• [178] Repercussions from Occupy Sheung Shui/Tuen Mun/Tsim Sha Tsui (2015/03/10)

(Oriental Daily) March 10, 2015 front page

Thugs bully the old and the vulnerable
Anti-parallel trader demonstration completely lawless
Condemned by all of Hong Kong

Several dozen thugs used opposition of parallel trading as pretext to roam around Sheng Shui, Tuen Mun and Tsim Sha Tsui to surround people, curse them out and beat them up. Apart from some actual parallel traders, they also abused and assault mainland women and children who are not parallel traders, as well as Hong Kong-born senior citziens.

One of the extremist thugs

Same thug, from the Occupy Mong Kok days

Respecting their elders

(Oriental Daily) March 9, 2015.

Mr. Chu has lived in Tuen Mun for several decades. Last month during Reclaim Tuen Mun, he avoided the demonstration site. But yesterday, the demonstrators made an unannounced attack on Tuen Mun. Mr. and Mrs. Chu were caught by surprise in the Chow Sang Sang jewelry store. When the group of masked demonstrators charged into the store, his wife was terrified and took refuge in the resting area for store employees. Mr. Chu confronted the demonstrators: "I am a Hongkonger. It is legal and reasonable for me to go shopping on a Sunday. These demonstrators charged into the store yelling and one of them challenged me close up. They are mad dogs who bite anyone they see." Mr. Chu observed: "So what if the multiple-entry permit is canceled? These people will find another excuse to cause trouble. Do you think they will ever stop?"

[Note: Internet users pointed out that the demonstrators charged in with the so-called photojournalists in tow. But as soon as Mr. Chu identified himself as a Hongkonger, the photojournalists immediately stopped filming, because they don't want the incident recorded.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee6URAF4KRY (Bastille Post) The Chow Sang Sang incident.

(Oriental Daily) March 9, 2015.

73-year-old Lee Wai-kuen passed by the demonstration site with a handcart. He was surrounded and kicked to the ground by the young demonstrators. Yesterday he was interviewed by our reporter in Tuen Mun City Park.

Lee said that he lives in Tuen Mun. He spends several days a week playing music with fellow hobbyists in Tuen Mun City Park. Last night, he encountered the demonstrators on his way home. "I had to go past that section in order to go home. I don't know why they would kick me? What didn't the police enforce the law?" He said that demonstrators demanded to know if he was a parallel trader. He did not think that it was necessary to reply. He said with reason: "They are not the police. They don't have the authority to interrogate me."

(Wen Wei Po) March 10, 2015.

73-year-old Lee Wai-kuen has lived in Tuen Mun for 40 years. He had just finished playing music in Tuen Mun Park and he was pushing the handcart with the audio-visual equipment to go home. He said that he was surrounded by a bunch of masked demonstrators. They asked if he was carrying parallel goods. He said: "So what if it is? So what if isn't?" In the chaos, he picked up a stick to protect himself but he did not wield it. He was then cursed out with foul language by the demonstrators and shoved to the ground. He said: "Somebody pushed me. It was 100% deliberate." His handcart was toppled and the plastic box was damaged. Lee said that he can always replace his equipment, but he can never mend the mental hurt. "They insulted my heart." He has no idea to whom he can complain to.

Lee criticized those demonstrators: "Even if I was a parallel-trader, they don't have the authority to beat me or enforce the law on behalf of the police." He decried the actions of the demonstrators as "hooligans." He said that public safety has always been good in Tuen Mun until these masked demonstrators showed up. He felt distressed. "Since when has society turn into not following the law and not enforcing it?"

He said that the demonstrators are "brainless and blind." They do whatever they are told. He thinks that they must be taking money to demonstrate. "The braver they are, they more they get paid." Therefore, the demonstrators won't let any chance slip by and he became their victim.

As for parallel trading, Lee said that a decade ago, Hongkongers traveled north of the border to shop. Today, mainlanders come to Hong Kong to shop. This is just a reversal of roles. He thinks that it is unfair to oppose parallel traders. He asked: "If a Hongkonger goes to shop in mainland and gets cursed out by mainlanders, what then?"

(Oriental Daily) March 9, 2015.

A 24-year-old construction worker has been arrested for kicking a bald-headed grandpa from behind with great force such that the victim fell to the ground.

(The Stand) March 9, 2015.

According to the Facebook which started the Tuen Mun tour, "I am willing to ... I am willing to represent everyone ... the other people who went out there were not wrong. I acknowledge that I apologize to the young girl and her family. Because there were many people, everybody is talking about fighting for democracy on an international scope, but if people got so excited that they hurt this young girl, then I sincerely apologize to her. Because she won't understand or appreciate, therefore I apologize to her sincerely. Really, we can be a little bit gentler than yesterday, so that we don't have clashes every time."

[Note: This translated message is incoherent because the original message in Chinese is incoherent.]

(The Stand) March 9, 2015. Figo Chan.

I am an ordinary Hongkonger. I have not joined any organization. Parallel goods traders have been a huge problem recently. I personally don't think the District Council or the Legislative Council have reflected the problem.  Therefore, I came out to use other means to attract social attention and increase the pressure on the government, such as directly monitoring the B3X bus workers.

In terms of effects, CY Leung has reflected to Beijing that there is a problem with the multiple-entry permits and also society has been discussing the parallel goods traders. This shows that social concern can create pressure on the government. But the movement needs some reflection at this point ...

Today, I took the video of the mother-daughter who were accused of being parallel traders. This shows the bad things that the demonstrators do. First of all, it is hard to tell who is a parallel trader and who isn't, thus causing misunderstandings. Also, when some demonstrators attacked the belongings of others, they are intimidating and provoking. I feel uneasy as a demonstrator. If you don't have compassion, you are not human. As I took the video, I saw the little girl crying and the mother condemning the demonstrators heatedly. I felt very confused. Afterwards, I saw people leaving comments like "Who cares how kids feel?" and "It was the mother's choice," I want to pose two questions to these people:

1. Every human has compassion. If that was your daughter out there and she was crying out of fear, how would you feel?

2. If more than a dozen persons mistook you and kept accusing you, would you reason with them or support them? We should think about whether the action ought to be re-directed against the government given that we now have their attention.

People are disappointed in me. I have to apologize. I should not just be taking the video and telling the little girl not to afraid from behind the camera. I am truly sorry! But I hope that this video can show the facts for people to reflect upon. Perhaps some people don't think the video should be taken. I don't agree. Photojournalists should be ethical and fair, and let the public be aware of the facts no matter if the outcome is good or bad for certain people.

This action on this day was very confusing First Tsuen Wan, then Sheung Shui, then Tuen Mun. The information kept flowing, making it hard for the demonstrators to keep up with. This reduced our influence. I also observed that the people in front did not know their way around in Tuen Mun. Letting those who don't know the way lead is sure to cause more people to be arrested. Some demonstrators went out to Tsim Sha Tsui for further night action. One or two Hong Kong Indigenous and Civic Passion members kept inviting people to go to Tsim Sha Tsui. I want to say to these organizations: If you support the anti-parallel trader movement, you should go into Tuen Mun to support the arrestees and not invite others to go elsewhere to do meaningless things. And when you want to start an action, can you please set up a special page? Do not use invitations, because not everybody is in Hong Kong Indigenous or Civic Passion.

(Wen Wei Po) March 9, 2015.

For the Sheung Shui Tour, the usual radical organizations Civic Passion, Hong Kong Indigenous and Hong Kong City-State did not made an open call to participate. Instead, the "big brothers" directed the action through the Internet.

At 3pm outside Sheung Shui East Rail station, there were more police and press than demonstrators, and the stores were shuttered already. There were no parallel traders to be found. The "big brothers" notified people to proceed to Tuen Mun. One demonstrator said: "Big Brother told us to go Tuen Mun instead. Several dozen of us took taxis to Tuen Mun. We used the flash mob technique. We split before the police arrive." He said that many demonstrators received instruction to assemble in Tuen Mun, but they did not know what the targets were. "For example, I took the taxi from Tuen Mun to the Tsim Sha Tsui clock tower after 9pm without knowing what we would be doing there. I found out after we got there."

Meanwhile Hong Kong City-State's grandmaster Wan Chin was propounding the sure way to victory on his Facebook, to wit: "No leaders, no flags, no claims, no credits."

(The Stand) March 9, 2015. Field observations.

Whenever the demonstrators encounter someone carrying a large bag, they would surround the person and curse. Many demonstrators kicked the suitcases and yelled "Go back to China!" During the course, there were many cases of mistaken identities. When the Hongkongers yell back, it does not good -- once you are considered a parallel trader, you have no chance to appeal. Even if the demonstrators in the front row are convinced, more demonstrators and reporters will come up from the rear. After cursing for a while, a demonstrator will say: "That's enough" and "Let's go, because it is no use to go on." Then the group moves on, and the victim gets to leave.

In the evening near Exit A of the West Rail station, the demonstrators surrounded an old pan pushing a cart with a number of plastic cartons. The demonstrators immediately around him recognized him as the old man who usually goes to sing in the park. They told the other demonstrators to leave him alone. But more and more demonstrators rushed in. The old man refused to take the abuse in and talked back. Finally, the old man was pushed to the ground along with his handcart, from which cables fell out. Finally someone who recognized him helped him to get up. The old man was very angry. He wanted to fight one-on-one with the young man who pulled him down on the ground. He showed the media that one of the plastic cartons carried a dove.

Another old man who looked older than 60 was hauling a cart with a cardboard box. He was surrounded by demonstrators. But very quickly other demonstrators said to leave him alone. However, the original demonstrators said that all those engaged in parallel trading must be condemned irrespective of age. Finally, the reporters showed up to interview the old man and the demonstrators dispersed.

The demonstrators chanted "Oppose parallel trading/smuggling, Cancel multiple-entry permits", "I am a Hongkonger, not a Chinaman", "Love the motherland, buy Chinese products" and so on. At the front of the queue, some older person chanted "Build the Hong Kong nation." A younger person objected, because the goal today was to oppose parallel traders and therefore the focus should not be lost. A number of demonstrators wore Civic Passion or Hong Kong Indigenous t-shirts, but nobody was giving orders.

During the process, the police went ahead in front and raised the yellow warning flag. The demonstrators had no intention to clash with the police, so they veered aside and continued. Inside Trend Plaza, the demonstrators appeared to be lost. Finally the demonstrator up front yelled: "Are there any Tuen Mun dickheads here! Tuen Mun dickheads lead the way! Tuen Mun dickheads come up front!" Demonstrators kept asking where the pharmacies are located.

The demonstrators went twice to PrizeMart, causing them to lower their gates. The demonstrators who couldn't get inside PrizeMart began a discussion on where the group should be going. Someone proposed the B3X station, but someone else said that nobody was there now and therefore they should continue to roam the shopping malls. The discussion ended when the police showed up and the demonstrators dispersed.

Six months ago, it was unthinkable for citizens to imagine that people can dash out into the road and block traffic. But today, this is a low threshold activity.

At around 6pm, the demonstrators proceeded to the B3X station. Some demonstrators were cursing out the passengers who carried luggage cases. Two masked young girls (most likely Form 3 or Form 4 students) picked up plastic barricades and placed them in the middle of the road. A large corps of reporters rushed over to take photos of the barricades. The reporters asked the two young girls about the purpose, but the two returned to the sidewalk without replying. The two young girls and other demonstrators took one step into the road and a large group of reporters rushed out. So the road was easily blocked to vehicular traffic. A few barricades were placed in front of the B3X bus. The reporters stood on the road to take photos. But by this time, the demonstrators have already left for V city. So only the reporters stood on the road.

(Oriental Daily) March 9, 2015.

6 men and 1 female were arrested, including a 16-year-old Form 2 student; a 16-year-old Form 3 student; 18-year-old Chinese University of Hong Kong student; 26-year-old salesman; 24-year-old construction worker.

The CUHK mathematics student named Chung has "Hong Kong City-State" for his Facebook and the Phoenix/Dragon/Lion flag as the background. He advocates: "Defend local culture, resist Chinese Communist united front." During the action yesterday, he posted on his Facebook: "Yuen Long is heavily defended, Tuen Mun is undefended, better create a diversion" to call Internet users to go to Tuen Mun. After he was released, he uploaded a selfie photo showing an injury on the corner of his right eye. With respect to the popular outcry over the bullying of the mother-child, Chung said: "The blood that we shed was not worth a single tear from a locust."

(Oriental Daily) March 12, 2015.

The 25-year-old man named Woo Kar-chun appeared in Tuen Mun court yesterday. He reported his occupation as construction worker. He was suspected of attacking a man named Leung Bing-nam under the Tuen Mun Light Rail station bridge this past Sunday. The charge is common assault.

In court, the defense disclosed the defendant has been unemployed for a week. His father passed away in early February, and funeral services will be held tomorrow. Therefore, the defense applied for bail. The magistrate allowed the defendant out on $3,000 bail along with an order not to step foot in Tuen Mun.

(The Standard) March 11, 2015.

All visitors to Hong Kong should be treated as guests, a magistrate said yesterday as he barred three students from setting foot in Tuen Mun, following their arrests during the violent anti-parallel trading protests.

Those who appeared at Tuen Mun Magistrates' Courts included two 16-year-old secondary school students Kwok Hor-ban and Lam Chun-kit plus Chan Ming-fung, 21, a Year Three student at Polytechnic University. All three have no previous convictions. A 13-year-old who was also arrested on Sunday appeared in court. He was released on bail and told to report to police next month.

The two secondary school students were charged with assaulting police under the overpass of the Pui To light rail station. Chan is accused of resisting police officers at the same location. None were required to enter a plea.

Several parallel trading protests broke out on Sunday, spreading from Sheung Shui to Tuen Mun before heading south to Tsim Sha Tsui. Protesters were seen kicking and humiliating anyone suspected of being parallel traders from the mainland. Their actions were roundly condemned by various sectors. A police officer and a civilian were injured and seven were arrested in relation to the violent protests.

(SCMP) Hooligans not the solution to parallel trading problem. Alex Lo. March 10, 2015.

Local media continue to call them protesters or demonstrators. But sorry, let's call a spade a spade. There is a word for people like that: hooligans. These are the people, mostly youngsters, who have been organising weekly rallies in Yuen Long, Sheung Shui, Tuen Mun and Sha Tin against parallel-goods traders from across the border, but end up fighting with police, and picking on and sometimes even attacking any passers-by who carry bulky baggage or pull trolleys.

For all they know, their targets might not even be from the mainland. Police and immigration figures show more than half of parallel traders aren't even mainlanders, but local people. If they had their wishes, conditions might not improve that much. If mainland traders were completely banned, that would just mean a monopoly by parallel traders from the Hong Kong side.

The ironic thing is that most of those hooligans don't even live in the northern districts of the New Territories that are most affected. They respond via social media run by quasi-fascist groups like Hong Kong Indigenous and Civic Passion. The real local residents who actually experience the inconvenience and frustration may be willing to rally and complain to the government, but they offer nowhere near the level of confrontation and violence of those mobs we have repeatedly seen over many weekends and Sundays now. Given their deliberate and repeated provocation, police would be justified in taking harsh measures.

(SCMP) ‘Blame the government, not us’: Hong Kong anti-parallel trade protesters hit back at ‘riot’ claims  March 10, 2015.

Anti-parallel trading protesters hit back this morning after they were accused of behaving like rioters in rallies that turned violent on Sunday.

Civic Passion member Cheng Chung-tai, whose group took part in the protests, said the demonstrators were residents who were defending their interests against an influx of mainland tourists. “The origin of the protests is the government policy [on mainland tourists]. The public can’t tolerate it anymore,” Cheng told an RTHK radio show.

On Sunday, protesters gathered in Sheung Shui first, then Tuen Mun and Tsim Sha Tsui.

Video posted online showed them insulting a mother and her young daughter who were carrying luggage in Tuen Mun. The mother, speaking in Cantonese, opened her luggage to show that she was only carrying children’s books. The mother accused the protesters of bullying, as her apparently frightened daughter began to cry loudly. However, Cheng said the media had “magnified” those scenes.

"What is shown in the video is the girl crying. But the girl was actually crying to ask her mother to stop quarrelling," Cheng said "What I want to say is that don’t let the video of her crying make you feel that the protesters must be wrong and [the mother and daughter] must be the old and weak."

In another video, an elderly man who said he was a Hongkonger was seen being pushed to the ground as he wheeled a trolley through a crowd of protesters after playing music with friends in a Tuen Mun Park.

"I was on my usual way home. I have no idea why I was kicked.," the man, who identified himself as Uncle Kuen, told local media today. "[They were] completely lawless people," he said. He said he was a Hong Kong-born resident who had been playing erhu and saxophone in the Tuen Mun Park for more than 10 years.

Cheng alleged that the elderly man had actually "taken the initiative to provoke protesters" beforehand.

After a second radio show today, Cheng stressed his group did not advocate violence. But he said it would not restrict any member from taking action they had thought through. He said the protesters were only ordinary residents that had been frustrated by problems caused by mainland tourists.

"The residents' concern is that every day they are hit by suitcases ... I think we have to be fair. Do not measure ordinary residents on the moral standards for sages," he said. "The reason I say this is [the protesters] are not the government. They do not have power," said Cheng, who is a teaching fellow at Polytechnic University's applied social science department. Cheng said the city was "sick" and that protesting, though it might cause chaos, was a way to put it back on the right track.

(SCMP) Hong Kong protesters admit some went too far at rally against mainland Chinese traders. March 11, 2015.

Some of those who joined Sunday's protest against cross-border traders lost their cool and went too far, other participants in the demonstration admit. But they put the blame not only on their fellow protesters but also on the government, for failing to tackle problems brought by so-called parallel traders, who buy goods in Hong Kong for resale across the border.

Ugly scenes caught on camera - including protesters yelling at and hectoring a mother even after her young daughter started crying - sparked a chorus of criticism from politicians of different camps and the security minister, who condemned them "in the strongest terms".

"Some protesters were very irrational, scolding passers-by who were not even parallel traders," said 18-year-old Figo Chan Ho-wun, whose film of the clash with the mother went viral online.

Sunday's protest began in Sheung Shui before moving on to Tuen Mun and Tsim Sha Tsui. It was the latest in a series of protests that have seen police use pepper spray and make multiple arrests.

In Chan's video, several protesters are seen shouting abuse at the mother, who was carrying a suitcase through Tuen Mun. The mother, speaking Cantonese, is seen opening her case to show that she is carrying only children's books. She accuses the protesters of bullying, but they continue to hector her as her daughter cries loudly. The video has been shared some 3,200 times on Facebook.

"Sometimes I am also on the front line of protests. I had also scolded the police when they tried to take away protesters at previous rallies. But what was the purpose of insulting people who were not even parallel traders?" Chan asked. "But the government should also be partly responsible for not solving the problems brought by the trade."

The North District Parallel Imports Concern Group has been protesting against traders - who are accused of clogging up streets and public transport, and changing the retail landscape by edging out stores that cater for local needs - since 2012. Spokesman Leung Kam-shing acknowledged that the recent protests had taken a more radical turn.

"But I think that some confrontations, initiated by just a small group of people, have been magnified by the public," he said.

(Oriental Daily) March 10, 2015.

Mr. Chan was one of the demonstrators who surrounded the mother-daughter and harassed them. At the time, he thought that had come from the mainland to Hong Kong to "steal the resources and benefits of Hongkongers." That was why he made those accusations against them. Later, he read the relevant reports and found out that he was mistaken. "I misunderstood them. I want to formally apologize to the mother-daughter." He hopes that this will quell public opinion.

(see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n02bbn_7aKw. Mr Chan shows up at 3:00; note that he spitted twice into the suitcase)

Internet comments:

- In this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZhtXi2sm98, Chan told the woman: "Did you pay any taxes? If you paid taxes, I will immediately apologize to you. You are stealing all our resources. If you paid taxes, I will immediately apologize to you." How many of those arrested ("16-year-old Form 2 student; 16-year-old Form 3 student; 18-year-old Chinese University of Hong Kong student; 26-year-old salesman; 24-year-old construction worker") pay taxes anyway?

- Mr. Chan made this statement after his place of business (an electronics equipment repair shop in the Kingswood Richly Plaza, Tin Shui Wai) was discovered and publicized by irate Internet users. They pointed out out that there is an overhead American flag plus a British colonial insignia on the front door.  This a cash-based business (with no VISA/MC sign), so what are the chances of him reporting his income (and therefore paying taxes) in full?

As you see, the shop has been closed on Tuesday and Wednesday because the owner is stressed out due to the relentless public pressure.

- Internet users also dredged out past consumer complaints against this repair shop. To wit, a customer brought in a computer for repair, left it there for work, came back later and was told that it was beyond repair. Later, the customer opened the computer and found out that the name-brand hard disk had been swapped out with a low-price no-name one. The store denied any knowledge.

- Chan had the nerve to claim that he was merely passing by that day. Internet users found videos of him shouting at mainlanders before https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n02bbn_7aKw. Liar, liar, pants on fire.

- Internet users proposed to go down to Mr. Chan's shop whenever they can to ask if Mr. Chan pays any taxes. Is that cruel and unusual? It is cruel but usual, because that was what happened to the Hee Kee Crab General owner. Besides nobody is suggesting to charge into his shop in numbers, ask to check his ID, open his drawers, kick his merchandise around, shout obscenities, tell him to "Go back to Yuen Long", chant "I want fake universal suffrage" and kick him from behind his back. And then apologize, insincerely of course.

- A computer repairman? Let me guess -- he buys the computer spare parts in Huaqiangbei (Shenzhen) and brings them back to Hong Kong. That makes him a parallel goods trader/smuggler.

- Somebody has posted his shop information and travel directions on the B2P bus from Shenzhen Bay on mainland discussion forums, and recommend mainlanders to bring their computers over for repair.

 - (Wen Wei Po) March 12, 2015.

Yesterday, the middle-aged man named Chan was arrested by the police. He was suspected of joining in the harassment of the mother-daughter in Tuen Mun. When the video first surfaced, the whole world saw what Chan did. Like the other demonstrators, he was "rooted out" by Internet users. They found out that he ran an electronics repair shop in the Kingswood Richly Plaza (Tin Shui Wai). On Monday, many citizens showed up at his shop and cursed him out harassing innocent passerby. Chan got very worried about meeting a bad end. Therefore, he made a public apology in Oriental Daily in the hope that passions would be quelled. In his apology, he said that he was merely passing by the scene and made a mistake. However, more videos showed that he participated in bullying other passersby prior to this incident. On Tuesday, the Internet boiled over with information about him.

On Wednesday afternoon, the police arrested Chan on suspicion of disorderly conduct in public. In the evening, Chan was taken back to his home wearing a black hood and handcuffs. The police took certain evidence, including shoes, backpack and computer.

Chan is a fervent disciple of Wan Chin, the self-appointed Grandmaster of the Hong Kong City-State. He is a regular participant in demonstrations. In the February 1st march organized by the Civil Human Rights Front, he waved the Lion/Dragon flag of Hong Kong independence along with his fellow believers. He also participated in Reclaim Sha Tin on February 15 and Reclaim Yuen Long on March 1.

Last night after news of Chan's arrest was reported, Lingnan University Chinese Department assistant professor Wan Chin used foul language on his Facebook to curse mainland tourists and the Hong Kong police. He said that the the Hong Kong police are protecting the "Nazis" and "Japanese Imperial Army" from mainland China.

- Other wanted persons (especially the photographers!) from the video:

(Oriental Daily) March 11, 2015.

Yesterday, the police arrested a 27-year-old surveyor named Tsang on suspicion of disorderly conduct in publicly. Specifically, he is suspected of being involved in kicking the luggage cases of passersby.

At around 8pm, the police took Tsang back to his Tai Hing Estate (Tuen Mun) apartment. The police took away a computer and the clothes that he was wearing on the day of the incident.

(Oriental Daily) March 10, 2015.

An Internet user advocated that the Reclaim movement should expand its scope next Sunday (March 16) from opposing parallel goods trader to opposing all Chinese people. All mainland travelers will be "chased away" regardless of what they are doing here!

This Internet user pointed out that nobody cares about peaceful demonstrations. During demonstrations, "you get beaten up and arrested but Hongkongers don't even notice." "No matter what you do, they will call you hooligans." As of next Sunday, "we are going to oust every Chinese person, irrespective of whether they are smugglers, tourists, newly arrived immigrants, adults, children. We will begin a total cleansing of the Chinese people. We remind the mainland tourists in Hong Kong on March 16 to pay total attention." The comments were almost one-sided in approval. One commentator said: "I'll curse out every one of them. If they talk back, I'll beat them up."

A mainland Chinese telephone message:

That year, Hong Kong brothers, you competed with us for the Dongguan sisters, you caused prices to soar, and we didn't say anything!
Nowadays, Hong Kong brothers, you competed with us for the Shenzhen water spa girls, you caused prices to soar, and we didn't say anything!
That year, you bought and rented the houses in Futian district (Luohu), you caused housing prices to soar, and we didn't say anything!
Nowadays, your 'girlfriends' live there with your children, you caused restaurant prices to soar, and we didn't say anything!
That year, Hong Kong wanted a large airport but didn't have any construction workers. The Shenzhen veteran soldiers-engineers went over to build it for you. Did you ever say thanks?
That year, there was a financial crisis and you ran to mommie to cry for money. Your mommie gave you a bundle. At that time, it was our tax money. Did we say anything?
So what are you doing now? Are you not going to be satisfied unless all the border crossings are sealed?

(Oriental Daily) March 11, 2015.

On Sunday, about 600 persons held a part at the Chung Hom Kok Beach on the south side of Hong Kong Island. These individuals did not have an event permit. The organizers charged $150 per head, they catered lunch, they had a DJ playing music, they sold beer and liquor without license, they smoked in the no-smoking area, they left lot of debris (bottles, cigarette butts, paper plates, plastic utensils, etc.)

