Hong Kong's 'Umbrella Revolution': the politest protests ever?

From students bringing their homework, to self-organized recycling, and parents strolling with their newborns, our correspondent finds the​ protesters in Hong Kong exceptionally well behaved.

|
Wong Maye-E/AP
A woman sits and reads the newspaper in the middle of a street which pro-democracy activists have made camp at, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014 in Hong Kong. Students and activists, many of whom have been camped out since late Friday, spent a peaceful night singing as they blocked streets in Hong Kong in an unprecedented show of civil disobedience to push demands for genuine democratic reforms.

The future of China could depend on a bunch of kids, some of them so young they need their parents’ permission to stay out late to demonstrate.

If the pro-democracy protesters now blocking the streets of Hong Kong end up winning their demand for a more open electoral system, they will have forced the Chinese Communist Party to back down – an achievement nobody else has managed since the 1949 revolution put Mao Zedong in power.

And they will have done so, on current form, by being the sweetest, politest, and least threatening mass mobilization on record.

Walking through the young people camped out Wednesday on Harcourt Road in central Hong Kong I came across high school girls doing their homework on their knees, a young woman spraying the air with perfumed water, a work team sorting recyclables from other garbage, and countless young couples pushing their babies in strollers.

Not a burned car, nor a smashed shop window in sight. And no policemen either.

There may be no leaders to this “umbrella revolution” – as the movement has been dubbed for the umbrellas demonstrators used over the weekend to protect themselves from tear gas fired by riot police. But the level of self-discipline and cooperative organization these young people are showing is remarkable.

The Hong Kong government has branded the street occupation illegal and so it is. All public gatherings of more than 50 people here need advance approval from the police. That was not forthcoming for “Occupy Central," as the ongoing protests that have gripped Hong Kong are called.

But for an unlawful gathering it feels awfully law-abiding. The students’ most prominent leader, Joshua Wong – who is only 17 –  hoped Wednesday it would stay that way. “We hope students will keep safe and still rely on the principle of non-violence,” he said. “And we hope more of their friends and family members will join them.”

That way, perhaps, parents can make absolutely sure their children are doing their homework. 

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Hong Kong's 'Umbrella Revolution': the politest protests ever?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2014/1001/Hong-Kong-s-Umbrella-Revolution-the-politest-protests-ever
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe