Saturday, 4 October 2014

On Friday afternoon, protester-protesters attacked the main site in Mongkok.  This neighborhood is strongly working class, and is regularly cited as the most crowded in Hongkong.  It boggles the mind how crowded the streets can become on a busy Friday evening.  On top of the usual crowds, the most important traffic intersection has now been blocked for one week.

Protester organizers, by and large, blamed the Triads, a local organized crime syndicate, akin to Yakuza in Japan or the Mafia in New York and Italy.  Some of the protesters were seriously injured and required hospitilization, stitches, etc.

The New York Times has posted some amazing photographs.  View them here.

I left the office very late on Sunday morning, about 12:30AM, so I saw a different side of the protests.  Many students were settling into their sleeping arrangements for the evening.

This man fell asleep with a mobile phone pressed to his ear.  Possibly he wants to be alerted (via instant message?) of any important breaking news.

This artwork appeared today, attached to a reflector sign on the edge of an expressway entrance ramp.

More students settling in for the evening.  Notice the man's protective goggles around his neck.

There are less than twenty police officers guarding one of entrances to the government building now.  (There are also other entrances, guarded equally thin.)  The officers looked tired and bored.  When I watched for a few minutes, the protesters made no contact with the police, nor approached the barracades.

A young couple fell asleep, arm-in-arm, against the expressway concrete divider.

"7th Day"

Above the official signage on the new government building expressway overpass hangs a new sign.  I don't know what the what the characters mean for "Long Drive".  (Please comment if you know.)

Two young ladies worked to repair a falling sign, announcing items available at this rest stop.

Most of the first aid depots and supply stops are now using two person camping tents to store goods during heavy rain periods.  The sign says: "You are one police officer, and I am one citizen."  A large part of the signage put by protesters revolves around humanizing themselves and the police officers.  This stands in stark contrast to the decade-long trend in the United States, where protesters no longer grant this willingly to police officers involved in protest management.

Students sat, listening to a speaker.

Just on the outer edge of the protest center, I saw this bucket of awaiting umbrellas, which have become the symbol of these protests.  Behind, a young man lay sleeping.

About five hundred meters outside the center, just before the expressway reopens, I saw this symbolic display.  The sign, hanging on the orange roadway cone, contains six demands from the student protesters.

At the end of my journey is Causeway Bay; there is an additional protest site outside Sogo department store.  It blocks the busiest intersection in Causeway Bay.  Many protesters had folded into sleep for the evening.  It was 1:30AM when I took this photograph.

In closing, here is a short panorama clip of the protest center.