Internet comments:

- Once again, this is the failure of the government to enforce existing laws related to public laws. If the government won't act, then Civic Passion/Hong Kong Indigenous need to rise up to the occasion, draw public attention through valiant resistance, protect the interests of the Hong Kong aborigines and establish the new Hong Kong City-State in which freedom and democracy rule. Oh, wait, but those party-goers are westerners and not mainlanders. Never mind. Go away. Nothing to see here.

- Civic Passion/Hong Kong Indigenous can normally turn out 100 or so valiant warriors. They won't challenge a crowd of 600. They only bully solo grandpas, pregnant women and small children.

- Indeed, if these 600 persons were mainlanders, there would be a riot already and condemnations of police brutality afterwards.

- 300,000 Filipina/Indonesian domestic helpers hold unlicensed parties in Central, Causeway Bay, Mong Kok, Yuen Long and Tsuen Wan every Sunday, blocking the streets. I don't see Civic Passion/Hong Kong Indigenous worried either.

(SpeakOutHK) March 11, 2015.

Ray Wong is the leader of the Hong Kong Indigenous group.

0:15 Cursing out the wrong person has happened before. I know. I have done it before myself. I found out that I cursed out the wrong person. I said sorry. And then it actually ...

0:26 If we regard the mistake as a single incident, you make the wrong identification, you did the wrong thing and you are wrong. But for the overall action, if you ask whether the demonstrators were wrong with these acts, then I don't think that they were wrong.

(InMediaHK) The shamelessness of Wong Yueng-tat, the disaster of the Localists. By Angelo Cheung. March 10, 2015.

When you're wrong, you should acknowledge your mistake. Recently, the Localists' Reclaim actions have led to assaults on innocent civilians and intentionally causing bodily harm. This is going beyond all conceivable boundaries for demonstrations. A public apology is in order. But some people refused to apologize. Instead, they call their critics "Hong Kong pigs" and "leftards." They rationalize their own vicious acts.

On the crying girl incident, I got very angry as I listened to Wong Yeung-tat's explanation! He said the demonstration site is a battleground, and therefore it is normal for small girls to cry under those circumstances. When the mother saw that situation, she should have walked away with her daughter instead of arguing with the demonstrators. I never imagined that Wong Yeung-tat could utter such shameless rot. He was fanning fires everywhere, and he declared every fire spot to be a battleground. When he found that it was a case of mistaken identity, he moved the goalposts: "Even if you are not a smuggler, your compatriots are smugglers". Faced with such barbaric accusations, what mother wouldn't argue back? Yet Wong condemned her for not leaving, as if the demonstration site was his empire in which he could do as he please. Isn't he just the despot?

Wong Yeung-tat comforted himself that everybody is now paying attention to the issue of parallel goods traders. This proves that the actions were highly effective and successful. But he does not recognize that precisely because of their actions, everybody is no longer paying attention to the issue of parallel goods traders. Instead, everybody is talking about the detestable actions of the Localists ...

On the day after, the Localist mouthpiece Passion Times railed against the critics: "What do the pan-democrats know to do apart from disavowing the Resistance?" "Do you know how many Hongkongers cry for mainlanders?" "Why are you sympathizing with a crying mainland girl? Why are you so indifferent towards an arrested Hong Kong girl?" Please spare me! It is the choice of other people whether to oppose parallel goods traders or support the arrested girl. But if you attacked innocent civilians, then you must apologize! Right now, you were wrong and you kept blaming other people. How do you expect people to support your actions?

Why do I criticize the Localists even harder than the parallel traders? Because the damage being caused by the Localists to Hong Kong society is greater than that of the parallel traders. The mainland parallel traders are only hurting Hong Kong resources. The Localists are hurting Hong Kong civilization and core values. When they curse and assault people randomly, they are much worse than that locusts that they talk about. They want to achieve their ends by any means, which makes the same as their much detested Communist Party. Therefore, they are even more deplorable than those parallel traders.

(Oriental Daily) March 15, 2015.

Hong Kong Indigenous' Ray Wong said today at the City Forum that the demonstrators were wrong in the incident in which the mother-daughter were misidentified as parallel traders. In reviewing the Reclaim actions over the past few weeks, Wong said that the movement was successful because the Central Government and the Hong Kong Government are now willing to deal with the parallel traders and multiple-visit permit problems. In the short term, Wong said Hong Kong Indigenous has no plans to start more Reclaim actions. They only wanted the citizens to reclaim spontaneously as opposed to being led by certain organizations.

• [177] Hong Kong By The Numbers (2015/03/09)

(Oriental Daily) 234 Hong Kong adults were interviewed by street intercepts and telephone interviewers between last Thursday and Saturday.

Q1. Total retail sales fell by 14.6% in January 2015. What are your worries?
34%: Mainland consumers are now buying daily necessities instead of luxury goods, thus reducing dollar volumes
34%: Overall consumption desire has fallen
17%: Retail industry is entering a deep winter
11%: No worries
4%: No opinion

Q2. The recent Occupy Central movement and the anti-parallel traders demonstrations have caused disturbances. What was the impact?
38%: The impact is gradually showing up
28%: The image of Hong Kong tourism was damaged
21%: Scared away the genuine tourists
9%: Not a lot of impact
4%: No opinion

Q3. What is the impact on the Hong Kong retail and tourism sectors after the mainland authorities stepped up their anti-corruption campaigns?
45%: Few purchases of luxury items
24%: Changes in consumption patterns
22%: Fewer individual tourists
6%: Not a lot of impact
3%: No opinion

Q4. What is the impact on Hong Kong of restricting the multiple-entry permits and currency devaluation of neighboring countries?
30%: The Hong Kong economy will be hit with a double whammy
29%: Mainland tourists will travel to other countries
20%: Worsening conditions for Hong Kong retail sector
18%: Not a lot of impact
3%: No opinion

Q5. What is the impact if the Hong Kong retail industry sags?
36%: Chain reaction that will affect the overall Hong Kong economy
28%: A tide of company failures
25%: Layoffs in related industries
8%: Not a lot of impact
3%: No opinion

Q6. What is the biggest problem in the capacity of the Hong Kong tourism sector?
36%: Expand sightseeing locations and increase attraction
34%: Set up a border shopping city for parallel traders
24%: Limited capability which causes conflicts
4%: No opinion
2%: Not a lot of problems

Relevant information on year-to-year changes from 1999 to 2015 according to the Census and Statistics Department.

• [176] Occupy Tsuen Wan/Sheung Shui/Sha Tin/Tuen Mu/Whatever (2015/03/08) (continuously updated)

(Oriental Daily) March 8, 2015 1:17pm

Previously Internet users have called for citizens to assemble at the Sheung Shui East Rail station for the Sheung Shui Tour. Since prior demonstrations have led to violent clashes, the police have placed some metal barricades near the station. Meanwhile the parallel goods traders were operating as usual.

At the Cambridge Plaza where there are many industrial buildings that house warehouses/distribution outlets for the parallel goods traders, most of the stores were closed. According to the security guards, those stores don't open for business on Sundays anyway.

Meanwhile another Internet group had called for a Sha Tin Tour. It is not know how much interest there might be.

(Oriental Daily) March 8, 2015 2:21pm

At Hong Hai Street (Sheung Shui), it is relatively calm for now. But at least 20 stores have lowered their gates, including distribution outlets, restaurants, dried goods stores and currency exchange stores.

(Oriental Daily) March 8, 2015 2:31pm

When Sha Tin Tour was announced on Facebook, about ten Internet users expressed the intention to participate. At this time, nobody has shown up yet. There is a Women's Day (March 8) event in New Town Plaza with lots of people. Four to five police officers were present.

(Oriental Daily) March 8, 2015 2:55pm

Outside Building A, Cambridge Plaza, a female mainlander was existing when a male Internet media reporter began filming her. The mainlander was displeased and used her hand to block the camera. She pulled at his press pass. The male Internet reporter did not retaliate, but only backed off until he was against the wall and then he fell. The male Internet reporter called the police. The female mainlander returned to Cambridge Plaza but came back out after the police arrived 10 minutes to assist in the investigation. The police treated the matter as a dispute case.

(see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx1X0jPiAnc)

(Oriental Daily) March 8, 2015 3:08pm

Today Captain America showed up without his body armor at the overpass near Exit C of the Sheung Shui East Rail station. He said that he did not expect any clashes and therefore he did not need body armor today. He also said that there were too many police at the other exits, and that was why he showed up at the overpass. He was stopped by several policemen who demanded to check his Hong Kong ID. They searched his belongings for dangerous materials. They let him go eventually.

Captain America waved the British flag today outside Exit D. He said that he a localist and he supports Hong Kong independence, and that is why he is waving the British flag.

(Oriental Daily) March 8, 2015 3:37pm

Outside Sheung Shui East Rail Station, there were verbal quarrels between mainland travelers and demonstrators. Many passersby stopped by to watch. A Sheung Shui aborigine told the press about the problems caused by parallel goods traders. A woman took a photo of him, and he started a quarrel with the woman, and was even shoved by her. The police intervened and escorted the woman away. There were many pro-government groups present too.

(Oriental Daily with video) March 8, 2015 4:56pm

At around 3pm, more than 100 persons were gathered outside Sheung Shui MTR station. That number includes the police and press. There were some isolated verbal quarrels and clashes, but nothing on a large scale.

A mainland woman towing a luggage case and a small girl were verbally abused by demonstrators. The small girl burst into tears out of fear.

An Internet Facebook group called "Go to Tuen Mun after Sha Tin Tour" called for a transfer of battleground at 4pm. About 40 participants responded to the call. This was very confusing, to say the least. Earlier in the week, the target was Tsuen Wan. Later, it was changed to Sheung Shui. On Saturday, someone suggested Sha Tin. Today in Sheung Shui, there was a low turnout. There were more police, press and counter-demonstrators than demonstrators. Then someone proposed Tsuen Wan and/or Tuen Mun on the fly. But wherever you send these 40 demonstrators, they won't be able to do anything.

(Oriental Daily) March 8, 2015 5:17pm

The Sheung Shui Tour people took taxis to Tuen Mun. About 100 people gathered at the V city Mall calling for "stopping multiple-entry permits." Many jewelry stores inside the mall immediately lowered their gates.

(Oriental Daily) March 8, 2015 5:28pm.

Almost 100 persons marched from V city to Yan Ching Street. A number of them charged inside a pharmacy. There was no police present at the time. Two police vehicles have now shown up.

(Oriental Daily) March 8, 2015 5:38pm

Several dozen persons went from Sheung Shui to Tuen Mun. They arrived outside the Tuen Mun West Rail station, marched through V city and arrived at Tuen Mun Town Plaza to shout slogans such as "Love the Motherland." Some of them wore surgical masks to avoid identification by the police. The police raised the yellow flag at one point to indicate a police line. The demonstrators then went from Tuen Mun Town Plaza to Trend Plaza. The demonstrators said that because they needed to move fast because the police reinforcements are arriving. A number of stores were forced to lower their gates, including parallel goods stores, jewelry stores etc to avoid clashes.

During the interview, a citizen pointed out that Mr. Man used to sell pirated disks. Mr. Man admitted that he did that before, but he learned from his mistakes and has not changed his mind since. He advised the demonstrators to recognize their mistakes too.

(Oriental Daily) March 8, 2015 5:39pm

After the demonstrators left, the Sheung Shui stores have re-opened and the luggage-powers have re-appeared after a two-hour break.

(Oriental Daily) March 8, 2015 6:14pm

About fifty demonstrators raced through Tuen Mun Town Plaza. When they spotted mainlanders shopping in the jewelry store Chow Sang Sang, more than ten of them charged inside and cursed out the customers, who talked back. The incident went on more than 3 minutes until more than a dozen policemen (some of them traffic policemen) showed up. When the demonstrators saw the police, they shouted: "The police are here" and "Leave quickly" and raced towards Trend Plaza. Chow Sang Sang lowered the gates afterwards. Whenever these demonstrators approached jewelry stores or infant formula-selling stores, they would surround the store and curse. Therefore, other jewelry stores such as Luk Fook and personal health/beauty care stores such as Mannings and Watsons also lowered their gates.

The demonstrators were highly organized. They had spotters outside. Whenever the police arrived, the spotters notified the main group which would quickly disperse.

A shopkeeper Mr. Man who sells computer game disks was unhappy with these demonstrators, and cursed them out. He challenged them: "If you have the guts, you remove your surgical masks!" The demonstrators surrounded Mr. Man and they cursed each other out. The security guards separated the two sides. Afterwards Mr. Man said that the demonstrators are causing chaos in Hong Kong. He suspected that these people were paid to cause trouble. If they are genuinely unhappy with the parallel goods traders, they should reflect this to the Legislative Council instead of causing destruction everywhere.

(Oriental Daily with video) March 8, 2015 6:43pm

A number of demonstrators moved nearby plastic barricades for road construction into the middle of the road in order to block the B3X from departing.

(Oriental Daily with video) March 8, 2015 6:58pm.

A number of violent clashes took place at the B3X bus station. Uncle Zhao who wanted to take the B3X bus to Shenzhen clashed with the demonstrators who kicked his hand cart. Uncle Zhao said that he comes to Hong Kong once a month, mainly to buy food products and infant milk formula for his grandchild. He spend about HK$1,000 this time. He said that the demonstrators were causing chaos without reason. He said that that Hong Kong and Mainland China are brothers who have emotional bonds, and he wishes that the demonstrators won't pick on mainlanders.

(Apple Daily with video) March 8, 2015 8:52pm

An elderly man was pushing a hand cart when he was surrounded by raging demonstrators who cursed him out. His hand cart was carrying audio-visual equipment and someone pointed out that "he is not a parallel goods trader" and "he is a singer." But that didn't deter the demonstrators from harassing him.

The elderly man began to argue with the demonstrators. He charged them with "bullying by numbers." He took out a stick and challenged them to fight "one-on-one." In the end, the elderly man was shoved down on the ground, and hand cart was toppled on the ground, scattering all his belongings. The demonstrators scattered when the police showed up. Some people helped the elderly man to collect his belongings. The elderly man told the police: "I merely play music in the public park."

(Oriental Daily with video) March 8, 2015 7:05pm

Outside Tuen Mun West Rail station, demonstrators and residents cursed each other out. Large numbers of police reinforcements showed up and began to arrest some demonstrators. The other demonstrators tried to "salvage" the arrestees by force.

(Oriental Daily) March 8, 2015 7:42pm

A Facebook group called for poeple to move after the Tuen Mun Tour to the Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower at 8pm.

(Oriental Daily) March 8, 2015 9:37pm

At around 930pm, about 20 anti-parallel traders demonstrators set off from the Tsim Sha Shui Clock Tower towards Canton Road. The police PTU (Police Tactical Unit or blue berets) stopped them. The demonstration leader Cheng Chung-tai (Civic Passion) said that they were only "strolling around, buying things, eating). But the police said that this demonstration was unauthorized and refused to let them pass by setting up a cordon. Some demonstrators attempted to break through the cordon by force. At least 3 persons were arrested. The 7-11 convenience store and the Arome Bakery immediately lowered their gates.

(Apple Daily with video) March 8, 2015 9:56pm

A video showed a man being surrounded by demonstrators. One female demonstrator used foul language to accuse the man of deliberating ramming his body against her. The man proclaimed innocence and took out his telephone to make a call. But someone kicked him hard from behind so that he fell down on the ground. Another demonstrator rushed up and told the man to quit 'acting.'

[Note: The bald-headed old man wears a Tuen Mun club soccer jacket, so he is a local resident and not some mainland parallel trader.]

(Apple Daily with video) March 8, 2015 10:50pm

According to a woman who had just left work from Star House and was ready to take a bus home, a male probationary police inspector pushed her aside multiple times, touching her breast. "He kept pushing me, not just once, until I almost fell down. He touched my breasts. He touched my head. Don't you think that this is a big problem? What would happen if it were a pregnant woman or a senior citizen who walked by?" She said angrily.

Our reporter asked how hard did the police officer push? She said angrily: "He kept holding me, he kept pushing. He wasn't gentle, right? He was absolutely not gentle? What does he think I am? I am not an animal. I am a human being. I am a Hongkonger! How can he treat us Hongkongers this way?" This woman pursued the police officer to the clock tower and demanded him provide her with this name, rank and serial number. But he avoided her with a very lousy attitude.

Videos:

http://news.tvb.com/local/54fc34056db28cc734000003 (TVB) News report
0:15 Demonstrator kneed a luggage case
0:19 Demonstrator kicked a luggage case
0:22 Demonstrator kicked a handheld shopping bag

http://cablenews.i-cable.com/webapps/news_video/index.php?news_id=453569 (Cable News) News report
http://cablev.i-cable.com/video/?id=230647 (Cable News) Comments from Figo Chan and Cheng Chung-tai on the mother-daughter case.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FymgsG_ck1A (Apple Daily) News report
0:34 Mother and daughter being harassed
1:06 PrizeMart worker: "A whole group of people came in. They cursed people and told people to go back to China, the parallel goods traders to go back to China. But our customers ... most of our customers are Hongkongers."
1:22 The male customer at Chow Sang Sang jumped up and said: "I am a Hongkonger! ... You even make noise when a Hongkonger wants to shop!"
2:02 A young man walks up and kicks the luggage of a woman, then flees

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqyXBG9K5SI (Ming Pao) News report
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7Sq6sr9dlA (Ming Pao) News report

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN7h64OMXXA (Epoch Times) The presence of large numbers of policemen caused the demonstrators to withdraw. More than 50 police officers were present, which was a lot more than the demonstrators. Some demonstrators complained, "They said Tsuen Wan and then they said Sheung Shui. It was impossible to track. There are now more reporters than demonstrators."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJzGndgE2dk (Epoch Times) Cursing out all suspected mainlanders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXj4avB-s1A (Epoch Times) Stores in shopping mall forced to close
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2_vPv0iUJ4 (Epoch Times) Bald-headed old man gets kicked in the back by demonstrator whose face is visible at 0:33.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwOcXoQlpG0 (Epoch Times) Police make arrests in Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz1p5UwHCkM (Epoch Times) The mother-daughter case from a different angle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKsRUGWjxHw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aCBJpwQ4rI (dbc) Sheung Shui District Rural Committee chairman Hau Chi-keung takes a tour of his home turf. He says that everything is fine and dandy in Sheung Shui on this day. How many people did he mobilize today for this counter-demonstration? Nobody, he says, because they all showed up spontaneously. He says that people are under no restrictions and can do whatever they want. [Note: Mr. Hau is dressed as and talks like the typical New Territories country squire. In Yuen Long last week, the country squires were told by the "Godfather" Lau Wong-fat to stay away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsTm7x_WnRQ (Headline Pop News) Sheng Shui, Tuen Mun and Tsim Sha Tsui news footage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrfeCOVysX4 (dbc) Demonstrating inside a shopping mall in Tuen Mun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5nOyKBC-vo (dbc) Demonstrators clash with a counter-demonstrator, multiple arrests afterwards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB9vr-5XEJs (dbc) Demonstrators prevent the B3X bus from departing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SNMTl2vaH4 (dbc) Demonstrators charged into Chow Sang Sang and harassed someone who looks like a mainlander, but he is a Hongkonger who got mad as hell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBmg0b0KLKQ (dbc) Three instances in which the demonstrators couldn't really tell mainlander parallel traders from other people. Demonstrators yell at a couple to go back to China. Then they demand a woman to open her luggage case for inspection. Then they harass an old man carrying audio-visual equipment back from the park.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Gnce1efiYY (INT News Channel) 3:29pm. Demonstrators argue with a counter-demonstrator. The demonstrators want the woman in yellow be arrested for assaulting the male photographer at 0:35. But shouldn't the female demonstrator in the pink hat be charged with assault too for the action at 0:30? Anyway the police intervened and separated the two sides.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_Pv0tNiDTo (INT News Channel) 6:05pm. Demonstrators in Tuen Mun Town Plaza and Trend Plaza chase mainland tourists away. Their slogan is about opposing "parallel goods smugglers" and "multiple-entry permits", but their action is against mainlanders and certain stores (health and beauty products, jewelry, pharmacies, discount) in general.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvDIn2f4hHgn (INT News Channel) 6:36pm. Demonstrators block the B3X bus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVygZ5tjLls (SocREC) A demonstrator is arrested at Star Ferry (Tsim Sha Tsui).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQMJMweRciU (SocREC) The police set up a line at Star Ferry (Tsim Sha Tsui) as shown in slow motion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4KjWnsy9YQ (SocREC) Demonstrators scream abuse at the police.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4rj_NNRy78 (SocREC) Foul-mouthed female demonstrator claims to be sexually molested by a police officer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3ob-ZXezio (SocREC) Demonstrators enter pharmacies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu4gIlSoKsw (SocREC) Demonstrators harass the 73-year-old man back from playing music in the park.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXa9AfqyhME (SocREC) Demonstrators refused entry into Harbour City Mall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmScGE_R0fs (SocREC) Demonstrators stopped from entering a restaurant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-MMOVAalRM (SpeakoutHK) Collection of the worst behaviors of the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCzFk_uETBY (Lam Ho-Kay) The prelude to the case of the woman and the girl who burst into tears. The demonstrator in the grey hooded sweater accused the woman of being a smuggler. She opened her suitcase and revealed the contents which are some books and clothes. She asked: "What smuggling? What smuggling?" The demonstrators told her to get lost quickly. At 0:54, the small girl began to cry. The press didn't care and kept filming. At 1:10, the woman said: "You Hongkongers are bullying a mother and a daughter now." The demonstrators strolled around and pretended that they didn't hear her. At 1:22, she said: "You are human waste! You can't even acknowledge that you are Chinese." At 1:24, a male demonstrator responded: "I am not Chinese. Fuck your mother!" At 1:28, she asked them: "Am I smuggling?" The male demonstrator screamed back: "The issue is not whether you are a smuggler or not! The issue is that your compatriots are smugglers! Their smuggling created hardship in our lives!" Another male demonstrator said: "Even if you are not smuggling this time, you will be smuggling some other time!" At 1:41, the second male demonstrator asked: "If you did not come here to buy things, then what are you here for?" She said: "My daughter attends school here." The first male demonstrator screams: "She studies here? She is using up the resources of the people of Hong Kong. We don't even have any place to live in." The woman makes a telephone call and tries to figure out her location. At 3:00, a male demonstrator said: "Are you paying any taxes?  If you pay tax, I will apologize immediately!" The girl kept crying as another woman came up to console her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-u6qlYIfCA (Camman Wong) Assaults on the bald-headed senior citizen and on the senior citizen park music player.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEUSPoTH91s (Camman Wong) Another view on mother-daughter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n02bbn_7aKw (peepermusica) Another view of the mother-daughter incident

Internet comments:

- Seven methods with which demonstrators chase visitors away

1. Kick the handcarts (of anybody) and immediately flee
2. Scream and curse at suspected parallel traders
3. Walk into a pharmacy and start yelling
4. Race around different shopping centres
5. Charge into jewelry stores
6. Use plastic barricades to block the road and thus prevent the B3X bus from leaving Tuen Mun Centre to Shenzhen Bay
7. Shine strong lights at B3C passengers

- Wanted for using Method 1 above:- A Joshua Wong look-alike zombie (see 0:30 of i-Cable news https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-MMOVAalRM ) (see also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HUPIuuZOTs&feature=youtu.be )

- (Oriental Daily)

A number of Facebook pages are now offering bounties for the young man who kicked the handcart of an old man. One page offered $3,000 for information which will be forwarded to the police. Another page offered $10,000.

March 12, 2015 update. The individual has been arrested by the police. He was working as a building surveyor for an architect. It is reported that his company has fired him without compensation (because his contract stipulates that he will be fired without compensation if charged with a crime). The person who provided the information will receive the $3,000 incentive.

- Wanted too: A Chinese female aged 30-40 threw a garbage can against the police, turned around and fled

- Not arrested yet was Immaculate Heart of Mary College student Lam Ka-wai today, but should be arrested because the crime is documented:

P.S. (Passion Times) Police arrested a 14-year-old girl and a 34-year-old man on March 13 for disorderly conduct in public. Specifically, they allegedly moved barricades onto the roadway to prevent the B3X bus from departing.
P.P.S. (Oriental Daily) Upon advice from the Department of Justice, the police have released the 14-year-old girl unconditionally.

- (Apple Daily) March 13, 2015. Police arrested two persons for moving barricades to block buses. One is a 34-year-old man named Fung and the other is a 14-year-old girl named Lam. They were arrested in Yau Ma Tei and Sha Tin respectively.
Yes, two more non-Tuen Mun residents were arrested in their fight for the Tuen Mun self-determination. During the demonstration, a number of Tuen Mun residents were harassed and assaulted.
And yes, two more non-taxpayers who are sucking up the resources of the people of Hong Kong.

- This was supposed to be about opposing parallel goods trading. But look at some of the targeted people today? A mother with a small girl. What parallel goods trader would bring a small girl with her? Also the customer in Chow Sang Sang. When was there ever parallel goods trading in gold and diamonds? The only thing in common is this: The demonstrators hate all mainlanders PERIOD
- Ah, but there was also the old man with the audio-visual system on a handcart. They hate all persons towing handcarts and luggage cases PERIOD. [Sorry, but it's alright to do so if you don't look Chinese.]

- If the demonstrators hate mainlanders so much, they should go and demonstrate at the location where 100% of those present are mainlanders -- the People's Liberation Army Garrison in Central district, Hong Kong.

- Given that the demonstrators today went from Sheung Shui to Tuen Mun to Tsim Sha Tsui, it is clear what their goal was: to annoy the police, to make them chase all over the place. The mice wanted the cats to run after them. Did the action today bring democracy closer? You tell me.

- In future, when Hongkongers go out, they need to remember to bring Hong Kong IDs, birth certificates as well as their tax payment receipts. When they get stopped by valiant warriors, they show their Hong Kong ID to prove that they are Hongkongers, their birth certificates to prove that they were born here and are not mainland migrants, and their tax payment receipts to prove that they are not sucking resources away from the people of Hong Kong. If you forget any of the above, you will be beaten up and told to go back to China.

- Everything in politics is about promoting self-interests. The Tuen Mun/Tsim Sha Tsui demonstrations were organized by Civic Passion/Hong Kong Indigenous. What do the rest of the pan-democrats think?
Chan Wai-yip and Leung Kwok-hung of the League of Social Democrats and Raymond Chan Chi-chuen of People's Power came out against the demonstrators. They are trying to curry favors with the radical wing of the pan-democratic spectrum.
Gary Fan Kwok-wai (Neo-Democrats) and Claudia Mo Man-ching (Civic Party) also came out against the demonstrators. Both Legislative Councilors are trying to curry favors with the Localist wing of the pan-democratic spectrum.
The rest of the pan-democrats are silent, because they cannot afford to offend the radical wing on one hand and the general public on the other hand. They stay quiet and hope that nobody will notice that they are silent.

- Why beat up a random grandpa, even if he is a native Hongkonger? The answer is simple -- according to public opinion polls, over 90% of persons aged 55 or over are against Occupy Central. Now is the time to take revenge and you are going to be correct 90% of the time. Very good odds.

- Here is the situation once upon a time.

You get off Star Ferry wearing a yellow blazer.

You are immediately surrounded by a dozen men wearing surgical masks.

They accuse you of being a Falun Gong member.

You explain that the yellow blazer is a Nike product which has nothing to do with Falun Gong. You show them the Nike label.

One masked man said: "That's doesn't prove that you didn't wear a Falun Gong jacket previously, nor that you won't wear one in the future."

Another masked man said: "Even if you are not, the point is that people like you are with the Falun Gong."

A third masked man said: "If you are not with the Falun Gong, then why are you at Star Ferry?"

...

How should you respond?

- New global trendsetter: Hong Kong is the shopping paradise where some shoppers are not allowed to shop.

- I've always thought that the anti-parallel trader demonstrators are making double mistakes -- they got the wrong targets and they use the wrong methods. If you are dissatisfied, you can tell the government. Instead, you "lynch" mainland travelers who come here legally. Of course, you may say that the demonstrators did this because they found the situation intolerable. But what if other people find the behavior of the demonstrators to be intolerable and want to "lynch" them in the same manner? Is that okay? If you don't think it's okay, then you better shut up about any "intolerable situation."

- They beat up a grandpa who was pushing a handcart to carry audio-visual equipment for playing music in the public park. Next thing you know, they will beat up a grandma for pushing a handcart to take the newspapers to the recycling center. Nowadays pushing a handcart is living dangerously.
- If you walk around in the middle of the night, you see all sorts of handcarts on the road. These are the garbage collectors who gather the garbage from individual buildings down to the garbage collection points. They are easy to beat up, because they operate in isolation. That should be a good starting point to eliminate all handcarts.
- If carrying a handcart or luggage case is an original sin, the solution is obvious: ban the use or sale of all handcarts and luggage cases in Hong Kong. Then we shall have peace and quiet.
- If you want to ban all handcarts/luggage cases, the starting point should be the Hong Kong International Airport. Anyone who steps off an airplane will have their luggage cases confiscated. Why? Because the people of Hong Kong apparently demand it because of the fear of sustaining a mortal injury when a luggage case is rolled over their toes.

- The grandpa with the audio-visual equipment must be a beggar begging for alms through his singing. So he was breaking the law and therefore he deserves punishment.
- Eh, you probably have never visited a public park in Hong Kong. Here is a random sample through searching for "Tuen Mun"+"Public Park"+"singing songs": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-zukGDex2I . Sure, it may be loud, but you can go elsewhere in the very large park if you want quiet.

- There is the theory that the grandpa musician provoked the crowd and therefore the group attack on him was justified and inevitable. Well, well, well. During these demonstrations, the demonstrators provoked the police repeatedly by charging the police line, cursing them with foul language, shrieking "Sexual molestation!", kicking the police in the shin, etc. Therefore the police counter-charge was "justified and inevitable." Right?

- These grandpas were most likely born in China and came down to Hong Kong to steal our resources. Therefore they should be expelled back to China. As for their children and grandchildren who were born in Hong Kong, they ... eh ... are the demonstrators that we saw today.

- It was very wrong for Oriental Daily to show the face of the scared little girl. We need to protect her identity so that she does not suffer from the psychological trauma of an Internet celebrity. Oriental Daily has no concern about the potential damage that they are causing. Now that her face has been published, the Internet users will find out everything about her (her home address, her kindergarten, etc) and make sure that she will be plunged into a living hell.
- Actually, Oriental Daily should be showing the faces of the demonstrators who caused this little girl to be so scared. We are more interested in finding out about their names, addresses, workplaces, telephone numbers, etc. But it won't do any good because these justice avengers all wear surgical masks to avoid identification. The exception is that young woman who pulled down her surgical masks to sip a drink. Let's find out more about who she is. We already know that she is a member of Scholarism and currently attends the Immaculate Heart of Mary College.

- Fuck the fucking press! They saw innocent individuals being bullied and harassed right in front of their eyes, but they did nothing because their mission was to record the truth and not be part of the story themselves. Fuck you!
Fuck the fucking police! Where were you when you were needed to stop the bullying!? When you show up, you were only interested in separating the two sides. You avoid making arrests, because that means paperwork. Fuck you!
Fuck the fucking demonstrators! Your enemy is the Hong Kong SAR/Chinese governments. You should be attacking CY Leung and his lackeys, the Chinese Communists and their lackeys, etc. But you only harass individual children, women and elders. Fuck you!
Fuck the fucking New Territories country squires. You are supposed to defend your community. But you let outsiders come in and run amok, so that the local businesses lost 20% of their revenues for the day. Fuck you!

- The demonstrators got routed by the Yuen Long country squires, so today they decided to pick on grandpas and little girls. You pick the battles that you can win. Very rational decision. Yet another victory on the road to democracy.

- (The Stand) Actually, it is not important whether the demonstrators made the little girl cry. More important is the fact the demonstrators knew that they were wrong but they did not stop. This mother opened her suitcase and showed some books (recipes for making soup) and ordinary daily items. She is clearly not a parallel goods trader. The normal reaction is to apologize and move on. And when they mistake Hongkongers for parallel traders, they should apologize too. However, these demonstrators got mad and continued to heap abuse, even pushing people down on the ground. That senior citizen who went to sing in Tuen Mun Park is a genuine Tuen Mun resident, and he is practicing community self-determination in public space usage. The demonstrators mistook him for a parallel trader, pushed him on the ground and toppled his handcart. How different are they from the evil cops and the reviled Food and Hygiene Department inspectors?
They are not even practicing ethnic discrimination. If so, the matter could be solved by showing Hong Kong ID's. But they seemed to treat anyone who talks back as hostile enemies. This is not defending Hong Kong. This is dividing Hong Kong. This is not Reclaiming Hong Kong. This is letting Hong Kong fall into the dark abyss. I don't know if this is because I sympathize with those victims of mistaken identity. But I know from instinct that this method won't work.
When the triads make a mistake in identification, they leave. These demonstrators are worse than triads.
It is not wrong to oppose parallel traders. I understand the sufferings of the North District residents. But when the action has no bottom line, then this is not a force for justice. Although the dangers are remote, I can imagine how mentally anguishing it will be for me to co-exist with a bunch of people who have no bottom line.

- Mainlanders are uncivilized because they spit, they squat, they talk loudly, they urinate/defecate in public etc. Hongkongers are uncivilized because they only bully children, women and grandpas. When the Titantic began sinking, they said "Women and children first". Today the demonstrators harassed women and children first.

- The Individual Permit Scheme is as addictive as heroin. You must wean yourself of this ultimate addiction.
- So you stop all individual mainland visitors. What happens to your economy? Where do the displaced workers go? They should all go to grow cabbages in New Territories in order to make Hong Kong self-sufficient?

- Captain America, the current points leader in the Whac-a-mole game. [Note: In Chinese, one version of the Whac-a-mole is known as "Hit the Idiot" (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUBrMTnt5z0 )]
- Captain America wants to take over an anti-parallel trade demonstration and change it into a rally for Hong Kong independence under the British colonial flag. Say what? If you live under the British colonial flag, you are not independent.

- It was said that the demonstrators took taxis from Sheung Shui to Tuen Mun. Here is the truth. There was no taxi line, but the minibus from Sheung Shui to Tuen Mun had a couple hundred people in line. Fact: These demonstrators have no money to take taxis!

- Trend Plaza is an upscale mall in lower-/middle-class Tuen Mun. That is why there are more mainland shoppers. The demonstrators are jealous of their high purchasing power, and that is why they enjoy the opportunity to curse mainland shoppers out. Of course, there is plenty in life that the demonstrators may be jealous about. How about westerners with Hong Kong girlfriends? Why don't the demonstrators go down to LKF to curse the westerners out?

- These demonstrators don't know who the parallel traders are. At Sheung Shui East Rail station, the parallel traders pick up their goods and take the train to Luohu. 99% of these couriers are Hongkongers who can make as many trips as they like. Canceling the mainlanders' multiple-entry permits will do nothing to change this situation. At Tuen Mun Town Plaza's Chow Sang Sang, the mainland customers are mostly Individual Permit Scheme visitors under single-entry permits. They are tourists, just like American tourists, Japanese tourists, etc. Mainlanders account for the majority of tourists who stay overnight. Do you want to stop them from coming? Why just them and not those from other nations? The Japanese and Americans also carry luggage cases that may roll over your toes!

- The reason for wanting Chow Sang Sang to go out of business is that they make good money and therefore can afford to pay increasing rents, which drive the traditional fish ball shops out. What if all the Chow Sang Sang's, Chow Tai Fook's, Luk Fook's and TSL go out of business? It is also traditional that when Hong Kong women get married, their friends and relatives buy gold bracelets and necklaces for them. Where would they buy now when all the jewelry stores are closed by order of the new Hong Kong City-State?
- The answer to the rhetorical question is obvious -- all the jewelry stores can stay open, but they cannot serve mainland customers. That's all the demonstrators ever want.

- Developments over the past few weeks lead to an obvious outcome: the local residents in Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, Sheung Shui, Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin and Fan Ling will have to form their own neighborhood self-defense committees to defend against the marauders from outside. It won't require much because the invaders number only 100 to 200 at most. The satellite cities have populations of several hundred thousand each.

- The Tsim Sha Shui woman who charges a policeman with touching her breasts says: "He kept pushing me, not just once, until I almost fell down. He touched my breasts. He touched my head. Don't you think that this is a big problem? What would happen if it were a pregnant woman or a senior citizen who walked by? ... What does he think I am? I am not an animal. I am a human being. I am a Hongkonger! How can he treat us Hongkongers this way?" Well, she should ask the animals in Tuen Mun about harassing children, women and senior citizens. Who do they think they are?

- As for the Tsim Sha Shui auntie who said that she was sexually molested by the policeman. Firstly, she said that she had just left work in Star House around 10pm on a Sunday night to take a bus home. The demonstrators were facing off the police in front of the clock tower. The geography says Star House is on the west side, the bus stop is in the middle and the clock tower is on the east side. So if she leaves Star House to go to the bus stop, she does not go near the police cordon at all. Furthermore, regular bus riders know that the buses are parked on the north side. So they cross the street directly from Star House to where the bus is parked. To use the sidewalk from Star House to Star Ferry to cross the street at the end of the bus line and walk to the front where the bus is parked is a waste of time. And you may miss the bus too. So her description makes no sense.
Secondly, what would a normal person do when you see that there is a mass of policemen and masked demonstrators in front and your bus is on the left? You walk left to take your bus. Nobody is interested in stopping your bus from leaving. It is only because you decide to walk up front behind the police line to see what's going on, and then you get upset when the police to tell you to leave the area. When you exercise what you think is the unalienable right of Hongkongers to stand anywhere that they want, you find trouble instead.
Thirdly, there are lots of people that a probationary police inspector may think about molesting, but you are just not a likely target. [Sample comment: 咁既尊容，除晒都食唔落，算吧la, 下次屈警察唔該搵個有說服力少少既可以嗎？With a face like yours, you are untouchable even if you take off all your clothes. Forget it! If you want to frame the police, can you find someone more convincing please?]
Fourthly, the next phase is for Internet users to find out who you are and whether you really worked at Star House at that hour, and then they will publish your name, address, telephone numbers, etc.

-Regardless of what people want to say, the iconic photo for this day is:

One thousand words.
Which is the hard high wall and which is the egg that breaks against it (per Haruki Murakami)?

P.S. Somebody has made a poster:

Condemn organized crime
The whole city is howling in anger
Punish the Hong Kong Independence people severely.

- See also: Richard Scotford Her Child became a needless pawn and Society is Broken. Also https://www.facebook.com/RichScotford5/photos/a.567649076669746.1073741827.567628880005099/607280162706637/?type=1 where many commentators insist that the whole thing was a staged trap.

- Someone said that all the mother needed to do was to walk away with her daughter. Therefore, everything that happened afterwards was the mother's fault.

That's about fucking right.

On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery (Alabama), the bus driver James F. Blake ordered black female passenger Rosa Parks to give up her seat in the colored section to a white passenger. She refused. Blake said, "Why don't you stand up?" Parks responded: "I don't think I should have to stand up." Black called the police to arrest Parks. She was tried on charges of disorderly conduct and violating a local ordinance and found guilty. She was fined $10 plus $4 in court costs.

Parks said: "I did not want to be mistreated, I did not want to be deprived of a seat that I had paid for. It was just time... there was opportunity for me to take a stand to express the way I felt about being treated in that manner. I had not planned to get arrested. I had plenty to do without having to end up in jail. But when I had to face that decision, I didn't hesitate to do so because I felt that we had endured that too long. The more we gave in, the more we complied with that kind of treatment, the more oppressive it became."

So all Parks needed to do was to yield her seat. Everything that happened afterwards (arrest, jail, court, fine) was her fault. That's right! This is the American Civil Rights Movement revised to suit our leading Hong Kong revolutionary theoreticians.

To paraphrase Rosa Parks, the Hong Kong mother might be saying: "I did not want to be mistreated, I did not want to be abused in the middle of the street in front of my daughter for being something that I am not ... there was opportunity for me to take a stand to express the way I felt about being treated in that manner. I did not plan to do this. But when I had to face that decision, I didn't hesitate to do so because I felt that we had endured that too long. The more we gave in, the more we complied with that kind of treatment, the more oppressive it became. I certainly do not want my daughter to grow up and experience the same thing. This has got to stop now."

- (SpeakoutHK) Lam Yat-hei:

One of the centers of attention of the One Day Tour of Hong Kong yesterday was about the demonstrators making a small girl cry. This drew plenty of discussion. I want to say that while it is nice to have sympathy, we should not let it override other matters. It is very natural for small children to cry. In restaurants, I heard small children cry. On buses, I hear small children cry. Even during movies, I hear small children cry. What is so extraordinary about a small child crying?

Turn your attention back to the several Tours. Do not talk about crying children. The force of these one hundred or so persons have drawn a response from Hong Kong and public opinion in the mainland. That is awesome. We citizens don't have to do anything, and someone has helped us to tour Hong Kong. I have nothing to complain about.

I have lived in Fanling before, and I witnessed how the parallel traders took over Fanling. I moved to Yuen Long and I saw how the parallel traders filled up Main Road. I moved to Tuen Mun, and I paid high prices for food and housing along with the mainlanders. I am very selfish. At this moment, I would rather sympathize with the citizens in the front line who take the risks of being arrested and beaten by the police. I have no feeling towards that crying child. I only think that she was noisy.

- (Yahoo News) Civic Passion's Cheng Chung-tai said that the world should not treat the demonstrators as thugs or hooligans. He said that the demonstrations arose due to dissatisfaction with government policy. The world should not smear these demonstrators and should not hold them up to saintly standards. He said that the Hong Kong SAR government should be apologizing for stalling on the parallel trading issue, which therefore forced the demonstrators to enter the shopping malls to demonstrate. He emphasized that the demonstrators came out to defend the local communities. As for the crying little girl, Cheng said that the mother was responsible, because she mentioned that the girl was studying in Hong Kong and this touched the nerve of the demonstrators.

- One of those demonstrators who harassed the mother-daughter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCzFk_uETBY wore a grey USA-NY sweater, khaki pants and black-white Nike shoes. He was later arrested even as he begged the police to let him ago because he promises that he will leave immediately. All it takes is to go to court and obtain the personal details of this wastrel.

"Innocent bystander/eyewitness" wearing US-NY hooded sweater, khaki pants and black-white Nike shoes administer flying kick to a shopping bag from behind
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7YsSJq_2-8 shows this man being frisked by the police earlier in the day. A woman with a mainland accent showed up to call him "son." What irony to find him wanting to attack his mother's kind!

(VJmedia)

By now everybody has seen a so-called video that claimed to be about "demonstrators making a child cry." ... Who caused the child to cry? Which side has greater responsibility? It remains to be determined. We don't know if the woman provoked the demonstrators, or the demonstrators provoked the woman? But the howling of the woman triggered the crying of the child. Before the child started crying, the demonstrators asked the woman not to scare the child. So who needs to read up on the Convention on the Rights of the Child? The woman or the demonstrators?

The legally illiterate law enforcement agents also need to read up the Convention of the Rights of the Child. In Tuen Mun, a 14-year-old youngster was watching the demonstrator and was suddenly arrested by the police for tossing objects. A bystander volunteered to testify to the contrary, but was also pushed down to the ground and had his eyeglasses smashed. The two individuals neither wanted nor have the ability to resist. The police manhandled them and charged them with resisting arrest ...

[Note: Oh, would you believe that this is one and the same person (grey US-NY hooded sweater, khaki pants and black-white Nike shoes): the demonstrator who harassed the mother-daughter in the early afternoon and the innocent bystander/eyewitness later in the evening?]

- (Radio Hong Kong programme audio recording) March 9, 2015. Interview with an 18-year-old demonstrator.

Q. Why do you participate in these demonstrations?
A. Actually, it is like this. Here is an issue. It is useless to bring up to the District Council. It is useless to bring up to the Legislative Council. It is useless to bring up to the Government. When that happens, you need to do something to draw the attention and concern of society. So the purpose of this action is to attract the attention and concern of society. Therefore, I think everything should be tried. That is why I supported this action at first.

Q. Hmm. Your purpose is to attract the attention and concern of society. You said that you went to Sheung Shui and Tuen Mun. Tuen Mun seemed to be more chaotic. Some demonstrators appear to kick the goods that people were carrying. Did you witness these so-called chaotic conditions?
A. Eh, I took one of the popular Facebook videos. It was about a mother-daughter passing by with a luggage case in tow. They were accused of being parallel goods traders. She opened the suitcase to prove that she was not a parallel goods trader. She had a book on how to make soup. There were some other materials which were not parallel goods. The mother-daughter also hold Hong Kong ID's.

Q. The girl was in tears.
A. Yes, yes, the girl was in tears. When I took the film at the time, I was very very ... when I saw the girl in tears, I wondered if we should have some sympathy? What should we do in the face of such a situation? We are not focusing on this thing, we are not focusing on this one scene, we are focusing on what the impact is. In the beginning ... in the previous anti-parallel trader actions, people were calling for the cancellation of multiple-entry permits. We went to some bus stops, such as the B3X bus stop in Tuen Mun. We spotted those excessively heavy suitcases and we said, "Hey, it is over the limit. You can't let it get on!" After we speak up, the workers got stricter in their inspections. They are normally not so strict. But when we show up there, they are stricter. The action is visible and obvious. People can see that we are acting directly on this issue. But the chaotic situation yesterday is such that the people were not able to distinguish between a parallel trader and an ordinary citizen. Everybody can tow a luggage case. They aren't all parallel traders. This was happening from the beginning, but yesterday everybody realized this problem.

Q. Do you think that this is bad?
A. Actually, I obviously think this is bad. Local residents should take care of local matters. In any action, it is wrong to mistake someone for someone else and then refuse to apologize afterwards, continuing to scold them instead.

Q. Suppose the mother-daughter were really parallel traders. Can you curse them out?
A. I don't think so. Ultimately, they are people who work under the policy. They are not the people in charge of the policy. They are just taking resources that are allowed under the policy. How shall we deal with this issue directly? If the parallel traders talk back and want to pick a fight with you, it would be alright to scold them. But the situation did not appear yesterday. She was continuously scolded. She volunteered to open the suitcase herself to prove that she was not a parallel trader. She also showed her Hong Kong ID.

Q. Ordinary citizens do not have the right to inspect other people's Hong Kong ID?
A. Yes. She wanted to prove her status.

Q. She must have been pressured hard into doing this.
A. Yes. I was at the scene. I was embarrassed myself that I did not go out and stop this. But at that moment, ten to twenty masked persons were scolding her. Anyone would be scared. Even if I am a localist, it would be hard to support them.

Q. Are your thoughts in the minority among the demonstrators?
A. Not the minority. Actually, at the scene that day, people said not to point at people to scold. Many people said so.

Q. Only a few persons pointed and scolded, and the majority thought that it was wrong?
A. Yes. "Leave." "Leave." They kept telling them to leave. But some people stayed and continued to scold.

Q. So do you regret participating, because your participation encouraged certain actions that you disapprove of?
A. I have no regrets. I took some of the videos. I only posted them on my Facebook. I did not pass them to the media outlets. When I took the video, I wanted people to analyze who was doing what. That is, some people were doing things that you identify with while others were doing things that you don't identify with. After making the analyses, we know what to do when a new issue comes up. That is, we know which group to follow to do whatever. It is better when everybody knows. Therefore, I have no regrets. But on this issue, I know that I can pose the question: In future actions, should we change? ...

- Proclamation of victory -- Tuen Mun City Centre at 2pm on Monday. No parallel traders, no mainland tourists, no Hong Kong shoppers. Finally we are free to walk in this almost deserted shopping mall!

- This is an immaculately stupid comment. Firstly, did you check the status of the mall at the same time last week? Would you believe that it was just as sparse? Secondly, having an empty mall may be good for you to stroll around. But the businesses won't be pleased at all.

(SpeakOutHK) March 12, 2015.

In watching the mother-daughter video, I had to note that the passersby were cold and indifferent. The mother-daughter were surrounded, and the daughter was scared into crying. This was a clear case of bullying (many against two, men against women). People came by, they saw and they hurried away. Nobody helped the two for several minutes until one woman came by and offered paper tissue to wipe the tears away. While the passersby saw that an injustice was being carried out, they also saw dozens of mobile camphones and cameras working. They knew that if they entered the fray, they could easily become tomorrow's headline story, and that video will forever be part of their resumés. Therefore, they kept their mouths shut and walk away. That means injustices multiply.

• [175] Hong Kong By The Numbers (2015/03/05) (Hong Kong Research Association) 1151 persons aged 18 or over were interviewed February 18-26, 2015.

Q1. In the election of the Chief Executive, which phase do you care most about?
43%: The composition and selection of the nomination committee
11%: The nomination process
22%: The method of one-vote, one-person universal suffrage
6%: Other
9%: Don't care
9%: No opinion

Q2. To become considered for Chief Executive candidacy, the threshold should be set at ...?
27%: 150 nomination committee members' recommendation
12%: 100 nomination committee members' recommendation
46%: Other
9%: Don't care
7%: No opinion

Q3. How shall the nomination committee vote in order to come up with 2 to 3 Chief Executive candidates?
13%: Each committee member gets three votes for three different candidates
9%: Each committee member votes for two to three candidates
17%: Each committee member can vote at most thrice, for one to three candidates
29%: Each candidate is voted upon
17%: Other
7%: Don't care
8%: No opinion

Q4. What is the voting procedure for Chief Executive?
18%: Single round, the winner being the one with the most votes
51%: Two rounds (if nobody gets more half in the first round, the top two enter a run-off)
16%: Preferential voting (voters cast votes in order of preference)
10%: Other systems
2%: Don't care
4%: No opinion

Q5. Do you want the Legislative Council to pass the one-person, one-vote proposal under the framework of the August 31 resolution of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, or to keep things as before?
52%: Pass
27%: Same as before
15%: Hard to say
6%: No opinion

Q6. If the government makes a public promise that the Chief Executive election method can be improved after 2017, do you think that it will increase the chances of the Legislative Council passing the proposal?
44%: Yes
28%: No
22%: Hard to say/don't care
6%: No opinion

Q7. If the nomination committee can include more sectors or re-distribute the current sectors, do you think that it will increase the chances of the Legislative Council passing the proposal?
34%: Yes
32%: No
26%: Hard to say/don't care
8%: No opinion

Q8. If the nomination committee is vastly expanded to include more sectors consisting of voters, do you think that it will increase the chances of the Legislative Council passing the proposal?
40%: Yes
29%: No
25%: Hard to say/don't care
6%: No opinion

Q9. When the Legislative Councilors hold positions about the constitutional reform that are opposite to majority opinion, do you think they should follow majority opinion?
71%: Yes
14%: No
10%: Hard to say/don't care
5%: No opinion

Q10. How confident are you that the Legislative Council will pass the 2017 Chief Executive election proposal?
9%: Very confident
11%: Somewhat confident
38%: Not a lot of confidence
28%: No confidence
10%: Hard to say
4%: No opinion

Q11. In the District Council elections, will the candidates' positions on political reform be a key factor in deciding your vote?
60%: Yes
20%: No
12%: Hard to say/don't care
7%: No opinion

Q12. In the Legislative Council elections, will the candidates' positions on political reform be a key factor in deciding your vote?
68%: Yes
17%: No
9%: Hard to say/don't care
7%: No opinion

• [174] Hong Kong By The Numbers (2015/03/05) (Wen Wei Po)

The pro-establishment DAB party recently commissioned an independent research organization to poll the people of Hong Kong about the proposed constitutional reform. 811 adults were interviewed on February 11, 15 and 16 by telephone. The respondents were not told that a political party commissioned this poll.

With respect to the proposed constitution reform that follows the National People's Congress Standing Committee's August 31st resolution with on one-person, one-vote for the Chief Executive in 2017,
60.5%: Agree
30.0%: Disagree [prefer the 2017 Chief Executive election to use the old method of election committee]
9.5%: Don't know/no opinion

The 30% were told that Chief Executive elections after 2017 can be improved based upon actual conditions, then:
4.3%: Acceptable
24.1%: Unacceptable

When asked whether the Legislative Council should vote according to what the majority of the people wishes,
83.3%: Yes
8.8%: No

If the proposed reform for the 2017 Chief Executive election is vetoed, 63.7% pessimistic about the prospects of implementing universal suffrage and 64.5% is pessimistic about Hong Kong's overall prospects (including politics, economy, society, etc).

(DAB)

Q1. If the 2017 Chief Executive election is based upon the August 31st framework of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, do you think the Legislative Council should pass or veto?
60.5%: Pass the proposal so that there can be one-person one-vote for Chief Executive in 2017
30.0%: Veto the proposal so that the Chief Executive election method will stay the same as now
9.5%: Don't know/no opinion

Q2. Some people think that we should pass the 2017 proposal to get one-person one-vote and then progress gradually to enhance the Chief Executive election method. What should the Legislative Council do if this is true? (Base: Those who responded "Veto" in Q1.)
14.5%: Pass the proposal
81.0%: Veto the proposal
4.5%: Don't know/no opinion

Q3. A Legislative Councilor wants to resign in order to trigger a de facto referendum through the by-election. What do you think?
33.8%: A waste of public funds
27.1%: Useless towards implementing universal suffrage
17.2%: Allow citizens to express their dissatisfaction with the NPCSC resolution
8.8%: Rally for District Council elections
5.5%: Useful for fighting for universal suffrage
7.6%: Don't know/no opinion

Q4. Do you think that the Legislative Council should decide on the basis of majority opinion of the citizens about how to vote for the 2017 Chief Executive election method?
83.3%: Yes
8.8%: No
8.0%: Don't know/no opinion

Q5. If the Legislative Council ultimately fails to pass the 2017 Chief Executive election proposal, what is your outlook for universal suffrage in the Chief Executive executive after 2017?
23.6%: Optimistic
63.7%: Pessimistic
12.8%: Don't know/no opinion

Q6. If the Legislative Council ultimately fails to pass the 2017 Chief Executive election proposal, what is your overall outlook for Hong Kong, including political, economic and social prospects?
23.6%: Optimistic
64.5%: Pessimistic
11.8%: Don't know/no opinion

• [173] Hong Kong By The Numbers (2015/03/05) (Hong Kong Institute of Asian-Pacific Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Q1. Recently, there has been a series of protests spontaneously organized by citizens to oppose the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS). Do you agree with these protests?
54.8%: Disagree
26.2%: In-between
16.3%: Agree
2.7%: Don't know/hard to say

Q2. Some people think "The number of mainland visitors from IVS has exceeded the capacity of Hong Kong to receive them." Do you agree with this statement?
12.1%: Disagree
21.3%: In-between
63.3%: Agree
3.4%: Don't know/hard to say

Q3. Overall, do you think IVS should be expanded, reduced or kept the same?
3.4%: Expanded
25.1%: Kept the same
66.7%: Reduced
4.9%: Don't know/hard to say

Q4. Some people say: "If the IVS is reduced, the Hong Kong retail, tourism and related sectors will be negatively impacted." After considering this, do you still agree with the reduction?
4.4%: Disagree
89.7%: Agree
5.9%: Don't know/hard to say

Q5. Right now, registered residents of 49 mainland cities are allowed to come to Hong Kong as individual travelers. The Shenzhen-registered residents can even get multiple-entry permits. Some people think that the multiple-entry permits should be eliminated. Do you agree?
7.1%: Disagree
20.2%: In-between
70.4%: Agree
2.3%: Don't know/hard to say

Q6. For Hong Kong, has individual travel been good or bad?
32.8%: More good than bad
36.3%: More bad than good
28.0%: In-between
2.8%: Don't know/hard to say

Q7. For you personally, has individual travel been good or bad?
19.3%: More good than bad
49.1%: More bad than good
22.8%: In-between
8.9%: Don't know/hard to say

Q8. Has individual travel caused inconvenience in your daily life?
35.3%: No
62.6%: Yes
2.2%: Don't know/hard to say

Q9. How much inconvenience? (base: Those who said "Yes" in Q8)
34.0%: A little bit
32.5%: Moderately
33.5%: A lot

Q10. Some people think "a border shopping centre should be built in Lok Ma Chau to serve mainland visitors." Do you agree?
19.8%: Disagree
21.4%: In-between
54.5%: Agree
4.3%: Don't know/hard to say

• [172] Occupy Tsuen Wan - Now Dead (2015/03/04)

(Oriental Daily) March 3, 2015.

Reclaim Tsuen Wan
Sunday (March 8, 2015) at 15:00
Tusen Wan West Station

The last few Reclaim actions
Led to the restoration of peace and tranquility to many places
But the Revolution has not succeeded, so the comrades will still have to work harder
This action is spontaneously organized
So there is no need to apply to the Evil Police
For your convenience to post here,
Fifty-cent gangers and traitors will be posted.

(Oriental Daily) March 4, 2015.

Previously a Facebook user had called for "Reclaim Tsuen Wan, chase away the locusts, cleanse Tsuen Wan" for Sunday (March 8) at 15:00. But that Facebook user suddenly decided to cancel the event because he did not consult anyone beforehand and obtained any feedback. At the time, several dozen Internet users had already expressed the intention to participate.

Internet comments:

- In Yuen Long, Civic Passion and Hong Kong Indigenous filed an application for a demonstration, and the police gave a no-objection reply. Many physical clashes took place. If these two organizations were to apply again, why would the police approve? But if the police don't give approval, then Civil Human Rights Front would decry the end of freedom of assembly in Hong Kong.

- The North District Parallel Imports Concern Group ran a demonstration march in Tsuen Wan on February 23 (see #162). The attendance was estimated to be between eight to ten persons. After the actions in Tai Po, Sheung Shui, Tuen Mu, Sha Tin, Tsuen Wan and Yuen Long, the numbers behind the various groups are:
-- 10 to 20, North District Parallel Imports Concern Group
-- 100 to 200, Civic Passion
-- 50 to 100, Hong Kong Indigenous
-- ??, the anonymous black ninjas

If this Facebook user only has the North District Parallel Imports Concern Group behind the event, it will be ten or so demonstrators. Meanwhile there will be hundreds of photojournalists who are expecting a re-run of Sheung Shui, Sha Tin and Yuen Long. That would be terribly embarrassing.

Therefore, this event needs the participation of the other groups. But each group has its own agenda.

This Facebook organizer said that the event was to "reclaim Tsuen Wan, chase away the locusts and cleanse Tsuen Wan." His agenda is ambiguous, because it can be interpreted to cover some or all of (A) mainland parallel goods traders; (B) mainland visitors with multiple-entry permits; (C) mainland tourists with single-entry permits; (D) mainland migrants to Hong Kong. The specific combination will affect the support level. For example, a jewelry store workers may oppose mainland parallel traders for causing congestion and inconvenience, but they want the mainland tourists to keep coming.

Here are what the groups want for themselves:

-- The North District Parallel Imports Concern Group opposes the mainland parallel goods traders.

-- Civic Passion opposes all mainlander presence in Hong Kong and they want a Revolution to overthrow the Hong Kong SAR Government as well as the Communist Party.

-- Hong Kong Indigenous wants an independent Hong Kong City-State.

-- The anonymous black ninjas want a war game with the Hong Kong Police.

The nature of the event will be affected by the absence/presence of these groups. For example, in Yuen Long, when the Civic Passion started the march, they were chanting "Down with the Communist Party!" as led by the guy carrying the megaphone. Does everyone in the procession to protest parallel trading agree with this agenda? As another example, in Sha Tin, the Hong Kong Indigenous people were screaming at people "We don't want your kind here" solely because they look like mainlanders.

- On Sundays, the streets of Tsuen Wan are flooded with thousands of people sitting on the sidewalks and obstructing pedestrians.  They need to be 'cleansed.' P.S. They are Filipina/Indonesian domestic helpers on their day off.

- This Facebook user thought that as long as he characterizes the event as spontaneously organized by citizens, then police permission is not required. What might happen is that as soon as a couple of dozen people (including demonstrators as well as counter-demonstrators) are gathered, the police will declare it to be an unlawful assembly and promptly start arresting people.

- If you can't generate interest for Tsuen Wan, the other locations (such as Kowloon Tong, Kwun Tong, Tseung Kwan O, etc) are even less attractive. So the only left is to recycle Tai Po, Sheung Shui, Tuen Mun and Yuen Long. But remember that 38 persons were arrested in Yuen Long. For a group of 200 to 300 people, that is more than 10% already. How much longer can they keep this up?

- (Oriental Daily) March 4, 2015.
With the disappearance of "Reclaim Tsuen Wan," there was a new Facebook group "Back to Reclaim Sheung Shui" today. The activity is planned for March 8 (Sunday) 3pm at Sheung Shui East Rail Station. The purpose is to "attack parallel trading facilities, eliminate multiple-entry permits."

Been there, did that (#146), got nowhere since. Last time, there were arson attempts. A real conflagration this time?

• [171] Occupy Yuen Long - The Main Event (2015/03/01)

(Oriental Daily) February 28, 2015.

According to Hong Kong Industrial and Commercial Association's Yuen Long branch chairman Wong Tat-kwong, there are about 1,000 businesses in Yuen Long and most of them are worried that they will lose business as a result. Wong said that the association will dispatch a 100-strong uniformed "Legal Advisor Team" to assist the businesses. Wong admitted that no all team members are legal professionals.

Yuen Long District Council chairman and Hong Kong Legislative Councilor Leung Che-cheung said that the police has promised to send several hundred police officers to maintain order, and he is confident that the police can control the situation. However, Leung criticized the police for permitting the demonstration to take place because traffic will surely be paralyzed in the surrounding area. Leung recommends that any business that gets blockaded should immediately lower the gates, and the "Legal Advisor Team" will take videos to sue for civil damages. Leung said that he was unaware of the rumor that the demonstrators will be met with a feces attack.

(Oriental Daily) February 28, 2015.

Previously the villagers in the six Yuen Long villages and four North District villages were going to hire ten tourist buses to carry villagers to the demonstration sites to "maintain order." "We will use violence to stop the violence. We will beat the troublemakers as if they are ISIS." But the action has now be called off. According to Eighteen Village Affairs Committee chairman Leung Fuk-yuen, the police have issued a non-objection letter to the demonstrators, so that villagers may be arrested for interference. But some villagers said at the committee meeting: "When I go out there, I expect to fight and be arrested by the police." But the committee decided that having a large number of villagers rushing into town centre would cause chaos, and therefore they called offthe "marshals." Heung Yee Kuk chairman Lau Wong-fat also told them not to take action. However, Leung said that individual villagers may still be concerned and show up on their own.

(Oriental Daily) February 28, 2015.

Given that some organizations will he holding a "Reclaim Yuen Long" action tomorrow, the police have moved more than 30 metal barricades outside the Long Ping West Rail station. Because of the Lunar New Year, there were very new parallel traders out there today. At the cross-border bus stop, there were must a dozen or so passengers on line.

According to Mr. Chan at a Yau Sun Street pharmacy, the police notified him that there will be a demonstration tomorrow. His boss has instructed him to lower the gates immediately if demonstrators charge inside the store. Mr. Chan said that tomorrow is the wrong time because parallel traders won't show up for the first 15 days of the Lunar New Year. Mr. Chan said that the many parallel traders are affecting the lives of Yuen Long residents, but he hopes that the demonstrators won't target all mainland tourists.

According to Mr. Lee who operates a dried goods store on Sau Fu Street, he will be putting the more valuable goods such as dried scallops and oysters inside instead of outside in case the demonstrators want to damage his property. He said that although the number of mainland tourists has increased in recent years, it did not help his business even as the rent kept going up. He called for both the demonstrators and the Yuen Long residents to exercise restraint.

(Oriental Daily) March 1, 2015.

At 2pm, about 80 Civic Passion members were at the Long Ping West Rail station. Most of them wore yellow-colored clothes, some of them wearing surgical masks and using cameras to record videos. Included is The French Guy, who was suspected of breaking into the Legislative Council building.

Captain America also showed up in full armor, including helmet, goggles, armor plate, knee guards, elbow guards and gloves. He said that he wanted to participate in the march, but he got off at Yuen Long Station instead of the Long Ping Station. But as soon as he stepped out on the platform, he was attacked by three middle-aged men without cause. Eventually he arrived at Long Ping station. He said that the full armor was used to protect himself and that he did not intend to attack other persons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfEXICLs2Z0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P0Qvk35IEw

(Oriental Daily) March 1, 2015.

About 100 Civic Passion members arrived outside the Long Ping West Rail station and were met by several dozen Yuen Long villagers who told the visitors that they are not welcome. The Civic Passion leader used the megaphone to explain the purpose of the demonstration. But the residents shouted for them to go away and thus stopped the speech. The police told the two sides to clear the sidewalk. The villagers continued to yell, "Hot dogs (=Civic Passion") drop dead" and refused to leave.

(Oriental Daily) March 1, 2015.

Civic Passion member Cheng Chung-tai said that they same prepared today with umbrellas, water and cleansing agents to defend against the rumored feces attack. Another Civic Passion member said that the demonstration's purpose was to stop the multiple-entry visas for mainlanders. [Note: The demonstrators followed their leader to chant "Down with the Communists!" and that is at a different level from stopping parallel traders.]

(Oriental Daily) March 1, 2015.

Even before the demonstrators reached Sau Fu Street, about one-third to one-half of the shops have already lowered their gates in preventative mode.

(Oriental Daily) March 1, 2015.

On Sau Fu Street, local storekeepers faced off against Hong Kong Indigenous members. At least ten stores including Maxim's are already shuttered. The "high-risk target" of Infant Formula Wholesale City has used bicycle chains to lock its glass entrance and there are several policemen posted inside the wtore.

(Oriental Daily) March 1, 2015.

About 200 demonstrators faced off against Yuen Long residents on Sau Fu Street. The two sides shouted at each other. A resident alleged swung his fist and was chased by demonstrators. The police used batons to disperse the crowd and took 3 individuals away. Both demonstrators and residents were dissatisfied with the police action. At this point, about 60% of the shops on Sau Fu Street are shuttered. Meanwhile On Ning Road is completely "occupied" 30 minutes ago already as cars cannot enter Sau Fu Street.

(Apple Daily with video) March 1, 2015.

At around 4:10pm, a driver drew his car into Sau Fu Street. He got into arguments with demonstrators, some of whom banged on his car. The driver said: "Go away! Do you think this is Mong Kok?" The car eventually left under police escort.

(Oriental Daily) March 1, 2015

Hong Kong Indigenous has just announced that they are dissolving the action today. When the group reached Kiu Sau Path, they were repeatedly attacked and the police were unable to protect them. During the procession, there was repeated physical clashes and fights. The demonstrators kept provoking the residents wherever they went.

(Oriental Daily) March 1, 2015.

There were multiple clashes between demonstrators and residents. The police used pepper spray at least twice. On Sau Fu Street, demonstrators charged from the sidewalk onto the roadway and were tackled by the police. Residents threw water bottles at the demonstrators and told the police to "beat them up." Demonstrators tossed water bottles back. The police arrested four demonstrators.

(Oriental Daily) March 1, 2015.

During the chaos, a middle-aged man allegedly molested a female passerby. He was surrounded by a large number of people and then the police came to take him away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSb3MLMTi3c Police take statements from alleged molester and victim.

(Oriental Daily including video) March 1, 2015.

On Sau Fu Street, a group of anti-demonstration Yuen Long residents objected to the presence of demonstrators in their midst and asked them to leave. But these demonstrators responded by raising yellow umbrellas. The police attempted to separate the two groups, and there was a three-way physical clash.

When a police officer attempted to arrest a 13-year-old boy, a 20-year-old man attempted to intervene. That man was arrested, and his 28-year-old girlfriend attempted to free him. In the chaos, she feel down on the ground and began bleeding. She has been charged with interfering with the police in the line of duty.

[The initial story was that some people tried to leave the sidewalk to occupy the roadway. Among them was this woman who claimed to have dropped her mobile phone on the roadway and wanted to retrieve it. The police allegedly tackled and injured her.]

(Apple Daily) March 1, 2015.

On Sau Fu Street, the police used pepper spray twice. Demonstrators used umbrellas to ward off the spray. In the chaos, a man and a woman were held down on the ground by seven to eight police officers. The man resisted and said: "Hey, I was just walking by. What are you doing?" The woman was bleeding profusely in the mouth and looked to be in pain. The police went up and offered her paper towels. Then they took her away for treatment.

[Note: The clearest video so far is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9xWwltW6Y8. It looks like the boyfriend pulled the woman towards him, she tripped on a metal ladder and fell down on the concrete. However, this video from dbc radio was edited. There were many other cameras around, but those people are not sharing their films or eyewitness testimonies.]

(Sing Tao) March 3, 2015.

36 men and 2 women were arrested, their ages range between 13 to 74 years old. The youngest is the 13-year-old boy named who is Secondary School Form 2 in the Hung Hom district. He lives with his parents and a younger brother. On his Facebook, he says that he gets along with his family, and his hobby is Internet games. Recently, he has been active in social movements. Earlier Chu had been arrested for assaulting the police, public disorderly conduct and interfering with police in the line of duty, and is under investigation. When he was arrested on Sunday for assaulting the police, he stuck to a bad attitude down at the police station, and asked impatiently when he can be bailed out.

The 28-year-old "Bleeding Mouth" girl named Ng is a friend of 13-year-old Chu. She, her 20-year-old boyfriend named Kwong and Chu participated in the "Reclaim Yuen Long" movement. On her Facebook, she expressed support for the Umbrella Movement and is politically engaged.

In addition, the police found a number of weapons on two men. On the 33-year-old man named Chan were 5 DIY pepper-oil sprays and a switchblade knife. At the time, Chan was wearing body armor. Chan is unemployed and has a prior record for manufacturing explosives and smuggling cigarettes. He has previously engaged in social movements, including Occupy Admiralty and Occupy Mong Kok. He was a volunteer at the medical aid station in Admiralty, where he posed with his full body armor for a photo. The police searched Chan's apartment and found three DIY police batons with electrical wires.

On the 29-year-old construction worker named Cheng were found a large hot oil spray can and a boxcutter. Cheng is a Yellow Ribbon activist. He said that likes to ride motorcycles and play paintball games. He has many photos showing himself holding rifles.

(Oriental Daily) March 1, 2015.

"Reclaim Yuen Long" was meant to be a demonstration against parallel trading and multiple-entry visas for mainlanders, but it turned into Occupy Yuen Long! The founder Wong Yeung-tat of the organizer Civic Passion issued an apology on his Facebook about his deep reflections on the problems that occur when an organization becomes too big. He wrote: "Sorry, I failed in my leadership. Today, Civic Passion performed poorly. Tomorrow I will solemnly apologize to everybody during my program." But Wong did not explain in what way was Civic Passion's performance so bad. Some Internet users wondered: "Did they perform poorly because they stood on the sidewalk instead of the middle of the roadway?" Others noted that he did not show up in person today and wondered if he controlled everything by phone. Wong replied: "When an organization gets too big, it becomes rigid. We are no exception. We must reflect on this deeply." He also emphasized: "I commanded everything that Civic Passion does. It is my responsibility. I am the commander of a large army!"

(Oriental Daily) March 1, 2015.

After dark, the Reclaim Yuen Long movement turned to guerilla warfare. Several dozen demonstrators walked along Yuen Long Main Road to Kau Yuk Road. They stepped on the roadway and paralyzed vehicular traffic. The demonstrators chanted "We don't want locusts." The demonstrators then proceeded to Kong Lok Road, and two-way vehicular traffic was paralyzed. A pharmacy immediately removed its display wares and lowered the gates. The demonstrators called the workers "traitors".

(Oriental Daily) March 1, 2015.

At around 8pm, the demonstrators returned to the Yuen Long Main Road and blocked vehicular traffic in one direction. The police came, but the demonstrators taunted them. The police arrested several individuals, which caused the rest of the demonstrators to charge onto the road. Some police officer took out their police batons and arrested more demonstrators. They told the demonstrators to get back onto the sidewalk.

(SCMP) Arrests and pepper spray as scuffles break out at Yuen Long protest. March 1, 2015.

Chaotic scenes hit the narrow streets of Yuen Long on Sunday as clashes marred the latest protest against mainland traders – but police fears of a violent counter-protest involving triads proved unfounded.

Police used pepper spray to break up clashes as the 200 or so protesters and opponents exchanged foul-mouthed insults as they marched from Long Ping MTR station to Sau Fu Street, where a cluster of shops serve mainland buyers.

Disputes yesterday occasionally escalated, and police moved in with pepper spray. Several reporters were also sprayed, while one photographer received a wound to his chest. Police arrested 33 people, aged 13 to 74, for offences including possession of weapons, common assault and assaulting police. Further arrests could follow, the force said. Five officers received treatment in hospital for minor limb injuries.

The protesters, most in their 20s and 30s, chanted “go home and buy mainland products!” while opponents cried “no one welcomes you guys, go home!”

Residents appeared divided. Some sympathised with the protesters, who say parallel traders overcrowd towns and edge out stores that serve locals. Others felt the traders brought economic benefits while the protesters were the ones causing disruption. “Many of those rural gentry are landlords of those shops [that target mainlanders],” said one woman, a law student, referring to rural leaders who led opposition to the protest. But the owner of a hair salon said he had to close his doors, adding: “Protests like this will only make things worse.”

About 30 protesters from Hong Kong Indigenous  – formed by people involved in last year’s Occupy pro-democracy movement and which joined last month’s protests – wore armour under their jackets. “This [armour] is purely for self-defence. We’ll separate the conflicting parties should anything happen,” said spokesman Ray Wong Toi-Yeung, 22. Wong asked protesters to disperse at about 4pm and not crowd the town’s main road. Some, however, took that as a signal to do the opposite. Traffic was briefly disrupted on Castle Peak Road,  and groups of protesters were still in the town by 10pm.

(Wen Wei Po) March 2, 2015.

The "Reclaim Yuen Long" was originally proposed by spokesperson Leung Kam-fat of the North District Parallel Traders Concern Group. But the country squires responded that they will retaliate. Leung determined that he did not have the numbers so he asked the radical parties for help. As the leading radical party, Civic Passion agreed along with their allies Hong Kong Indigenous and the Phoenix/Dragon/Lion Group. Members of the foul-mouthed Orchid Group, Student Frontline and Chinese University Indigenous Study Group were also spotted among the demonstrators.

According to an informed source, the radical parties put in all-out effort. From Civic Party, only their leaders Raymond Wong Yuk-man and Wong Yeung-tat were absent but every other key member (such as Cheng Chung-tai, the French Guy and Brother Joey) was present.

Around 3pm, almost 100 persons assembled near the Long Ping West Rail station and proceeded towards the town centre. The route was monitored by the police. Many Yuen Long residents blocked their progress and cursed them out. Therefore the procession moved along very slowly. Normally it takes only 20 minutes to reach Sau Fu Street. On this day, it took one full hour. Almost everybody wore surgical masks to avoid recognition except their leaders (Cheng Chung-tai, the French Guy and Brother Joey) who are too well-known. They used a megaphone to chant slogans along the way.

At around 4pm, Civic Passion and Hong Kong Indigenous who had previously received the no-objection letter from the police for the march unexpectedly declared the event has been concluded. They said that people can continue with the Shopping Revolution on their own. According to an informed source, the organizers did not want to be arrested by the police or attacked by the village residents. But this is tantamount to selling out all those who heeded their call and came out. After the organizers left the scene, the remaining collection of people roamed around like headless flies.

After Civic Passion made the announcement, several dozen members in yellow clothing walked quickly to the Long Ping West Rail station. But our reporter observed that they didn't use any Octopus card to enter. Instead, they queued up and paid for single trip tickets by cash. Using Octopus card be evidence for the police to charge them will unlawful assembly.

(Sina.com.hk) March 2, 2015.

According to the Internet website Polymer, its reporter was standing on the curb filming when he was threatened by a plainclothes police woman. She said that this was not a demonstration and that the reporter was interfering with police business. The reporter stepped back on the sidewalk. But the policewoman saw that the reporter was still filming. So she said that she wanted to inspect his Hong Kong ID because he was blocking traffic. Our reporter thought that the police action was regrettable and therefore posted the video segment on the Internet https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=641642829296250.

In the video, the policewoman told the reporter that he is obstructing traffic and must move away. She told him that if he continues to stand there, he will be arrested. Finally she loses patience and demands to see his ID. He tells her to wait a minute as he keeps filming and demanding that she provide a reason for seeing his ID.

Internet comment: "Actually you are required to produce your proof of identity (i.e. your identity card) on demand by a police officer under Section 17C(2) of the Immigration Ordinance whether there is any reason or not!! So stop demanding a police officer to give you a reason if he demands you to produce your ID card or you will only show your ignorance of the law."

Internet users found out that this policewoman Kwan Wang-shan was featured in the Hong Kong People Hong Kong Police promotional film last year. They posted her full name, her office address, telephone and fax numbers, her email address, her home address, her secondary school photos, etc on the Internet.

(Post852) March 2, 2015.

With respect to the events yesterday, Civic Passion leader Wong Yeung-tat explained on this morning's program <Good morning, Greater Hong Kong> that there were problems with the arrangements. The leaders including Cheng Chung-tai, The French Guy and Brother Joey rigidly stuck to team formation without any flexibility. Even as Cheng Chung-tai was speaking to the press, there were clashes at the back but nobody went over to help. Wong thought that this was unacceptable. He said that the obsession with team formation was too rigid, the field command was poor, "zero adaptability", "just fucking march and fucking yell" with nothing accomplished. Wong also said that he bore the greatest responsibility because he had not explained the arrangements beforehand. He said that he did not attend yesterday because an organization should not rely on him alone.

(Apple Daily) March 2, 2015.

The Student Front organization announced yesterday that it is officially disbanding. The notice said that there are many action-oriented organizations in Hong Kong, many of which have more resources than Student Front. Since Student Front members tend to be conservative, low-keyed and secretive in order to protect their actions and members, it was hard for the organization to seek exposure. The organization is disbanding now so that its members can go back to be ordinary activists.

Core member "Four-eyed Brother" Cheng Kam-moon said on his Facebook: "Today, I hope that everybody shouldn't keep faith with 'student organizations' which use their student status and aura to call the people of Hong Kong to resist. In the end, I respect each comrade in Student Front as a resister. I saw what all of you paid on the road of resistance. I hope that you won't spread stories about internal squabbles and power struggles. If you have time, you should do practical things and serve different functions in different positions in the resistance."

During the Occupy Movement, Student Front advocated "using force to stop tyranny" and opposed the Grand Stage system of the Federation of Students/Scholarism. Cheng Kam-moon said that he was not opposed to the two student organizations and he wanted only to have a 'Valiant' organization to fight along their sides.

(Oriental Daily) March 2, 2015.

The original TVB report was: http://news.tvb.com/local/54f2ee116db28cc31a000004 A police officer working as media liaison was surrounded and punched by demonstrators. When police officers came to support, their pepper spray caught this unlucky police officer as well. This police officer was called 'unlucky.'

The true story has come out now. Upon reviewing the video, we saw that the police officer tried to leave but he was cornered by many masked men who punched his face multiple time. Nevertheless he kept his eyes open and tried to avoid the punches. Suddenly a right hand holding an object appeared on the scene, reached the left side of the left eye of the police officer and pressed the thumb down. The police officer immediately closed his eyes in pain and dropped down to a half-kneeling position. By this time uniformed police officers arrived at the scene and applied pepper spray to the crowd of demonstrators. Due to the timing coincidence, it would appear that the police officers sprayed their own man by mistake.

Our photographer filmed the police officer afterwards with a can of Rexona Men's Deodorant spray on the ground, next to a pair of goggles and a foldable umbrella. It is speculated that the perpetrator left his tools behind afterwards because he did not want to found with them in case the police stops him. This police officer said afterwards that he was sprayed with a strong menthol-flavored liquid which caused pain in his eyes and that was definitely not the pepper spray used by the police.

(The Standard) March 3, 2015.

Officers were forced to use pepper spray and batons during the protests in Yuen Long after demonstrators refused to heed repeated warnings, police said.  Thirty-eight people aged 13 to 74, including two women, were arrested on Sunday for common assault, assaulting police, possessing offensive weapons and obstructing officers from carrying out their duties. Ten officers were among those injured. Police also displayed the weapons they seized, which included a homemade pepper spray. Others are knives, box cutters, screwdrivers, protective pads, goggles, self-made shields and batons, a bottle of inflammable liquid and sulfur powder.

Yuen Long deputy district commander Kerry Carew said that after protesters caused disturbances to shops and road users, police gave repeated advice and warnings including displaying banners to appeal to them to express their views in a peaceful and rational manner. "But they refused to comply and charged police lines," he said. "To ensure public safety and public order, police took resolute action by using the minimal level of force, including using pepper spray and batons, to stop the unlawful, violent acts." Police have not ruled out further arrests.

Yuen Long assistant district commander Ngai Chi-shung said a spray seized from a protester appeared to contain chili oil. "We need to conduct tests to see if the ingredients are harmful or not," Ngai said.

Among those arrested were a 13-year-old student accused of assaulting an officer and a young woman who tried to stop police from arresting the boy. Most of those arrested do not live in Yuen Long.

Leung Kam-shing, a spokesman for the North District Parallel Imports Concern Group, said the scuffle between protesters mainly from Civic Passion and Hong Kong Indigenous and anti-protest groups broke out after they were provoked by the pro-establishment Voice of Loving Hong Kong. Patrick Ko Tat-bun, convener of Voice of Loving Hong Kong, denied that they had provoked the protesters.

The protest was the third in a month to target parallel traders who buy goods in Hong Kong to sell across the border. Demonstrations in Tuen Mun and Sha Tin were also violent.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAESPkbJqVk (INT News Channel) Part 1 (14:32) Preliminaries. Some uncles delivering speeches on Chinese history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zik6vpG7GM (INT News Channel) Part 2 (14:47): Assemble and start out. They encounter shouting from opponents: "Hot dogs drop dead soon" and "Go away quickly."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pVsco8cLPY (INT Nes Channel) Part 3 (15:11) Quarrel with opponents. A woman tried to seize a Hong Kong independence flag (=British Dragon/Lion flag with the Queen's Crown now replaced by a phoenix rising from the ashes).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uMmRF9454g (INT News Channel) Part 4 (15:47): Demonstration march down On Ning Road.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxCEfQm9c2I (INT News Channel) Part 5 (15:52): Sau Fu Street. Police used pepper spray. Multiple arrests by the police.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffG3dlMwwws (SocREC) A collection of videos at various points.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SSfXL62lwY (SocREC) Conflict at McDonald's. The restaurant ousted 200 unhappy customers and closed the door.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4at5b_WDDI (SocREC) The police remove two fighting men.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBzg2JTZlao (SocREC) A citizen deliberately fell down as if he was hit. He was taken away by the police.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBkuOfdSOcE (SocREC) A police inspector looks to arrest someone by himself. Then other police officers arrive to support him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRqAV-V57ds (dbc) Police arrest someone. Then another man came up and began a rambling rant. The policeman kept asking: "What are you saying? What are you saying?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9xWwltW6Y8  (dbc) Detailed analysis of the case of the "Nosebleed Girl"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7KSW7A-nQY (dbc) ATV reports cops pepper spray from the police
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-UgXsxsM_8 (dbc) The police make arrests.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FUX7VM0a2k (RFA Cantonese)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBgp2gqQqTM (Passion Times) Citizens tell Civic Passion that they are useless because they needed their much despised police to protect them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQixhkcCnlA (Passion Times) A woman claiming to be a Yuen Long resident speaking to the press to say that they can take care of their own affairs and that the police should not be protecting Civic Passion. She said that Civic Passion did not come to stop parallel traders, but instead they want to stop all mainland tourists and destroy Hong Kong's economy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFUdH-jV7co (Passion Times) Brawl on Yuen Long Main Road

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVbYjE0lAw8&feature=youtu.be (Protest Times) Big brawl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVbYjE0lAw8&feature=youtu.be (Protest Times) Police arrest someone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD87rML-ek8 (Epoch Times) Yellow paint bombs from the demonstrators hit many persons, including the police

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT1wwBZOzFg (Epoch Times) "Nose bleed" girl is escorted away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aoscTl_1jU (Epoch Times) A man climbs up a lamppost. What for?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb3VVZ3lUu0 (Bastille Post) A pedestrian claims to have been assaulted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Qbj4tibog (RT) Raw footage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meceN6Cm0T4 (WarmWaterFrog) Citizens telling the Hot Dogs (=Civic Passion) to go away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ennhC7gvze0 (WarmWaterFrog)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzS1q3PJrYc (WarmWaterFrog) Action inside McDonald's.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3baaQhcWE (WarmWaterFrog) How a demonstration turned into Occupy Yuen Long with people throwing obstacles to stop vehicular traffic.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=949796238364969 (Hong Kong Hermit) Analysis of the arrest of the 13-year-old boy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kgHmJDHqus (Hong Kong Hermit) Compilation of various incidents throughout the day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxmWTgoWuCo (Apple Daily) Street fighting men. Note the man in green and the man in red in the beginning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b44tidjO3A (Apple Daily) The mother-daughter is titled "Anti-parallel trading became IS, no apologies after harassing a child?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iTgraCrQfc&feature=youtu.be (Galsound) Street fighting men in Long Ping in front of a rural house. Three Blue Ribbons versus one Yellow Ribbon until the country squires joined in. The cameraman told them to stop, but a country auntie said, "What is it to you that they are fucking fighting?" When the police came, both sides said the other guys started the fight. The country squires said that they knew neither party.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfuetfHwjSM (Chan Robert) A compilation.

http://news.tvb.com/local/54f2ee116db28cc31a000004 (TVB) A police officer working as media liaison was surrounded and punched by demonstrators. When police officers came to support, their pepper spray caught this unlucky police officer as well.

Internet comments:

- The Hot Dogs shouted the slogans of "Oppose parallel goods trading!" "Oppose handcarts!" "Oppose multiple-entry permits!" Handcarts? If they go to the Hong Kong International Airport arrival lobby, they will see tens of thousands of Hongkongers coming back from overseas as well international visitors with handcarts in tow on every day of the year. Why don't you stop them first before they could cause mortal dangers to other Hongkongers with those handcarts?

- At 4pm, the cowards known as Hong Kong Indigenous announced that they were calling off the action. But they added that anything else that happens afterwards will be the result of spontaneous actions by citizens for which their organization is not responsible. Chickenhawks! They're just too afraid that the police will hold them responsible.
Also, they advertised themselves being the Valiant Warriors who will lead Hongkongers towards a new and independent Hong Kong City-State. On this day, they gave up after being confronted by a few uncles and grandpas with either balding heads or funny hairdos/toupees. Part of their problem was that they had their own demonstration march route which is different from the larger Civic Passion contingent. This meant that they had to walk down the gauntlet with just a dozen or so members. They were outnumbered and became easy targets. So they blamed the Evil Police for not protecting them.

- If the main goal is to cancel multiple-entry visit permits, then they should be protesting in front of Government Headquarters or Legislative Council. In Yuen Long, the pharmacies are properly licensed businesses in accordance with the law. They pay their rents, they pay their workers and they pay their taxes. It is wrong to think that you can get rid of these pharmacies by a brute show of force. If brute force works, it will be easy for anyone to hire a couple hundred of actors a day to achieve anything that they want (e.g. close Disneyland/Ocean Park; close Ngong Ping 360; close the Hong Kong International Airport; etc).

- This was a very disappointing outcome. I was expecting to see feces and urine being dumped on the demonstrators. Or at a minimum, I want to see a mass brawl involving hundreds of people. I waited all day and almost nothing happened. In the end, the Hot Dogs moved to an isolated area, gave self-congratulatory speeches to the media, took off their yellow shirts and dispersed. It was not worth the wait.

- Let us compare two situations. Case 1: Yuen Long is supposedly being overrun by mainlander parallel traders who use up all their resources. But the Yuen Long shopkeepers continue to open their doors and do business every day. Case 2: Yuen Long is going to be liberated by Civic Passion/Hong Kong Indigenous, who will solve the parallel trader problem. But the Yuen Long shopkeepers (including McDonald's, Sasa, etc) lowered their gates quickly when these guys appear. Who are the Yuen Long shopkeepers more worried about? Who do they wish would just go away?

- (Oriental Daily) October 7, 2014. About a dozen Chinese University of Hong Kong students gathered outside the University Station MTR exit. They knelt down in a row with the banner: "We are forced to disrupt people's livelihoods only because the people can't make a living anyway."

Well, on this day, the reason why the Sau Fu Street shopkeepers couldn't make a living was precisely because demonstrators scared them into shuttering their shops. And while they are closed, they can't earn a cent. It's a tough to live in a time of chaos (thanks to CUHK students and their ilk).

- HKG Pao poster

We are forced to use iPhone
We are forced to eat buffet
We are forced to wear Nike
We are forced to carry Gucci
We are forced to play PS4
It is impossible to make a living in Hong Kong
This the reason why we have to disrupt people's livelihoods

- This whole thing is about releasing anger. The demonstrators are malcontents who want to express their dissatisfaction. They can't tell who a parallel trader is, so they scream at anyone that they don't like. But on this day, they got their comeuppance. Instead of the mild-mannered professionals in Admiralty or the middle-class female shoppers in Causeway Bay, they run up against authentic Hong Kong aborigines. They talk tough, but the aborigines talk even tougher. The aborigines have a simple message: "Who are you people? You don't even live here. You're outsiders. Why are you trying to solve what you think are our problems? We don't want your kind here. Go away!" The demonstrators don't dare to start a fight because they know that the other side is even tougher, with rumors of triad violence motored by feces/urine bombs. So they roam around Yuen Long in frustration afterwards, throwing obstacles in the streets, blocking the roads and screaming at outnumbered pharmacy workers. This was a horror show that highlights their worst behavior.

- The action during the day led nowhere. So after it got dark, the demonstrators took to Occupy tactics. They blocked vehicular traffic in mobile fashion temporarily. What does that accomplish? They forced the police to race over to the location to clear the site and arrest some of the miscreants. They annoyed the hell out of local drivers who were trapped. They caused a number of businesses to lose most of their sales income for the day (for example, there was a television interview with a fashion clothing store owner who said that her sales total for the day was a goose egg). So this is mobile Occupy. You hurt citizens and businesses without making an inch of progress towards your stated goal (stop parallel trading; genuine universal suffrage; overthrow the Communists, etc). And you couldn't occupy Yuen Long Main Road for more than 3 minutes.

- I've watched so many videos taken the scene. Here is one example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3Ba5Lgtnyk that I have watched three times. I was trying to divine the meaning of the entire action. Sorry, I can't see anything. What is the point? You jostle, you yell and then you look around to see where the action is.

- The Umbrella Revolution has been going on since September 2014. Here are the various phases:
(I) Occupy Central (=Occupy Admiralty; Occupy Causeway Bay; Occupy Mong Kok; Occupy Tsim Sha Tsui) for genuine universal suffrage in accordance with international standards;
(II) Shopping Revolution in Mong Kok with nightly shopping trips up and down Sai Yeung Choi Street South (Mong Kok) after the stores are closed;
(III) Hong Kong independence activities;
(IV) Oppose parallel trading (which really includes oppose mainlander parallel trading; oppose multiple-entry Individual Permit System for mainlanders; oppose pharmacies, jewelry stores, cosmetics stores, discount stores; oppose mainlander tourists; overthrow the Chinese Communists).
So far, nothing has been achieved on any front. What next? Vindicate June 4th 1989?

- Next target?
Kwun Tong? Not if Wong Yeung-tat (Civic Passion) wants to run for District Council in Kwun Tong or Legislative Council in Kowloon East.
Tseung Kwan O? Large population, many housing estates and shopping malls, but too faraway for parallel traders to be working there.
...
Really, there are no obvious targets left. Recycling Tuen Mun or Sha Tin is not creative. Next time, the locals may not take it kindly either.

- Here is the Oriental Daily front page story for the morning after:

Using anti-parallel traders as pretext
Promoting Hong Kong independence and causing chaos in Yuen Long
Raising the Phoenix/Dragon/Lion flag, demonstrators provoke clashes

- Watch the videos: there were three groups of demonstrators.
The first group are Civic Passion people wearing yellow shirts. Their goal is to advance their political position among the radicals in the population at the expense of those other political parties that were absent today (such as People Power and the League of Social Democrats). They chant "Down with the Chinese Communists!"
The second group are Hong Kong Indigenous people wearing blue shirts. Their goal is Hong Kong independence. They carry the Phoenix/Dragon/Lion flag.
The third group is led by guys wearing black clothing and surgical masks. These are the original Occupy Central people who usually lead the charge, tell others to occupy and quickly vanish before the police show up for the others to be clobbered and arrested by the police. Late in the evening, these are the men in black who led the occupation of Yuen Long Main Road. The tactic is distinctly Occupy, in its methods (e.g. throwing bus signs onto the roadway) and result (i.e., nothing accomplished). Their goal is to be destructive. The lesson from Occupy Central is that you should decide whether you want to be associated with these people or not, because all their bad deeds will stick onto you.

- Noted in passing: The police reported that 27 of the 32 charged with offenses during the Yuen Long demonstration were not Yuen Long residents. That was expected, because the whole exercise wasn't about fighting on behalf of the Yuen Long people but for the media exposure of outsiders for political gains.

- Police exhibited the weapons confiscated, such DIY pepper spray using hot oil.

- Here is a piece of sophistry from a university lecturer:

(Passion Times) March 3, 2015.

... Cheng Chung-tai (Civic Passion) pointed out that the demonstration march was obstructed by the police so that the demonstrators were stuck together for long periods of time on congested roadways. This affected certain local residents and small stores. Therefore Cheng wanted to apologize to them. But mainly he wanted to apologize to the demonstrators. Was it because they weren't radical enough? Cheng said that may be true, because the purpose of the demonstration march was to express their demands and therefore they shouldn't disband immediately after they finished marching.

When asked why a demonstration march would not suffice for expressing their demands and that only a physical clash is acceptable, Cheng said that Yuen Long and Sheung Shui are presently flooded with parallel traders and therefore local residents are already affected in their daily lives. Therefore, the economic losses of the small businesses should not be attributed to the demonstrations, because there is chaos already.

He said that the chaos during the demonstration was caused by the police who did not make effective arrangements for the demonstrators to express their demands. The demonstrators are victims of the system, and therefore the responsibility for any chaos should not fall on the victims. He said that the police allowed certain pro-establishment Blue Ribbons and Love-organization members to provoke the demonstrators and that was what created the chaos. In truth, the demonstrators were very restrained, or else more extreme situations would have arisen. The degree of intensity in Hong Kong demonstrations is not comparable to international standards.

Cheng said that the comparison of this demonstration with previous ones should not be on the intensity. Instead, it is about citizens becoming aware that they need to come out to defend their own communities without blindly obeying to what certain political organizations command them to do. He believes that more people will take to the streets spontaneously. He said that Civic Passion is only one of the organizers, and their goal is to call on more people to take to the streets to defend their own rights ...

This is a piece of rubbish because what really happened was this: The local residents of Yuen Long came out to defend their own interests against a bunch of outsiders who came to create chaos in their community. Please re-read what Cheng said. Cheng possesses zero self-awareness of the irony of his own arguments.

Consider the case of the shop owner who says his normal take was $12,000 for a Sunday, but has made less than $3,000 so far that day. When this shop owner thinks about the $12,000 that he made last week when parallel traders were running wild on the street and then the $3,000 that he made this week when there are hundreds of demonstrators outside his front door, what is his logical conclusion? Who caused him to lose $9,000? If he should complain about the missing $9,000, he would be told that he is being selfish because the whole thing was about the greater good over the long term. Of course, that is unprovable and untestable. This is that pie in the sky. If democracy comes, we will live happily forever afterwards ...

But at least Cheng recognizes that Hong Kong does not meet international standards on demonstration intensity (see, for example, Kiev fire bombs or Kiev demonstrators charge into government building) or police brutality (see LAPD shooting on March 1st, 2015)

Related link: Occupy Yuen Long - The Pre-game Show

• [170] The Hong Kong Welfare City-State (2015/02/28)

(SCMP)

Sweeteners totalling HK$6.6 billion have been announced in the 2015 budget – a jump of nearly 80 per cent on last year’s figure – which will favour the worse-off members of the population.

Among the additional government expenses, HK$5.5 billion will go towards an extra two months’ worth of allowances for recipients of  CSSA, Old Age Allowance (fruit money), Old Age Living Allowance and Disability Allowance. A month’s rent will be waived for low income tenants living in rental public units, prompting an expenditure of HK$1.1 billion.

Altogether, these items will cost the government 78 per cent more than the HK$3.7 billion earmarked last year.

(Oriental Daily) A Facebook manual on how to apply for CSSA (Comprehensive Social Security Assistance):

Step 1: Break all family relationships
Because the application is based on the family unit, you must break all family relationships. If you want a good living, you must disown your parents, siblings and children! Of course, you need to contact them first to document the fact, such as obtaining your mother's statement that she is no longer supporting you and you tell the Social Welfare Department folks that you have to move out to a $1,500 month tomb-like room for that reason. Please remember that your rented room must cost less than the maximum rent subsidy.
Why won't you apply along with your family? Because it is hard to reach consensus, because some of those old eggheads may act as if they have backbones. Besides, the per capita payment will be less with a larger family. If your mother, your father, your sister and you split up, you will be receiving four separate welfare payments!

Step 2: Resign from your job
As everybody knows, CSSA (Comprehensive Social Security Assistance) has an income test. Before you apply, you must resign from your job. Retire now and don't even think more about it. You are going to get money for doing nothing, so why work anymore? For pride? Nobody believes that anymore! Getting your boss to add the comment "unable to complete the work due to defective mental capacity" would be even better!

Step 3: Wipe your records clean
CSSA also has an asset test! So you should put aside your bank accounts, stocks, foreign currency, gold and anything else. Do not apply until you have done so! You may not know how to make money, but you surely must know how to hide away your assets. You don't need me to teach you that! Please remember that you must not give your assets away to your relatives or friends, because the Social Welfare Department will count all gifts within the last three years. If you own any real estate, let them go too. You should put up with short-term losses compared to the long-term gains.

Step 4: Prepare for the home visit
You can now file an application with the Social Welfare Department. They will visit you at home. Put away your PS4, Gundams and butter. If you must have a computer at home, please find a Pentium 3 machine from somewhere. If you have done Steps 1-3, you are basically ready! If you want to make sure, you refer to 'butter' as 'beef' as if you have never heard of it.

Step 5: Your benefits
Congratulations! Your application has been approved and you are eligible for the basic $2,070 monthly payment. This is supposed to cover food, telecommunications, water, gas and electricity. This is going to be tough, but if you can have a few more children, you will have a lot more subsidies. Of course, you just hand the children off for relatives to take care off!

You will receive a maximum rent subsidy of $1,500. You won't be able to rent anything with so little money. So you need to sleep in the street for a few days and tell the Social Welfare Department about it so that they can move you ahead for public housing eligibility.

As for medical coverage, you don't have to spend a cent if you are on CSSA. Some of my welfare recipient friends even get prescriptions and sell them to pharmacies. You do that every day of the month and you make enough to buy an iPhone6 already. You may even consider breaking your arm or leg, for which you get $1,950 per month for 50% disability and another $500 for 100% disability. If you need constant care, you can as much as $3,515 in subsidies.

Step 6: Getting a job afterwards
Although you are now living well, the Social Welfare Department will demand health young people to go find a job or enter some kind of training program. They will set a plan up for you to get a job, and they will check how you did. At this time, your former boss' letter will come in handy! "Unable to complete the work due to defective mental capacity" will cause the Social Welfare Department to recommend you to see a psychologist (who could be as pretty as psychologist Kelly Chan in the movie Infernal Affairs). If you are unlucky that you actually get a job, the Social Welfare Department will withhold your pay. It is up to you to decide whether you want to live in heaven or hell.

As a reminder, a welfare recipient cannot leave Hong Kong for more than 56 days per year. So you probably can't visit Europe more than 5 times a year.

(Headline Daily) February 27, 2015. By Ricky Wong.

I was dining with a government official a few days ago. He was pessimistic about the future of Hong Kong but I took the opposite view of great optimism. Yesterday, I listened to Financial Secretary John Tsang on radio about the new budget. I was sad to hear what some callers said to the radio host. These people think that they can just sit at home and the government is obliged to provide them with benefits including cheap housing, transport subsidies, electricity subsidies, providing for their parents ... all the audience members thought that government should shower more benefits.

I don't know if the radio station was screening the callers or whether these callers represent majority opinion. Some caller could not understand why the textbook subsidies were no longer available. Some people got real estate tax rebates, but non-homeowners receive nothing. Some people noted that there is child exemption, but no parent exemption. It is discouraging to listen on, because these people clearly don't realize that these benefits came from the corporate taxes and salary taxes that hard-working people earned and paid. Obviously, we should be helping certain needy people to maintain the most basic living standards. These callers were not just asking to meet the basic daily needs, but they want to improve their own living standards not by their own hard work but through government assistance.

Many years ago, I went with Oxfam to Nepal. The workers reminded us not to hand candies to the local children, because this will mislead them into thinking that they can get something for nothing. Instead, we could buy a sheep for a local family so that they can raise more sheep. Subsidies should be intended to let the beneficiaries improve their skills to make a living for themselves. Let's be fair, Hongkongers.

Internet comments:

- (Wikipedia) Comprehensive Social Security Assistance:

One limb of the eligibility test for CSSA is the requirement of having been resident in Hong Kong for a certain number of years in the past, though not necessarily immediately before applying. Under the predecessor schemes to the CSSA, this requirement was 10 years up until 1959, five years after that, and then just one year after 1970. In 2004, the Tung Chee-hwa administration extended that period to seven years, in response to the rising cost of CSSA payments to Mainland Chinese new immigrants in Hong Kong, though children under the age of 18 were exempt from this new requirement. At the same time, the Tung administration introduced an additional requirement that the applicant have been resident in Hong Kong for one year immediately prior to the date of applicant.

Both of the requirements introduced in 2004 have since been struck down by the courts. In June 2010, in response to a lawsuit by a Hong Kong permanent resident formerly working in mainland China who had returned to Hong Kong after becoming unemployed, the Court of First Instance held that the requirement of one year's residence immediately prior to the date of application violated the right of freedom of movement in Article 31 of the Basic Law. The government appealed the ruling, but the Court of Appeal upheld the lower court's ruling and ruled against the government in February 2012. Then, in a 2013 case by a mainland Chinese woman whose husband had died soon after her arrival in Hong Kong, the Court of Final Appeal ruled that the seven-years' residence requirement violated Articles 36 and 145 of the Basic Law and ordered that the previous one-year requirement be reinstated.

- Hongkongers keep worrying about a Communist takeover. It turns out that the Communists are not mainlanders. The Communists are themselves.

- The older generation earned every cent with their own hands. The newer generation earned every cent by sticking out their hands for handouts.

