on their foreheads or necks. 

The Hong Kong Red Cross building is actually within a block of the core protest area.  There is no broken glass, no one seemed to want violence. The protestors are actively cleaning up the litter.

As I finish my stroll through the main area, which is about 1/2KM long, I felt never worried. Never felt like it could get violent. The police were standing in the background, no riot gear. Taking it easy. Watching from stairwells and behind barriers. Not being active. There was nothing for them to stop....besides thousands of students blocking off a main thoroughfare. 

In short, I am highly impressed at the goings on that I experienced today. I hope it stays this way.