- (Taipei Times October 15, 2007) Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang has been forced to make an unprecedented apology after warning that democracy could lead to the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, in which millions of Chinese were persecuted. Tsang said that democracy, if taken to the extreme, could spark scenes reminiscent of the disastrous decade-long violent purge of capitalist influence, which tore the country apart.

Tsang's initial comments were made during a radio interview on local broadcaster RTHK. "If you go to the extreme [of democracy] you have the Cultural Revolution, for instance, in China. Then people take everything into their hands, then you cannot govern the place," he said. Challenged by the interviewer on whether the purge under communist leadership was in fact an example of democracy, Tsang said: "It was people taking power into their own hands. This is what we mean by democracy."

"I am very sorry that I made an inappropriate remark concerning the Cultural Revolution during a radio interview and I wish to retract that remark," he said in a statement issued on Saturday, in what is believed to be his first public apology since taking office. "Hong Kong people treasure democracy and hope to implement universal suffrage as soon as possible. I share the same aspirations," he said.

- Hongkongers have too much pride to apply for CSSA. All those welfare recipients are mainlanders!

Mainland kids scram back to the mainland!
In 2014, Hongkongers awaken

Hong Kong is not obliged to feed these locusts
They don't pay taxes, they have not contributed, and they act as if we fucking owe them
If you want family reunification, you scram back to China.
In 2014, Hongkongers awaken

- Hongkongers are worse than Comfort Women. Under this new slavery system known as the Basic Law, they toil hard to provide for mainland idlers who defecate in the streets and push up prices.

- You are going to take in only $2,070 a month off CSSA. How are you going to survive? You pay $1,200 to rent a Caged Home. You pay $20 for a lunch box twice a day for $20 x 2 x 30 = $1,200 a month. You are running behind already. So your own choice left must be ... to become a parallel goods trader carrying infant formula and toilet paper from Sheung Shui to Luohu!
The optimal solution is this: Get rid of mainlander parallel traders by eliminating multiple-entry permits so that the market will be worked by Hong Kong parallel traders who can get off CSSA and make a proper living.

- "過左海就神仙" = Once you reach the other shore, you become a god. Most Hongkongers are not indigenous; they were either born in mainland China (about one-third) or their parents came from there. But once you are in Hong Kong and you learn to speak fluent Cantonese, you are a Hongkonger and no longer a mainland locust to be held in disgust and contempt. Nothing unusual here (reference points: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United States, etc).

- Yellow Ribbons say that they hate mainland locusts. But when there is money available, they change their tune and say that they wish that they could be mainlanders living off CSSA. Can we all get along and become CSSA recipients every one of us?

- When the mainland newcomers have no job skills, you complain that they soak up welfare payments. When the mainland newcomers have high job skills, you complain that they take away the good jobs. When the mainland newcomers come with a lot of cash, you complain that they buy up all the luxury apartments. The only way to please you is to forbid all mainlanders to come to Hong Kong, either as immigrants, businessmen or tourists. Right?

- On one hand, this debate reveals the xenophobia towards mainlanders among certain Hongkongers. On the other hand, the more interesting revelation is the hostility towards social welfare recipients (=parasites). Yes, Hong Kong has its share of Welfare Queens.

One argument for preserving the functional constituency in the Legislative Council is that universal suffrage would give too much influence to those who make less than HKD$14,000 per month. Because they are much larger in numbers, they determine election outcomes. They will vote in their own interests, which would be more social benefits from the government.

If I were a Legco or Chief Exec candidate under universal suffrage, I should be proposing higher corporate taxes and a whole lot more welfare benefits. I am not being cynical. I am simply acting in accordance with the design principles of this system of universal suffrage.

If history is any guide, eventually businesses will move away from Hong Kong to friendlier Hengqin (Zhuhai) or Qianhai (Shenzhen) while Hong Kong will wallow in bitterness and recriminations endlessly. In the United States, they will tell you that if you don't like it, you can move elsewhere. But it is generally hard to move due to career, culture, language, geography, etc. In Hong Kong, it is as easier as moving to live on the other side of the border just minutes away from before.

- Some CSSA statistics:

By category in 2011, the number of cases:

Old age: 153,950
Permanent disability: 18,449
Ill health: 25,168
Single parent: 32,860
Low earnings: 12,319
Unemployment: 26,859
Others: 7,106
Total 276,710

The number of new arrival CSSA recipients (who could fall into any of the above categories) was 17,253 in December 2011.

More CSSA statistics:

Among adult new arrivals, 7.2% of their families received welfare. The percentage of families in the general population on CSSA was 11.5%. Comparing new arrivals families to general families, the percentage of news arrivals' families receiving CSSA was lower than that for general ones.

Yet many commentators seem to think that all the CSSA recipients are new arrivals, every single one of them.

- In looking at the CSSA case categories, I would say:
Old age: ok
Permanent disability: ok
Ill health: ok
Single parent: fuck 'em (go find someone to marry!)
Low earnings: fuck 'em (work harder!)
Unemployment: fuck 'em (get a job!)
Others: fuck 'em (do something or the other!)
Total = 153,950 + 18,449 + 25,168 = 197,576 which is a 29% reduction to be re-distributed among the well-deserving CSSA recipients.

- Hey, only about 250,000 or persons are in the CSSA scheme. We must hold a public referendum to vote on whether CSSA should be eliminated altogether. We the working class who pay taxes will win hands down. This would be democracy at its finest.

• [169] Frogs In The Well (2015/02/27) (SpeakoutHK by Wat Wing-yin)

First incident: During the Lunar New Year holidays, I received many messages from friends and family members. A police friend sent a photo of twelve members of the Police Tactical Unit (PTU) holding up a banner that said "喜氣羊羊" about joy for the Year of the Sheep. My first thought was that these police officers looked handsome. My second thought was that: "In these times, there is going to be trouble about this." Indeed, Internet users launched an all-out attack. Not only did they flood the comments, but they launched formal reports against these policemen for violating regulations.

According to a newspaper investigation, this photo was taken after the graduation ceremony. The relevant guns were not loaded. According to past practice, graduates are allowed to take photos with their friends and families for commemorative purposes. This was a trivial matter, but those troublemakers picked it up for hyping and attacking the police.

Second incident: On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Heung Yee Kuk chariman Lau Wong-fat went to Che Kung Temple as usual. Legislator Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee was knocked about by the dancer wearing the Chinese unicorn costume. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpT_aTeIUI0 ) Immediately Internet users flooded the forums with the videos, including slow- and reverse- motion versions. Meanwhile the Liberal Party celebrated their Lunar New Year group meeting with Kirin (=Chinese unicorn) beer. Reporters interviewed the dancer in the Chinese unicorn costume to see if he is a Yellow Ribbon.

These two episodes showed the narrow-mindedness of some Hongkongers. They have lots of time on hand to nitpick on some trivia every day, and the media obliged by magnifying these into major incidents. This is how frogs in the well come into being.

Internet comments:

- Parents, do not let their children join the Hong Kong Police, because they are the Dark Forces.

- Parents, how to tell if your son is good or bad? If your son is good, he enlists in the Police Force; if your son is bad, he sleeps in the street.

- This photo of police carrying rifles is clearly intended to terrorize. They remind people that the police can shoot you anytime and therefore you should be wary about joining any demonstration to defend your God-given rights.

- I don't care what you all have to say. This is all I have to know about the Hong Kong Police:

- Lots of Hong Kong police carrying guns in this promotional video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkxEbXlhBy4. We must demand YouTube take down this piece of terrorist propaganda. We Hongkongers have to defend our freedom, democracy and human rights. In a democracy, when a policeman wants to fart, he has to obtain the permission of the citizens first.

- Terrorism from the Hong Kong Police's Counter Terrorism Response Unit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1mo-2Lx94U Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzcdVfcLnj0 Part 2

- How would Hongkongers react to this promotional video from the Rochester (NY) police department? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT5CA2zqfF8 The same fear and loathing?
And what about this dancing policeman in Malmö (Sweden) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIpb6fZThGU ?

- On one hand, you demand the Chinese Communists move into an open and democratic society. On the other hand, you move yourself into the Dark Ages.

- If you want to take a positive view, then it is a group photo of righteous people celebrating the Year of the Sheep. If you want to take a negative view, then it is violent people raping the Year of the Sheep. Whether you take a positive or negative view was determined before you ever saw this photo.

- The Umbrella Revolution failed with absolutely nothing accomplished except the creation of ill will, so the Yellow Ribbons wants to make sure that nobody in the world will have a happy new year.

- Yellow Ribbons don't like to hear celebratory Lunar New Year messages. They like to hear their Valiant Warriors screaming "Fuck your mother!" into the ears of mainland tourists.

- Yellow Ribbons obviously don't trust the police. So why do they still call "999" for police assistance when they get into trouble with angry citizens?

- It's okay to open a yellow umbrella during a university graduation ceremony. It's not okay to pose with guns in hand during a PTU graduation ceremony. The first case is morale-boosting. The second case is striking fear and loathing.

- Time for the Civil Human Rights Front to call yet another million person march to protest police brutality!

- It would have been fine with the Yellow Ribbons if these police officers carried a "1989 June 4th sign."

Better yet, these guys would be hailed as heroes if the words were "I want genuine universal suffrage" or "Support Occupy Central."

- Here is the whole story at Oriental Daily. There is a 40-second video in which about 100 uniformed police officers formed a X with four of them holding up red signs carrying the words "Joyous Sheep." The loudspeaker announced: "We wish all the guests good health and great joy in the Year of the Sheep." Then the group dispersed. This film was taken on February 13th after the PTU paraded at their graduation ceremony in front of invited guests. The formation was created to thank the guests.

- Meanwhile here is the whole story of the Chinese unicorn at Oriental Daily (video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soY7FJWx77c)

Regine Ip Lau Suk-yee finally met up with Master Tse, the Chinese unicorn dancer who knocked her sideways. She immediately gave him a $500 red envelope. She said: "It was okay. I wasn't scared. It was an accident." She joked to Master Tse, "There is no need for you to skip town."

- That bitch Ip Lau (=Evil Tumor) has no shame. She exploits every and any opportunity to her advantage. She wants to run for Chief Executive, but the Chinese unicorn bumped her aside. Actually, she needs to be run over by an 18-wheeler.

- "Regina Ip keeps putting on these shows to enhance her image. But no amount of public relations work is going to save her, because the crux of the matter is that she is an ugly bitch." Do you have any insights beyond personal attacks?

- The Chinese unicorn is a sacred animal. So the action was a sign from the heavens.

- Criticizing her is so easy under the circumstances. Master Tse was identified by the press. If Regina Ip goes to see him, she is putting on a political show. If Regina Ip does not go to see him, she is being petty-minded. The only way that she will get any praise is to retire from politics permanently (which would still be a show but it is the final one).

- If you review the action film frame by frame, it should be clear that Master Tse intentionally bumped into her. But being the true Yellow Ribbon, he will always deny it afterwards. In like manner, the Occupy Central masterminds are denying that they had anything to do with any unlawful assemblies.

- If you review the action film frame by frame, it should be clear that Master Tse did not intentionally bump into her. In the end, they both got media attention. Master Tse is now famous and Regina Ip gets credit. This is a win-win case, and much better than the petty-minded lose-lose cases (see, for example, the Liberal Party's folly).

- Master Tse had better be careful afterwards and avoid dark deserted alleys. Fame is not a always a good thing.

- Leung Kwok-hung had better start throwing some more bananas soon, because Regina Ip is hogging all the media attention now.

- How can such trivia be reported for more than a week?

喜氣羊羊

喜氣羊羊

喜氣羊羊

喜氣羊羊

• [168] Hong Kong's Surveillance State (2015/02/26)

(Hong Kong Indigenous)

[in English as provided by Hong Kong Indigenous]

White terror in Hong Kong - how police violated rights of a HK Indigenous member.

The night before, one of our members was followed after an internal meeting in Kowloon. The following is a subjective description of the events.

The suspicious car was discovered tailing him in Tate's Cairn Tunnel. Our member thus attempted evasive measures to ditch the follower, including driving to Fanling, circling in a roundabout and stopping at a road shoulder. The 4-seater following him had four men with headphones on board. The men, upon realising they were noticed, radioed for support and another car joined.

Our member then stopped, disembarked and had a meal in Taipo. Men from the cars tailed him on foot. They were keeping so close they even followed him into a washroom. The men on his tail did not seem to give up easily. However, when he arrived at his village, the two cars stopped outside. Why?

It did not take long for him to find that his parking spot was occupied by another private car. The two guys on board admitted they were undercover cops and refused to say anything else. Then he got home and discovered two more plainclothes agents outside his house. He questioned their presence. The duo ignored his questions and left.

The door to the rooftop was opened but no property was lost. Our member dialed 999 for a police report and police constables came to give him a report reference number.

The next morning, he was tailed again from his home to Tsim Sha Tsui.

To sum up, the police have put four vehicles and more than ten agents on one of our members. It would be a reasonable guess that his home was broken into by the police themselves.

The authority is using the police force as a tool to suppress protestors and, to an extreme degree, violating our human rights. It would not be hard to fathom how cruel and cold-blooded are the authorities we are up against. While they were just breaking in this time, would they start planting dangerous materials or other evidence in our homes next? Is the Hong Kong Government as dirty as the China Communist Party now? Can the law protect Hong Kong people's human rights?

Hong Kong Indigenous will not tolerate any harassment, suppression or violation to the rights of our members. Be warned, the authorities, you have our word.

Internet comments:

- Ten police agents following you at the same time? Who do you think you are?  Yip Kai-foon? Cheung Tze-keung?

- We live in an age with all sorts of wonderful technologies. If this were to happen to me, the first thing that I would do is to take out my smartphone, record the faces of the 'tails' and the license plates of their cars and post all of it as evidence on my Facebook. As the famous Internet saying goes, "No pictures, no truth." Does this Hong Kong Indigenous member not own a smartphone?

- Who gives a shit about Hong Kong Indigenous? Why would the police send ten agents per shift to follow this one person. What information could he possibly yield? What has Hong Kong Indigenous ever done except to yell at a few people who look like mainlanders?

- (Wikipedia) Paranoid schizophrenia: One criterion for paranoid schizophrenia is delusion. A delusion is a belief that is held strong even when evidence shows otherwise. Some common delusions associated with paranoid schizophrenia include, “believing that the government is monitoring every move you make, or that a co-worker is poisoning your lunch." These beliefs are irrational, and can cause the person holding them to behave abnormally. Another frequent type of delusion is a delusion of grandeur, or the “fixed, false belief that one possesses superior qualities such as genius, fame, omnipotence, or wealth." Common ones include, “the belief that you can fly, that you're famous, or that you have a relationship with a famous person."

- I too have been followed by the CIA, FBI and MI6 since birth before conception.

- Please take the stuff that you have been sniffing down to a laboratory for analysis.

- It is not enough to see visit a doctor. You must remember to take your medicine on time.

- This story is promptly published by Next Magazine/Apple Daily. According to their usual standards of reporting, they quoted the Hong Kong Indigenous Facebook and did nothing to verify anything. Real-time journalism is so exciting these days. You sit at your desk, visit a Facebook page, copy and paste the contents over and then you get ready to leave work and go home.

• [167] Headline Gang Runs Amok (2015/02/26)  Which journalism school taught them to use derogatory nicknames instead of their proper names?

(Oriental Daily) February 26, 2015.

Headline: Universal suffrage controversy: Chinese Traitor Lee received an appointment for arrest call for next Monday.

Summary: Sources said that the Hong Kong Police made telephone calls to at least ten Occupy Central organizers, including former Democratic Party chairman Martin Lee who goes by the nickname of "Chinese traitor Lee."

(Oriental Daily) February 26, 2015.

Headline: Budget proposal - Blind Mo called out for hypocrisy for supporting Occupy Central and caring about Hong Kong Tramways at the same time.

Summary: Yesterday Secretary of Finance John Tsang made a presentation on the government's budget. Civic Party legislator Claudia Mo Man-ching ("Blind Mo") criticized that the budget did not provide any aid to the Hong Kong Tramways. John Tsang smiled and said: "So you care about Hong Kong Tramways." Pro-establishment Tam Yiu-chung said that Claudia Mo was faking sympathy: "If you really care about them, you should not have blocked the conduct of their business with Occupy Central."  Legislator Ann Chiang Lai-Wan said that since the pan-democrats instigated Occupy Central, they are most responsible for any economic losses sustained by Hong Kong Tramways. Chiang asked Mo to "reflect upon herself" instead of making misleading statements at the Legislative Council.

[Note: "Blind Mo" is a term used to refer to a person who is ignorant, useless, illiterate, possessing only superficial, rudimentary knowledge. In the Taishanese dialect, the term "Blind Mo" is literally a "blind grandmother" which is highly prejudicial when used to refer to a younger person, both to the subject as well as to the categories of elderly women and blind persons in general.]

• [166] A Mainlander Wants To Boycott Hong Kong (2015/02/25)

(Bastille Post)

Let me stipulate the following. Firstly, I applaud those who refuse to go to Hong Kong anymore. Secondly, I respect those who continue to go to Hong Kong. Thirdly, for those who are still thinking about it, I will provide you with some reasons for rejecting Hong Kong.

I am a Shenzhener. It is easy for me to go to Hong Kong, but I rarely do so. Why?

Reason 1: Whatever Hong Kong has, Shenzhen has it too. If you have money, you can buy anything you want on the mainland? This is no longer the early days of the Cultural Revolution where everything was scarce. You don't have to travel to Hong Kong to buy something.

Reason 2: Many people say that Hong Kong has the genuine stuff (especially infant formula and electronic products). But do I really have to travel to Hong Kong to get them? For example, suppose I want to buy a camera. If I am looking for quality, I can go to a specialty store in Shenzhen. If I am looking for a good price, there are plenty of parallel goods stores on Huaqiangbei Road. Infant formula? Mainland China has lots of imported brands. If you don't trust them, you can get your friends in Singapore or Australia to ship them to you. The postage fees will be less than the expense of spending time in Hong Kong. It is also an open secret that some unscrupulous Hong Kong pharmacies sell fake infant formula to mainlanders.

Reason 3: The most important reason that I refuse to go to Hong Kong is this: The people of Hong Kong are openly cursing mainlanders are "locusts." Indeed, there is freedom of speech in Hong Kong, and they can say whatever they want about mainlanders in private. But these people were taking out full-page newspaper advertisements to insult mainlanders as locusts!

This is not just exercising freedom of speech. This is unmitigated and undisguised discrimination and insult! Anywhere in the world, even in the the so-called most free country of the United States, the newspapers cannot be publishing advertisements that say "the Chinese are locusts," "the Indians are seven-spot beetles", etc. On mainland China, the Shanghainese may privately refer to Hehan residents as "Baozi", or the Guangzhou people can privately call outsiders "Laozi," (see Ethnic Issues in China) but you won't find such terms used in public media. Indeed, everybody is likely to harbor some form of bigotry or the other. But when such terms are being used in your public media, things have been elevated to an unacceptable level.

Mainland spoofs of the same xenophobic advertisement taken in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing

If the Hongkongers are so cocky as to insult mainlanders publicly, why should we mainlanders continue to hand them loads of RMB even as they look at us with disgust and contempt!? Mainlanders, we should show some self-respect!

The following comments are addressed to Hongkongers. As a Shenzhener, I grew up watching TVB and ATV, I listened to Sammi Cheng and Eason Chan, and I have an inexplicable affinity (even adoration) for things Hong Kong. But recent events have caused me to become increasingly disappointed and hostile towards Hong Kong. I want to make some comments that Hongkongers probably don't want to hear.

Comment 1: You keep saying that mainlanders are taking over your place. But have you ever thought about the immense annoyance that you Hongkongers are causing in Shenzhen? In the streets of Shenzhen, Hongkongers are everywhere -- the restaurants are filled with Hongkongers who speak loudly and smoke cigarettes with total disregard of others; the buffet restaurants are taken over by your senior citizen dining touring groups and they are more valiant than anyone else when high-priced seafood is brought out; the streets around the border crossings are filled with Hong Kong parallel traders who are even more dismissive of traffic rules than mainlanders; the roads are congested with trucks, vans and cars carrying Hong Kong license plates. Frankly, many Shenzheners are tired and sick of you Hongkongers taking over our previous resources. But have you ever seen a full-page advertisement in a Shenzhen newspaper calling Hongkongers 'locusts'?

Comment 2: You Hongkongers say that mainlanders have taken over your job opportunities. But have you ever thought about how you Hongkongers usurp educational opportunities on the mainland? Because you hold that precious Hong Kong ID, you get preferential treatment on the mainland. It is easy for you to get into the elite mainland universities. So those of you who don't have the grades to enter Hong Kong University or Chinese University of Hong Kong rush instead to Peking University, Qinghua University, Qinan University and other elite mainland universities. I know a female student whose dad is a Hongkonger. Her grades were terrible (just over 300 points in the university entrance exam), but she managed to gain admission into an elite university in Guangzhou! Each time that a place is given to an ill-qualified Hongkonger, it means that a well-qualified mainlander loses out. You Hongkongers don't even pay tax on the mainland. Why are you using up that valuable slot?

Comment 3: All those mainlanders are going to shop in Hong Kong do so legally. They did not sneak across the border illegally. Why don't you curse out your government instead? Why take out newspaper advertisements to curse out the mainland locusts? You even surround the mainland shoppers inside your shopping malls and curse them out. Who is the one with the problem? You or the mainlanders? The Hong Kong government officials are accountable to your citizens. They can ban all mainlanders from coming to Hong Kong, but they don't. It is not that they don't know that mainland tourists may be disruptive in Hong Kong, but they take a broader and longer view that the Hong Kong tourism, hospitality, retail and restaurant industries will be defunct without the mainland tourists.

Comment 4: Everybody wants to take advantage of small favors. The mainlanders come to Hong Kong because the products are "worth the money." In like manner, you Hongkongers go to Shenzhen because the products are "worth the money." As long as these activities are permitted under the law, nobody can complain. If you really think that mainlanders are seriously impacting your lives, you should change the system. For example, you felt that the mainland mothers-to-be were taking up your resources and so you introduced laws to stop them from doing that. So if you aren't happy with mainlander tourists coming under your Individual Visit Scheme, you can change it. You don't have to keeping taking it out on innocent mainland tourists as you are doing right now.

Comment 5: Twenty years ago, Hong Kong was the model for mainland cities to admire and imitate. This gave you a sense of superiority. But as the mainland cities developed rapidly, your superiority is diminishing. Your competitiveness is being matched, even surpassed by Guangzhou and Shenzhen in the north. Simply put, you are not hot stuff anymore. Please put aside your arrogant posture and take a new look at the mainlanders on an equal footing.

Nice guys finish last. Nice mainlanders should not put up with the blatant discrimination from Hongkongers. Since they are calling you 'locusts', you should show some self-respect and refuse to go and shop in Hong Kong. Let them pay for the price of their own arrogance. Hongkongers, you insult us and we don't seem to fight back. But you shouldn't think that we have good tempers.

(SCMP) Sha Tin retailers hit as mainland visitors stay away over Lunar New Year. February 25, 2015.

Retailers in Sha Tin malls painted a gloomy picture of Lunar New Year trading after the number of mainlanders coming to Hong Kong during the holiday dropped for the first time in years. But the slowdown was good news for shoppers - who reported they could finally enjoy the malls without the crowds.

Immigration Department figures showed that the number of mainlanders who visited Hong Kong in the first six days of the Lunar New Year holiday - from last Wednesday to Monday - fell 1 per cent, from 851,375 last year to 842,124.

A saleswoman at a beef and pork jerky shop, Bee Cheng Hiang, at Sha Tin's New Town Plaza, where a protest against mainland tourists and parallel traders erupted earlier this month, reported fewer mainland shoppers on the day of the protest and the following days. "Most of the shoppers in the days after were Hongkongers and not mainlanders. Maybe they preferred staying home on the mainland," the saleswoman said.

Jenny Lam, a saleswoman at the Camela fashion boutique in Sha Tin Plaza, said business was down one-third compared to Lunar New Year last year, adding "there were obviously fewer mainlanders" over the holiday.

(SpeakoutHK)

According to the latest numbers, 606,000 mainlanders entered Hong Kong on the first four days of the Lunar New Year. This is a decrease of 0.64%. Individual tourists dropped by 6%, which is the first decrease in a decade. Many anti-mainland folks "popped champagne" in their Facebook groups and declared that the anti-parallel trader campaign is succeeding.

Will mainlander parallel traders stop coming to Hong Kong to make money on account of these two-hour Sunday-only demonstrations in single locations? Of course they will continue to come. During the Lunar New Year, the shops that sell daily necessities did great business.

So the decrease in total number of mainland visitors is actually a warning! Like any business, tourism should be looking at both quality and quantity. We want to attract on high-quality tourists who spend a lot of money even as we want to deter the parallel traders. When shopping malls offer free bus services to mainlanders who buy cases of daily necessities, they are emphasizing quantity over quality. But if the demonstrators mean to stop parallel goods trading, the actual outcome is that they are chasing away the high-quality tourists who feel unwelcome. We need to have high-quality tourists (from mainland or anywhere else) who come two to three days once a year and spend $20,000 to $30,000 per capita.

• [165] Glory (2015/02/25)

(YouTube) Common, John Legend - Glory from the motion picture "Selma"

(YouTube) Common & John Legend's Oscar acceptance speech

(Bustle)

John Legend and Common used their Oscar Best Original Song acceptance speech to reflect on the message of the song, and remind us all that while Selma was set in the past, its themes surround us in the present. 

Common started off the moving speech:

First off, I’d like to thank God that lives in us all. Recently, John and I got to go to Selma and perform “Glory” on the same bridge that Dr. King and the people of the civil rights movement marched on 50 years ago. This bridge was once a landmark of a divided nation, but now is a symbol for change. The spirit of this bridge transcends race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and social status. The spirit of this bridge connects the kid from the South side of Chicago, dreaming of a better life to those in France standing up for their freedom of expression to the people in Hong Kong protesting for democracy. This bridge was built on hope. Welded with compassion. And elevated by love for all human beings.
 

Then Legend took to the microphone, building off those sentiments:

Thank you. Nina Simone said it’s an artist’s duty to reflect the times in which we live. We wrote this song for a film that was based on events that were 50 years ago, but we say Selma is now, because the struggle for justice is right now. We know that the voting rights, the act that they fought for 50 years ago is being compromised right now in this country today. We know that right now the struggle for freedom and justice is real. We live in the most incarcerated country in the world. There are more black men under correctional control today than were under slavery in 1850. When people are marching with our song, we want to tell you that we are with you, we see you, we love you, and march on.

(Apple Daily)

(translation) On the pedestrian overpass over Harcourt Road, the people may have dispersed but the place is not lonely. The motion picture "Selma" took the Oscar Best Original Song in "Glory". In his acceptance speech, the singer Common said referred to the landmark Selma which represented the colored people's struggle to obtain voting rights, and linked this to the fight for justice around the world, including the Umbrella Revolution in which the people of Hong Kong are fighting for democracy. The Occupy Central founder Benny Tai hopes that the movie will encourage the people of Hong Kong to continue firmly on the road to universal suffrage.

Internet comments:

- Apple Daily puts the Oscar Best Original Song on its front page, and then promptly proceeds to mislead as usual. The exact words of Common were: "The spirit of this bridge connects the kid from the South side of Chicago, dreaming of a better life to those in France standing up for their freedom of expression to the people in Hong Kong protesting for democracy." But Apple Daily reported that Common linked Selma to "the Umbrella Revolution in which the people of Hong Kong are fighting for democracy.

Fighting for democracy and the Umbrella Revolution are two different matters. If you poll the people of Hong Kong about democracy and universal suffrage, you will get almost 100% support. If you poll the same population about Occupy Central with Love and Peace (aka Umbrella Movement, aka Umbrella Revolution), you get 80% opposition. The goal of democracy is universal, but the one particular method (namely, the Umbrella Revolution) chosen by a small set of people (including Apple Daily/Next Media) is almost universally reviled.

- The African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968) used a number of civil resistance methods, such as boycotts (e.g. Montgomery Bus Boycott), marches (e.g. Selma-Montgomery), sit-in's (such as the Greensboro sit-ins), and other nonviolent actions.

By contrast, the Umbrella Revolutionaries blocked the streets and prevented schoolchildren from going to school, government workers from going to their offices, customers from entering shops, trucks from making deliveries, senior citizens from going to hospitals, etc. The schools, offices and shops were not engaged in any unjust, undemocratic actions (such as segregated seating for different races in Woolworth's). The tactics affected the lives of millions of ordinary citizens who had nothing to do with the contestable issues. Can you imagine the African-American Civil Rights advocates shutting down schools, churches, offices and shops everywhere in town? They would be justifying racial discrmination!

- Benny Tai wrote an idealistic script about how Occupy Central with Love and Peace would unfold. Reality did not play itself out according to this script.
See, for example, this video taken at Sha Tin recently:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mezcJ8Vqcdc INT News Channel.

At 2:00, a mainland female tourist who has every right to be present in this shopping mall gets yelled at by pro-democracy mouth-foaming valiant warriors with lots of "Fuck your mother" and "Go back to China."

At 2:29, the gentleman in the white t-shirt screams a few inches away: "What the fuck is this to you!? Fuck your mother! Don't ever fucking come here again! Did you hear me?" Then the crowd applauds his speech.

At 2:45, the gentleman in the white t-shirt is encouraged by the reception to his speech, says: "I fuck you mother! Don't ever fucking come here!" The female says that he is blocking her way. He screams: "I am fucking refusing to let you pass! Does that fucking upset you?" And it goes on for a while, with nothing of substance except "Fuck your mother!" and "Don't ever fucking come back!" The police show up to chants of "Evil police!"

At 6:24, a mall security guard removes the luggage case.

At 12:27, the crowd surrounds a man in a corridor and offers him some more "Fuck your mother!" He waves a Hong Kong ID card to prove that he is a Hongkonger and a demonstrator tries to grab it. More "Fuck your mother!" They won't let him leave until he apologizes. For what? The man's female companion makes the pray sign, slaps her companion lightly on the face and begs the crowd to forgive him. More "Fuck your mother!" He says, "I am a Hongkonger and I am Chinese."

At 16:07, a middle-aged man gives the real message: "I am a Hongkonger. I am a Hongkonger. You eat shit!" The distressed woman slaps her companion a few more times. None of the targets of the venomous attacks have anything to do with the implementation of civil nomination in the election of the Hong Kong Chief Executive.

If you want to draw an analogy, this is like a bunch of white racists surrounding an African-American at the Woolworth's lunch counter and screaming: "We don't want your kind here!" and "Don't ever fucking come back here again!" In the end, American civil disobedience triumphed over such racist behaviors by stoicism and moral superiority. Here in Hong Kong, such racist behaviors are adopted by certain pro-democracy valiant warriors. Not all pro-democracy people support with this type of behavior, but not many of them come out openly to condemn such behavior out of fear.

- If Common were to spend some time to investigate what the exact issue is that led to the Occupy Central actions, he would be surprised that it was about civil nomination of the Chief Executive in Hong Kong. Civil nomination? This is complicated (see, for example, Suzanne Pepper), but it is also very simple.

The Hong Kong pro-democracy activists say that they want their election to meet international standards. Unless this happens, they won't have genuine universal suffrage. Except civil nomination does not exist in Australia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, etc. It exists only in 32 countries such as Angola, Chile, Ghana, Malawi, South Korea, Zambia, etc. Civil nomination is not a sine qua non under any so-called international standards.

According to international standards, universal suffrage is the extension of the right to vote to citizens unrestricted by race, sex, belief, wealth or social status. Previously, the Chief Executive was elected by a 1,200-member election committee. The current reform proposal extends the right to vote to all voters. However, the Umbrella Revolutionaries would rather veto the proposal if they can't get civil nomination. If they succeed, the Chief Executive will continue to be elected by 1,200 persons. Common would be very much perplexed by this situation.

- The people of Hong Kong can have universal suffrage in 2017, but the pro-democracy activists won't let them. That's where we are.

- "The people in Hong Kong protesting for democracy"? Methinks that this refers to those Hong Kong citizens who hate the non-democratic methods of the Yellow Ribbons.

- Madame Roland: O Liberté, que de crimes on commet en ton nom! (Oh Liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name!)

- Common made a reference to Hong Kong in his Oscar acceptance speech. Why Hong Kong only? Here is a list of other worthy subjects from around the world:

-- Argentina to exercise sovereignty over the Malvinas (which the British insist on calling the Falkland Islands) because the people of Hong Kong must learn that an island people have the right to determine their own fates in spite of the claims of sovereignty by a nearby strong nation.

-- Australia to leave the Commonwealth, so that their Prime Minister does not have to appointed by a Governor-General designated by the Queen of England, because the people of Hong Kong must learn never to accept an appointed leader from a higher authority.

-- How to solve The Palestinian Problem because the people of Hong Kong need to be told that they must protect the interests of Israel the same way as in the United States.

-- The February 12th coup in Venezuela because the people of Hong Kong must learn that all their voting rights can be taken away in a coup sponsored by the most powerful country ever in the history of Earth.

And if you have the guts to wash your dirty linen in public, try also closer to home:

-- Eliminating the Electoral College system that officially elects the President and Vice-President of the United States of America which has resulted in winners who did not receive the plurality of the nationwide popular vote. The Hong Kong pro-democracy activists have said that systems like that are not genuine universal suffrage meeting international standards.

-- The dismantling of the 1965 Voting Rights Act which shows that it is possible to erode rule of law by sophistry.

-- Edward Snowden and the surveillance state, because the Hong Kong pro-democracy activists think governments should not interfere with free speech on the Internet. Laura Poitras and Glenn Greenwald interviewed Edward Snowden in Hong Kong (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z99qFwsDmU )

-- Ferguson (Missouri) because the Hong Kong pro-democracy activists should be told what police brutality is really like.

-- Occupy Wall Street because the Hong Kong pro-democracy activists call their own thing Occupy Central with Love and Peace but have no idea how America handled their Occupy demonstrators.

• [164] Alexter In Geneva (2015/02/24)

(SCMP)

Two student leaders of the Occupy movement have been invited to an international human rights summit to speak on Hong Kong's political reform.

Alex Chow Yong-kang, secretary-general of the Federation of Students, and his deputy Lester Shum, have confirmed their attendance at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on February 24.

Introducing the duo as "major delegate[s] of the umbrella movement to the only dialogue with the Hong Kong government", the summit's website announced their participation, with their photos promoted on the front page.

The duo will be the first Hongkongers to speak at the forum, organised by a coalition of 20 human rights non-government organisations worldwide ahead of the United Nations Human Rights Council's main annual session, which starts on March 2.

Chow said he would be speaking on the restrictive framework laid down by the National People's Congress Standing Committee in August for the city's chief executive election. "We will talk about the right to participate in public affairs and politics, and we'll also touch on the state obligations from the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration," Chow, from the University of Hong Kong, said.

Several speakers from China have been invited to the summit in the past, including Tibetan and Uygur dissidents. This year, blind human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng , who escaped and went into exile in the United States, is also invited.

Noting his participation may displease mainland authorities, Chow said: "It is important to let the outside world know what is happening in Hong Kong." Chow had his travel document to the mainland revoked last year when he and two other federation members attempted to take a flight to Beijing to seek a meeting with officials on reform.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZzS92fZwe4&feature=youtu.be Hong Kong protest leaders Alex Chow & Lester Shum, Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, address the opening United Nations Session of the 2015 Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.

Internet comments:

- Apple Daily quotes Alex Chow as saying that tens of thousands of students and citizens were hoping to change the political system through the Umbrella Revolution. Tens of thousands? Let me even grant you one hundred thousand. Why does one hundred thousand represent the will of the 7 million people of Hong Kong? Furthermore, since Hong Kong is part of the People's Republic of China, why does one hundred thousand represent the will of the 1.4 billion Chinese?

- On whose behalf are Alexter speaking? It is unclear. They like to say that they are speaking for the people of Hong Kong, many of whom don't recall ever empowering them to do so. They sometimes say that they are speaking for the Hong Kong Federation of Students, which does not now include Hong Kong University where Chow is registered as a student in his sixth year of undergraduate studies.

- After 79 days of Occupy Central with Love and Peace, these people haven't paid the bill yet. No apologies, in spite of 80% of the population wanting them to stop long ago.

- "The fate of Hong Kong will impact China and the rest of the world"? According to Alex Chow, Hong Kong will have to determine its own destiny. However, China and the rest of the world whose fate will be affected by Hong Kong do not get a say in something that will impact them? Typical Alex Chow gibberish (see Alex Chow On The Record).

- "Hong Kong democracy is granted under One Country Two Systems, which is the biggest obstacle in the path of democracy for Hong Kong." This proves that they want to get rid of One Country Two Systems and found an independent Hong Kong City-State. And this Summit is not an academic conference to discuss abstract ideas.

- The entire language is borrowed from ISIS, with so much about the awakening of the soul to seize your own destiny into your own hands. The only thing missing is the part about eternal salvation and the 72 virgins.

- Why didn't the United Nations invite someone to represent the hundreds of thousands of people (employers, employees, drivers, etc) whose lives were negatively affected by this Umbrella Revolution Movement thing.

- Who is paying for this junket? Alas, the Hong Kong Federation of Students has a war chest of HK$ 20 million squirreled away just for these occasions. So HEHE won't have to beg Jimmy Lai for money after all.

- Looking at the YouTube video, it becomes obvious why Alex Chow and Lester Shum refused to field media questions in English during the Occupy period. Doesn't Hong Kong University have some minimum English proficiency requirement?

- So they got on the podium. Then Alex Chow sat behind the sign for Lester Shum, while Lester Shum sat behind the sign for Alex Chow. So they can't even read English?

- Lester Shum wears a black pullover with the words "Hollister Surfers." He has no clue as to the significance of this pullover.

First of all, about Hollister Surfers:
(Urban Dictionary) Hollister is a company that sells surfer-themed clothing. Unfortunately, people usually have this to say: "People who wear Hollister have probably never been to a beach before."
Thus, by wearing a Hollister Surfers pullover at the Summit, Lester Shum is hinting that he knows nothing about human rights and democracy.

Secondly, there was a famous series of advertisements from Hollister:

(Daily Mail) September 10, 2012.

When American fashion line Hollister decided they would send a bevy of models dressed as lifeguards to South Korea to greet customers at the opening of their store in Yeouido, they were supposed to bring a feel of the surf-culture associated with the brand. Instead, they brought controversy after making racist gestures and obscene hand motions in photos with customers. ... Korean newspapers reported that one of the models posted a photo to his personal Twitter account, showing him making 'squinty eye' facial expressions - mocking Asians - while posing in front of the royal Gueongbokkung Palace.

In a separate episode, another one of the models was shown giving the middle finger while posing with customers at the store launch ... Though the offending models were not named, the company announced that they fired 'the couple of associates involved' and posted a message regarding the issue on their Facebook page, though it no longer appears on the site. 'On behalf of our more than 80,000 associates around the world who cherish our core values and our culture of diversity and inclusion, we sincerely apologize for the offense caused by these unauthorized, ill-considered actions,' the message read.

Was the choice due to ignorance or insensitivity?

- From Geneva Summit: "Human rights heroes, activists and former political prisoners from China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Venezuela and other countries testify about their personal struggles for human rights, democracy and freedom, and join hands to plan action strategies." Hong Kong is now in the same class as Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and Venezuela.

• [163] Occupy Yuen Long - The Preview (2015/02/24)

(Wen Wei Po) February 23, 2015.

... Since January this year, the radical organizations Civic Passion, Hong Kong Indigenous, Student Frontline and others have demonstrated in Sheung Shui, Tuen Mun and Sha Tin against parallel traders and the Individual Visit Scheme. They blocked a number of shopping malls and cursed out mainland tourists. Although this drew plenty of social criticisms, they were unabashed and in fact quite proud. They thought that the police and the shopkeepers were helpless, and now they are planning for the next wave of action -- Yuen Long Main Street on March 1st (Sunday).

Here is what a local Yuen Long country squire told us: "We are not afraid. We will not be weak like those people in Sheung Shui, Tuen Mun or Sha Tin. If the troublemakers show up on our turf, we will retaliate!" This person said that even though Yuen Long is a large district with more than 500,000 residents, there are just a few public housing estates in outside areas such as Tin Shui Wai, Hung Shui Kiu and Long Ping. Most of the residents in the heart of the town around Yuen Long Main Road are indigenous Hongkongers. The town centre is almost the only large commercial area in town, which means most other residents in the outlying areas of the town (such as the Eighteen Villages or Shap Pat Hueng) come in to shop for food and other daily necessities. Most of those shops are owned and operated by the indigenous Hongkongers (many of whom are Hakka people) who have known each other for generations. "If the troublemakers charge into a store, they are challenging our whole community. We won't wait for the police to show up. We won't let them get away with it. We will definitely fight back."

This person also said that Yuen Long people have a strong sense of local identity. They will not let outsiders come in and cause trouble in their community. "Just look at the decades of District Council election results. Only local people or those outsiders who have demonstrated their commitment to the community can hope to win. We will never let outsiders make trouble here."

Internet comments:

- Year of the Sheep Lunar New Year Battle Royale -- The Valiant Warriors of the Umbrella Revolution will engage the Yuen Long walled village people on March 1st, 2015 3pm-6pm in Citimall, Yuen Long district.

Date: March 1st, 2015 (Sunday)
Time: 2pm
Assembly point: West Rail Long Ping exit D
March route: West Rail Long Ping Station->Hong Lok Road->Kau Yuk Road->Yau Sun Street->Tung Lok Street->Sau Fu Street->West Rail Long Ping Station
Civic Passion

Hong Kong Indigneous People vs. Mainland Individual travelers
March 1, 3pm, Yuen Long
Angry phoenix rising from the ashes to defend out city-state

Equipment being readied by the Yellow Ribbons and the Yuen Long country squires. An alternate title is "Genuine indigenous Hongkongers versus Locust descendant young wastrels."

- Historical reminder -- The Six-Day War (1899).

The Six-Day War of 1899 was fought between 14–19 April 1899, by the British Empire and the major punti clans of New Territories after the British takeover the territory after 99-Year Land Lease of New Territories signed on 9 June 1898 between the British and the Qing government. The war began on 14 April with the insurgents burnt down the mat shed the British prepared for a flag-raising ceremony at the Flagstaff Hill in Tai Po.

A number of 125 Indian soldiers of the Royal Hong Kong Regiment (disbanded in 1902, not to be confused with the latter Royal Hong Kong Regiment formed from the body of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps in 1949, consisting primarily of Europeans and Chinese) was sent to Tai Po on 15 April and soon besieged by the villagers. They were rescued after the Royal Navy's HMS Fame shelled at the insurgents' position. On 17 April the British forces launched attack on the insurgents in Lam Tsuen Valley and chased them into the hill. On 18 April, a number of 1,600 insurgents assaulted the British troop at Sheung Tsuen but was soon defeated. The insurgents and villagers surrendered on 19 April.

After the war, Governor Henry Arthur Blake adopted an amiable co-operation policy with the villagers and it remained of the official policy of the colonial government on the New Territories throughout almost the entire British rule.

- Yuen Long will be completely different from Sha Tin. In Sha Tin, the large New Town Mall was just a commercial shopping mall whose tenants are faceless corporations (McDonald's, KFC, Mannings, Watsons, Sasa, G2000, etc). The Sasa cosmetics salesgirl isn't going to start a fight with the demonstrators. Yuen Long will be different because the street store operators are locals.

- They like to say "Hong Kong issues should be settled by the people of Hong Kong without interference from outsiders (such as mainland China, United Kingdom or United States)." Well, Yuen Long issues should be settled by the people of Yuen Long without interference from outsiders. But if so, there wouldn't be many demonstrators on March 1st. If all they can do is raise 200 people for Sha Tin from all over Hong Kong, how many live in Yuen Long? Ten at most?

- Apple Daily has this scare story about how KMB's B1 bus lines are enabling parallel traders with $50 for an all-day pass that allows unlimited rides on five bus routes, including B1 which goes between the Lok Ma Chau border crossing and Tin Shui Wei via Yuen Long. This meant that a parallel trader can make multiple trips per day!
But Apple Daily won't report that KBM recently disclosed passenger data on B1 -- on the average, about 60 people in total buy the $50 unlimited pass. Of these passengers, 2 persons ride on the B1 more than once a day. So we are talking about two potential parallel traders per day! We need to Occupy Yuen Long to stop these two bus riders?

- Yuen Long does not have that many parallel traders, who are using the industrial buildings and warehouses in Tuen Mun and Sheung Shui as their operational bases. Yuen Long does not have many mainland tourists either because it is really outback. What Yuen Long has is a lot of country squires who don't speak the contemporary hip version of Cantonese, and that's because the Yuen Long people are the authentic indigenous/aboriginal people of Hong Kong whose Cantonese contains traces of Hakka or Weitou accents. Meanwhile most of the demonstrators are likely to be born in mainland China themselves or second- or third-generation descendants of their much detested "locusts" from mainland China.

- The so-called "country squires" of Yuen Long are just lawless thugs who have no sense of the rule of law. There are more illegal buildings structures in Yuen Long than anywhere else in Hong Kong because the country squires ignore the Buildings Department warnings. Many public areas are taken over as parking lots to generate fees for the illegal occupiers. The only place that you can set off firecrackers against the law in Hong Kong during Lunar New Year is Yuen Long, because the police don't dare to issue summons for fear of a mass riot by the country squires.

- The radical organizations managed to mobilize 200 people in Sha Tin (according to police estimates). Yuen Long has a population of 580,000 and Sha Tin has a population of 650,000. How can these radical organizations claim that they are representing the people of Yuen Long or Sha Tin? I suspect that most of them will be taking their first ever excursion out to the remote outpost known to them only by name as Yuen Long. Afterwards, they will probably need to ask for directions about where the train station or bus depot is.

- The localists keep talking about their idyllic vision of a Hong Kong City-State. In this new paradise, all the jewelry stores, pharmacies, hotels and restaurants serving mainland tourists will be gone. Instead, the displaced workers will go out and grow organic vegetables in northeastern New Territories to make Hong Kong self-sufficient in food, water and other essentials. On March 1st, I suspect the self-proclaimed localists of Hong Kong Indigenous will be met by the indigenous farmers' favorite fertilizer -- human dung.

- This battle of Yuen Long will have a perfect script. The radicals will get out there, they will be outnumbered by the locals, they will call the police dogs for help and they will hold a press conference to decry everybody else -- the local residents who were obviously paid by the Communists; the police who were ordered by CY Leung not to help them; the pan-democrats and other "Hong Kong pigs" who did not come out and fight beside them; the media which did not cover them to their liking; the United States Consulate, the British Consulate and the United States Human Rights Council which did not issue immediate condemnations; ...

- The Country Squires of Yuen Long won't even have to do anything themselves. Why would they when they have lots of South Asian help available cheaply?

- Here is what happened to some pro-Occupy Central people in Yuen Long.
September 30, 2014 daytime
Citimall, Yuen Long district, New Territories
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GexOVTzGao
Some highlights:
0:25  "We hope that the government will listen to our voices."  "Fuck your mother!"  "They are even doing New Territories, fuck your mother."  "Curse him out."  "People like these deserve to be cursed out.  They are even causing trouble in New Territories.  You must be crazy.  You must not have been beaten up before.  Fuck you!"  "Fuck your mother!  Go away!"
1:56 "Occupy Central?  Occupy your mother!"  "Pack up, you bastard!"
2:25 "You think about it.  If CY Leung leaves, someone else takes his place.  It is the same.  You are just causing trouble for yourself."
2:55 "Bastard!"  "Bastard!  Drop dead!"
Another Yuen Long video on October 1 with people shouting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYoY-nOExqo

- Here is what happened to some demonstrators when CY Leung held a community meeting in Tin Shui Wai on August 11, 2013.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNAOqMvYItk (Apple Daily)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZWNQC4x14E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5YwAmuejbM (Legislator Leung Kwok-hung)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh2aD7IlX4M (INT News Channel)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG_SxoJ_n7M (INT News Channel)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgUTF4e4UuU (INT News Channel)

- On March 1st, the entire Yuen Long District police force will call in sick, leaving the demonstrators to face the wrath of the indigenous residents on their own. The St John Ambulance will be overwhelmed.

- One reason for the action was that Yuen Long is getting too crowded. Well, getting rid of all parallel traders won't make too much room. Let me list the other groups of people causing the crowding, and you can decided what to do about them:

-- Hundreds of thousands of residents from surrounding towns (such as Tin Shui Wai, Hung Shui Kiu, Ping Shan, Sheung Shui) who come to shop and relax in Yuen Long on weekends

-- Hundreds of thousands of rural villagers in Shap Pat Heung (Eighteen Villages) who come to shop and relax in Yuen Long on weekends

-- Tens of thousands of Filipina/Indonesian domestic helpers who sit on the pedestrian overpasses on Sundays and other public holidays

-- Thousands of South Asians who flock to the South Asian market by the bus terminal

-- Thousands of black people who live in Kam Tin

-- Dozens of new private housing estates such as Yoho Town with their tens of thousands of new residents.

All these people pour into Yuen Long on Sundays. If you can stop all of them, Yuen Long will have peace and quiet.

- Whatever happens in Yuen Long on March 1st won't make any difference. Just ask yourself -- something happened in Tuen Mun on February 8 and then something happened in Sha Tin on February 15. But has anything changed in Tuen Mun or Sha Tin since? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The whole thing is just a media circus.

- The demonstrators want a stop to the Individual Visit Scheme which allows Shenzhen residents multiple entries into Hong Kong. But this is not going to stop parallel goods trading. At present, about half the parallel traders are mainlanders and half Hongkongers. If the mainlanders can't work anymore, the workload will be taken over by Hongkongers. You must therefore also restrict Hongkongers from making multiple visits.

(SCMP) Hundreds of Hongkongers plan new protest march against mainland Chinese visitors  February 24, 2015.

Hundreds of people have signed up to take part in a fresh protest march this weekend against the influx of mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong’s New Territories towns, as discontent with crowded streets and transport delays grows.

The planned rally, organised by online social media group Valiant Frontier would follow recent protests against mainland tourists and parallel goods traders in other New Territories towns such as Tuen Mun, Sha Tin and Sheung Shui. The localist group plans to march near Tai Tong Road Light Rail station, an area lined with grocers and pharmacists that are popular among mainland tourists.

As of Tuesday, 274 people said on the group’s Facebook page that they would join Sunday’s protest. It said the arrangement had caused great nuisance to residents and that streets in the area were jammed by tourists and trucks, goods, and wooden pallets used in parallel trading.

One Facebook user, Autumn Yuen, who claims to be a Hong Kong Island resident, said he would go north to join the march: “I live in Sai Wan. What is happening in Yuen Long has little to do with me at least immediately. But I must come on Sunday.” Yuen Long resident Ms Lau said the streets in the area were mostly narrow. With too many tourists – usually each carrying at least one suitcase to store their purchases – residents faced difficulty walking on the pavement, she said. She also said the variety of shops in the area had diminished in recent years, with many of them turned into pharmacists to cater to mainland tourists.

On February 8, a handful of people were arrested and shops closed after a protest against parallel-goods trading in Tuen Mun descended into chaos. One scuffle between a couple and a group of protesters in Tuen Mun Town Plaza turned into a shoving match, which prompted officers to use pepper spray. Just a week later, Sha Tin saw a similar rally when more than 100 people demonstrated at New Town Plaza, chanting “mainlanders go back to the mainland”.

A rural leader and district councillor based in Yuen Long, Leung Fuk-yuen, said local residents and villagers would ask police to take action if the protesters caused chaos on Sunday. "If they cause a nuisance to others or block businesses, residents will spontaneously find someone like the police to solve the problems and maintain order," Leung told RTHK. He said the tourist situation was "acceptable" in Yuen Long and the streets were not really crowded.

(Sina.com.hk) February 24, 20

A well-known Yuen Long country squire and real estate agent named Wong Sau-yin posted on Facebook to say that he has communicated with a certain business association in Guangdong province about the Hong Kong demonstrations, and proposed the plan of "laying down a bed of nails at the bottom of the pond" which will make sure that "the families of all those people will have bad experiences." Elsewhere, this same Internet user said that those who engaged in physical attack in other districts "all came from Yuen Long anyway." He said that his organization "spent HK$50,000 to cause a Yellow Ribbon zombie to suffer a brain concussion, lost his ability to speak and drool uncontrollably ... I want to see when they are coming to Yuen Long."

These comments caused Internet users to holler that this guy Wong was a professional hit man. Wong said that he was misunderstood and said that he has reported the public outcry to the police.

[Note: The reference to "laying down a bed of nails at the bottom of the pond" has the whole world mystified as no one has heard of this saying. Some people think that this comes from GTA (Grand Theft Auto). However, the more likely explanation is that he mistyped "laying down a bed of nails underneath the bed" which is done by feng shui masters to cause bad karma to the unsuspecting target."]

- Well, you guys made an open statement to cause trouble in Yuen Long (as you did in Sheung Shui, Tuen Mun and Sha Tin). Now the locals have responded that they are waiting for you to show up. If you are as valiant as you claim to be, you better show up on time or else you are a coward. No disappearing act, please.

- Here is a propaganda "news report" piece in Ming Pao in support of Occupy Yuen Long. No wonder that Ming Pao is no longer ranked number one in public trust. Here are some lowlights:

-- "Our reporter found out that on the pedestrian sidewalk on the section of Main Road near the Light Rail station was only 2 meters wide. Even if there are not a lot of pedestrians, it already felt congested." [If this is a problem, then expand the roads instead of restricting mainland individual tourists!]

-- "At Sau Fu Street, our reporter found that Health Century Infant Formula Wholesale City which sells infant formula and other health/medical products, cosmetics, food, toilet tissue, etc. The salesperson said: 'We don't say that we have the cheapest products in the whole district' but we have a wide variety of selections and we provide mail service (including infant formula) all over China." [What is the problem with a wholesale centre that provides bulk sales and delivery at reasonable prices? What has that got to do with mainland individual tourists?]

-- "Ms. Peng came to visit Hong Kong from Hunan (China) during the Lunar New Year holidays. She was recommended to go to the Health Century Wholesale City. She found that the facial masks were only about $5 cheaper than at Sasa and Bonjour, but she thought that the products here in Hong Kong were superior in quality to mainland ones. Therefore she purchased ten boxes of facial masks." [What is the problem with a tourist spending money in Hong Kong? Does this mean that a Kong girl can't find any facial masks to buy? Doesn't the Wholesale City know to order more from South Korea and make even more money?]

-- "Ms. Zhang comes from Shenzhen about twice a month to buy daily necessities. She went to the Whole City to purchase shampoo and skincare products, which are even cheaper than on Taobao. 'In Shenzhen, I can only buy products made in China. Hong Kong has the imports, which have better guarantees." [Isn't this a natural brand equity for Hong Kong that can be exploited for commercial profit? And it won't last forever because it is an intangible asset.]

-- "Mrs. Tong of Yuen Long has a 1-year-old daughter. She said that infant milk formula and diapers rose in prices by about 10% during the Lunar New Year. She said that the pharmacies that cater to mainlanders and parallel traders reserve their products for mainlanders only. 'Hongkongers can't buy them.' She said that the price for Huggies diapers went up by more than $30 and she has to ask at four or five pharmacies before she can find them. Yuen Long resident Mrs. Chung said that there are too many pharmacies in the district, and their customers congregate on the sidewalk to pack their luggage, creating congestion. The mainlanders even create a scarcity of toilet paper, and cause prices of daily necessities to rise." [Clearly Mrs. Tong and Mrs. Chung never learned any basic economics on the relation between demand/supply and price/quantity (see link). If demand is increasing due to more individual mainland tourists with wads of cash making purchases, prices and quantities should both increase. If you see instead prices increase and quantities decrease, it is a supply decrease problem. Ask why the suppliers are colluding and hoarding to jack up the prices even higher!]

-- "Mrs. Cheng who owns the Sun Luen Hing Pharmacy on Sau Fu Street said that he "won't serve parallel traders with carts. He says that parallel traders obstruct the streets and cause rents to soar. A number of pharmacies on the same street specialize in serving parallel traders by selling infant formula at one or two dollars higher than wholesale prices. 'There is no way that I can sell at a loss in order to compete with them.' He insisted also that he won't stock hot-selling Lunar New Year gift items such as Ferrero Rocher chocolates and cookies. 'This is outside of the core business, and I shouldn't be branching into other people's business.' The landlord will be increasing his rent by 50% this April. Mr. Cheng said that his pharmacy may not be able to hold on." [Mr. Cheng wants the individual mainland tourists to vanish and his competitors too, so that he can charge higher prices for his products to local residents. Mrs. Tong and Mrs. Chung must be very glad with this outcome.]

- Another Ming Pao story on commercial rent: Whereas rents have been decreasing in the major consumption centres of Hong Kong (such as Admiralty, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok), they have been increasing in Yuen Long and Tsuen Wan. Recently, Nike, Ingrid Millet, Estée Lauder and others have rented stores on Yuen Long Main Road. Near Citimall, Sasa will be paying $500,000 a month in rent to displace long-time tenant Ocean Empire Congee Restaurant.  But the monthly rent per square foot of HKD$136 is still peanuts compared to the HK$676 paid by Bonjour for Nathan Road 612-618 in Mong Kok. [This is a soul-searching question on which do you want: (A) the Ocean Empire Congee Restaurant where you can have pork liver congee for $40 and which pays $40 per hour to its workers; or (B) a Sasa health and beauty products multinational chain store with total of HK$8.8 billion in 2014 revenues.]

(SCMP) Security stepped up for fresh Hong Kong anti-parallel trading protest as 500 police drafted in  February 27, 2015.

District Councillor Leung Fuk-yuen, who is also chairman of the Shap Pat Heung rural affairs body, said today some residents and indigenous villagers were expected to come out to express their objection to the protest. “Yuen Long is a quiet place and residents do not like to see outsiders stir up trouble in their area,” he told a DBC radio this morning. He criticised protest organisers for getting people from other districts to “intervene” in the town’s affairs. “I think people should show mutual respect,” he said. Leung did not say if the local communities were organising any counteraction to the protest. He said only that residents were expected to turn out spontaneously.

As of Friday, 537 people have signed up for the anti-parallel trading protest on the organisers’ Facebook page, up from 274 on Tuesday.

Leung and Yuen Long District Council chairman and DAB lawmaker Leung Che-cheung will meet police tomorrow to discuss crowd control measures. Police planned to deploy 500 officers, Leung Che-cheung said.

Heung Yee Kuk chairman Lau Wong-fat today called for tolerance and peace. He said he appreciated the livelihoods of some residents could be disturbed if there were too many visitors. “If you are shopkeepers, you would want more people to come. If you are ordinary residents, you may think otherwise. It is natural,” he said. “But I hope the protesters don’t go too far. It is festive time. It should be a time for peace and harmony.” He said he had heard some villagers would set up marshal teams to help maintain order if the protest grew too big. “I hope there will be no conflict,” he added. Lau also said he did not think the parallel trade problem was particularly serious in Yuen Long.

• [162] Occupy Tsuen Wan (2015/02/23) The next big demonstration against parallel traders is at Yuen Long on March 1st. But there was an event this Saturday in Tsuen Wan.

(Oriental Daily) February 22, 2015.

The Population Policy Concern Group and the North New Territories Parallel Imports Concern Group organized an demonstration against parallel traders. The group of about 10 persons marched from a shopping mall entrance to the office of Legislator Michael Tien. The demonstration was over in less than one hour.

Internet comments:

- Why in the world do you want to run a demonstration when most shops are closed for the first four days of the Lunar New Year? There were many more reporters than shoppers or shopkeepers.

- Parallel trading is not an issue in Tsuen Wan. In Sha Tin last week, the demonstrators also went after mainland tourists (or even people who look as if they are mainlanders). But Tsuen Wan does not even have mainland tourists. What tourists would stay in a hotel so far away from the city centre?
- Oh yes, there is the Panda Hotel in Tsuen Wan. But any tourists who are booked to stay there know that they got the cheap treatment from the travel agency in lieu of a five-star harbor front hotel.

- They object because Tsuen Wan is crowded. Well, Tsuen Wan used to be an industrial district until the British colonial administrators declared that it was going to be a New Town. Then it has become crowded ever since, long before there were any mainland tourists.

- If parallel trading is not an issue in Tsuen Wan, why do this? This is because they want to put pressure on Legislator Michael Tien, who is advocating even more individual mainland tourists to be allowed to come. That's fine, except the demonstrators are deliberately confounding the issues.

There are three major types of 'visas' for mainlanders.

Shenzhen residents can get multiple-entry visas. They live nearby and may have reasons to travel to Hong Kong multiple times per year. Some of these visa-holders are parallel traders but not all of them. The demonstrators want an end to all of these visas, which means that mainlanders will have to apply for a visa every time that they want to go to Hong Kong.

The single-entry visa is used mostly by individual tourists who live in a a number of large mainland cities (such as Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Chengdu etc). Legislator Michael Tien wants to open to three additional smaller cities to boost Hong Kong tourism.

The one-way visa is for mainlanders to immigrate to Hong Kong, usually for the reason of family re-unification. For example, a Hong Kong man marries a mainlander woman and they have a child. The wife and child can come to live in Hong Kong on one-way visas, and they become permanent residents after living here for seven years. There is a quota of 150 one-way visas per day, or about 55,000 per year. It is not always used up as some grantees decide not to come after all.

In these demonstrations, the objectives are not always clear. They all say that they oppose the parallel traders, but they often deviate to the other categories in their speeches or actions. On this day, they are protesting against multiple-entry and single-entry visas in their slogans. But they always point to the parallel trading as their reason. They are not the same thing at all. Please make up your minds about what you want and for what reasons!

- They don't want mainland tourists? In 2013, 40.7 million mainland tourists came to visit Hong Kong, of which 27.5 million were under the Individual Visit Scheme. These people spend more than $8,000+ per capita on each trip. If you are willing to forsake HK$200 billion in tourist expenditure, you should say so explicitly.
 
Please check off this simple menu:
[ ] Ban all parallel traders who are defined as those mainlanders who travel frequently between Hong Kong and the mainland, as many as 26 times per day.
[ ] Ban all parallel traders who are defined as those mainlanders or Hongkongers who travel frequently between Hong Kong and the mainland, as many as 26 times per day.
[ ] Stop issuing multiple visit permits to mainlanders, so that each visit must be applied for separately.
[ ] Stop issuing multiple visit permits to mainlanders and Hongkongers, so that each cross-border visit must be applied separately.
[ ] Establish an upper bound on the number of visits each mainlander can make to Hong Kong (e.g. 12 times per year, or 4 times a month)
[ ] Establish an upper bound on the number of cross-border trips each mainlander or Hongkonger can make (e.g. 12 times per year, or 4 times a month)
[ ] Abolish the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) under which residents in 49 mainland cities are allowed to come to Hong Kong for one short-term visit by themselves
[ ] Ban all mainland tourists regardless of whether they come individually or in tour groups.
[ ] Ban all citizens of the People's Republic of China from entering Hong Kong for any reason (business or leisure)
[ ] Ban all tourists from entering Hong Kong (PRC, Taiwan, Japanese, American, British, French, whatever)
[ ] Ban all foreigners (tourists or business travelers) from entering Hong Kong (PRC, Taiwan, Japanese, American, British, French, whatever)
[ ] Or state whatever re-combination that you want to come up with ...

- They don't want mainlanders to come to Hong Kong at all? About one-third of all Hong Kong residents were born on the mainland, including people like Jimmy Lai (Next Media), Lee Cheuk-yan (Labour Party legislator) and Claudia Mo Man-ching (Civic Party legislator). Many Hong Kong residents have parents who were born on the mainland. Tiffany Chin also has family back in Yunnan province, after it was revealed that she was turned back while attempting a family visit.

- Tsuen Wan? This makes no sense whatsoever. This is an original New Town with a mix of residential, commercial and industrial areas. There is no real centre as such, but many shopping malls (Citywalk, Tsuen Wan Plaza, Tsuen Wan New Town Mall, Nan Fung Centre, Discovery Park, Nina Tower, etc). There is no direct train to the border crossings. What mainland parallel trader would pick up merchandise in Tsuen Wan and bring to the mainland? It is not efficient in terms of both time and money.

- Legislator Michael Tien's office is in Discovery Park. Well, that place is a ghost town with very few shoppers to begin with, never mind whether these are parallel traders or not. It is a 15 minute walk to the Tsuen Wan MTR station. Once you get on the MTR in Tsuen Wan, it is about 10 stops to Prince Edward Station. From there you transfer to the Kwun Tong line to reach Kowloon Tong Station. From there you transfer to the East Rail line to go to the border crossings at Lo Wu or Lok Ma Chau. Why would a parallel trader pick up merchandise from Discovery Park? Why not at Sheung Shui which is just one East Rail hop from Luo Hu or Lok Ma Chau? This whole demonstration is for the ten demonstrators to proclaim victory for freedom and democracy, and feel good about themselves.

- (SCMP) Number of mainland visitors to Hong Kong falls for ‘first time since handover’. February 24, 2015.

The number of mainland tourists who came to Hong Kong in the first five days of the Lunar New Year public holiday fell this year for the first time in nearly 20 years, the head of the Travel Industry Council says.

Immigration Department figures showed that 675,155 mainlanders entered Hong Kong during the five days from Wednesday to Sunday, down 0.16 per cent from last year. By contrast, the 676,297 mainlanders who visited Hong Kong in the same period last year represented a 13.7 per cent jump from 594,302 in 2013.

The latest figures have shocked experts in the retail and tourism industries, who attributed the decline to a recent spate of protests against mainland visitors. They also said many mainlanders now prefer Japan and Europe because currencies in those countries have been weak compared to the yuan.

A drop in mainland visitors would hurt Hong Kong's retail sales and tourism, some analysts said. "It is the first time I have seen a drop during the Chinese New Year. That is due to a series of protests against mainland visitors. Some of them have given up on Hong Kong," said Joseph Tung Yao-chung, who has been executive director of the Travel Industry Council since 1997.

Tensions between Hongkongers and mainlanders have been escalating for years as city residents accuse visitors from the north of snapping up daily essentials such as powdered baby milk formula to such an extent that it has become either difficult to buy or prices have soared.

Earlier this month, more than 100 people protested at the New Town Plaza in Sha Tin, chanting "mainlanders go back to the mainland". Another protest is planned for Sunday in the border district of Yuen Long against the multiple-entry arrangement for Shenzhen permanent residents.

Tung also said only about 400 package tour groups came to Hong Kong in the second and third days of the new lunar year, compared to some 500 last year. "I fear the situation will worsen."

Brokerage CLSA said the latest Immigration Department figures showed that the city was losing out in the tourism industry. The firm found that there were only “short queues in front of luxury goods shops on Canton Road”. CLSA forecast the number of mainland visitors to Hong Kong will grow by just  4 per cent this year. Last year, mainland visitor numbers soared 16 per cent.

This came as a local deputy to the National People's Congress is set to submit a proposal at its annual session next month calling for a curb on the multiple-entry scheme for Shenzhen residents. "The influx of mainland tourists has brought immense pressure on the boundary checkpoints and community facilities. The tourists end up unable to enjoy quality service here," local deputy Ip Kwok-him said.

But tourism sector lawmaker Yiu Si-wing said mainlanders from more cities should be allowed to come to Hong Kong through the individual visit scheme. The scheme currently allows residents of 49 mainland cities to come to Hong Kong. "Hong Kong does not welcome mainlanders while other countries are doing the opposite. The US is also making its visa policy friendlier to mainlanders," he said. In November, China and the US signed a deal that allows citizens of both countries 10-year tourist and business visas.

Population Policy Concern Group convenor Roy Tam Hoi-pong said he believed protests against mainland visitors played a small role in the decline. "It is more because of the mainland's crackdown on corruption. Fewer are coming here to spend money," said Tam, who organised a protest last Sunday against another NPC delegate's proposal to extend the individual visit scheme.

• [161] The Kweilin Street Night Market (2015/02/21)

(Oriental Daily) February 17, 2015.

The Internet group Hong Kong Indigenous was recently involved in organizing the demonstrations against parallel traders in Tuen Mun and Sha Tin. They announced that in anticipation of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department's crackdown on unlicensed food vendors in the so-called Kweilin Night Market, they intend to to show up to defend this local tradition.

(Oriental Daily) February 20, 2015.

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced that they will enforce the law rigorously against the illegal night market on Kweilin Street in the Sham Shui Po district. Last night there was an argument between Yellow Ribbons and Blue Ribbons. The police had to separate the two sides. Andy Yung, who acted the role of Captain America during the Occupy Mong Kok movement was reportedly assaulted and had to leave.

(Oriental Daily)  February 21, 2015.

After the Kweilin Street Night Market was banned by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, a number of them went to Mong Kok. Last night more than a dozen food vendors set up on Portland Street selling fish balls, teppanyaki, marinated meat, deep fried tofu, etc. At the urging of Hong Kong Indigenous members, some of these vendors moved from the side streets onto Portland Street in front of the Langham Place shopping mall. The process of moving under the escort of more than a dozen Hong Kong Indigenous members appeared to be dangerous, because the carts had charcoal boilers and boiling oil stoves. Seven Food and Environmental Hygiene Department workers wanted to stop them, but about 50 to 60 Hong Kong Indigenous members and other masked citizens surrounded them and cursed them for "arresting vendors but not parallel traders" using obscene language. They even spread the rumor that the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department workers assaulted vendors.

Stinky tofu vendor pushing a cart with boiling oil in the company of Hong Kong Indigenous members

(Oriental Daily) February 21, 2015.

The Kweilin Street Night Market re-appeared on Portland Street in the Mong Kok district. By 3am, there were still more than 30 carts of food vendors between Shan Tung Street and Argyle Street. Some of these carts held up Kweilin Street Night Market signs.

At around 4am, more than 30 Food and Environmental Hygiene Department workers showed up. The vendors quickly removed their carts and Hong Kong Indigenous members swept the streets on behalf of the vendors. Within minutes the street returned to normalcy.

(Oriental Daily) February 21, 2015.

More than 20 street vendors showed up again on Portland Street in front of Langham Place around 9pm. More than 10 Food and Environmental Hygiene Department workers tried to stop them, but other persons opposed. The workers asked for police assistance, and more than 20 Police Tactical Unit members showed up and shut down Portland Street between Shan Tung Street and Argyle Street. About 8 Hong Kong Indigenous members showed their support for the vendors.

(Local Press) Benjamin Garvey：Protests against Kweilin hawker’s market ban reflect rift in HK democracy camp. February 27, 2015.

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqApbOG4JG4 Shouting between supporters of the unlicensed street vendors and the customers/workers of the licensed Ho Kee Restaurant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVHE080hNYU (SocREC) Food and Environmental Hygiene Department inspectors being told their mothers' stinking cunts are being fucked. That's exactly what they are chanting.

Internet comments:

- Hong Kong Indigenous went out to Tuen Mun and Sha Tin because they say that the many parallel traders are blocking the streets and malls, thus preventing the residents from living normal lives. Now they come out to Sham Shui Po to defend the unlicensed food vendors to block Kweilin Street and Portland Street, thus preventing the residents from living normal lives. I am confused. What do they really want? Pray tell me, someone.

- On one hand, Hong Kong Indigenous want all the jewelry stores and pharmacies to close because they serve mainlanders in order to make way for localist stores (e.g. selling curry fish balls, chicken feet, pork intestines, stinky tofu, fried green peppers, etc). On the other hand, they support unlicensed food vendors. Well, can you have stores paying rent and hiring workers to sell curry fish balls competing with the unlicensed food vendors selling the same things but much cheaper right on the sidewalk in front of the stores?

- Hong Kong Indigenous complains that the government is trying to prevent indigenous people from earning a little bit of extra money during the Lunar New Year holidays. How about the restaurants which are making less money as a result of the unlicensed food carts in front of them? Aren't you preventing them from earning a little bit of extra money?

- These people Occupied for 79 days. They obviously don't give a rat's ass about the economic impact on regular businesses.

- I've seen someone take out two canisters of natural gas and start cooking from the back of a van. If the damned thing explodes in an accident, hundreds of people could die. What about that?

- I went to Sham Shui Po last year. The offerings were just the regular stuff (BBQ meat, stinky tofu, deep fried pork intestines, curry fish balls, etc) that can be found anywhere else. The prices were higher than in Mong Kok, North Point or elsewhere. It was nothing special. The only noteworthy thing was that the garbage was piled high on the roadside and stank to the high heavens.

- Rumors abound that the triads collect $500 per cart in protection money per night. So 40 carts mean $20,000 in total revenues per night. Not a bad business to be in.

- No way, my friend operates a food cart and he does not pay for protection. He has earned several tens of thousands of dollars each year. Please do not speak out of ignorance.

- Buddy, how many stinky tofu cubes must you sell per night to earn several tens of thousands of dollars? Your arm would fall off from the labor!

- Sham Shui Po's big brother/triad boss is "Blindman Heng." During the Occupy Hong Kong period, he was praised for coming out to "protect the students." When the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department comes out against unlicensed food vendors, he is being praised for "preserving collective local memories."

- The government should relax law enforcement for a couple of weeks per year for the sake of nostalgia.

- Nostalgia? There is plenty of things that I am nostalgic about. How about cooking with accident-prone kerosene stoves? Black-and-white television on Rediffusion? Airplanes landing perilously at Kai Tak Airport? Rickshaw drivers?

- Should the unlicensed food vendors be thanking or hating Hong Kong Indigenous? In previous years, nobody gave a rat's ass about their activities. Now that Hong Kong Indigenous shows up to support their illegal activities, there is an all-out government crackdown. Praise the Lord!

- I stood in line for half an hour in order to pay ten dollars for four defrosted fish balls. That was my experience. How is that for nostalgia?

- From the news report, "During this time, one food vendor was surrounded by more than 30 citizens who accused him of opposing Occupy Central. The food vendor left the scene." What is this? Is there a political correctness test for unlicensed food vendors?

- The pan-democrats will always win. If you enforce the law, they say that you are unsentimental. If you don't enforce the law, they say that you are negligent. Heads they win, tails you lose.

- I live in Sham Shui Po, and you have no idea what I have to put up with. Because of the garbage from the food vendors, the streets are infested with rats. Even the tenth floor apartments have seen big rats inside thanks to the Kweilin Street Night Market. PLEASE!

- From where does the assumption come that the Food and Environment Hygiene Department won't enforce the existing laws rigorously during the joyous Lunar New Year holidays? It is the same assumption that the traffic police won't issue parking tickets that leads to triple parking in the streets.

- Someone says that since most regular restaurants are closed for the Lunar New Year, we should tolerate the unlicensed food carts. What kind of world are you living in? There was decades ago. Today all restaurants open year round!

- The unlicensed food vendors pose a threat to public safety and hygiene. First of all, their carts carry heaters, hot water/soup and boiling oil. What happens if a cart is tipped over and falls on a baby carriage? Secondly, the food is homemade and not subject to any hygiene inspections. You are waiting for mass food poisoning to happen. Thirdly, if it is okay for unlicensed food vendors to operate on Kweilin Street, then it must be okay to operate everywhere else? How about if I operate a food cart on Star Ferry? Inside the IFC? Of course, when bad things happen, it is always 689's fault.
P.S. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has said that they are enforcing the existing laws. Under the law, it is possible to have fixed-placed and itinerant hawkers, but this is only after obtaining community approval through the regular process and meeting public health standards.

- A licensed restaurant is subject to inspection by the Food and Environmental Health Department. Failing to meet hygiene requirements may result in fines or even temporary or permanent suspension of the operating license. An unlicensed food stall is not subject to inspection. Surprise inspections does nothing because the itinerant vendor cannot be tracked down even if the laboratory report of the food shows health hazard.

- Apple Daily kept reporting that the pro-establishment DAB is against unlicensed food vendors. But they can't name any pan-democrat (e.g. Frederick Fung whose home base is the Sham Shui Po district) who supports unlicensed food vendors. Why don't we see the Civil Human Rights Front organizing a demonstration to support these unlicensed food vendors? That's because they ultimately know that you cannot open the floodgates for unlicensed food vendors to operate everywhere.

- Here is a bizarre assertion: The older generation were used to eating curbside food and they never get sick. Today there is no more curbside food but the new generation frequently gets ill. Therefore eating unlicensed and unregulated food is good because it builds up immunity! How is that for scientific rigor?

- Is that why so many Hongkongers go to Japan to build up their immunity against radiation!?

- The Temple Street Night Market has merchandise, second-hand-goods, Cantonese opera singers, fortune tellers, food, etc. The Kweilin Street Night Market has mostly food carts plus some martial arts exhibitions (between Yellow Ribbons and Blue Ribbons).

- Captain America, less well known as Andy Yung, goes around swinging a British colonial flag to advocate Hong Kong independence. Does he realize that the hawker licensing procedures came from the British colonialists? That's a rhetorical question given that he obviously does not care about the intellectual property rights of Captain America.

• [160] About the Hong Kong Federation of Students (2015/02/21)

(Ta Kung Pao) February 18, 2015.

Lingnan University Student Union president Nathan Law is also a member of the Hong Kong Federation of Students executive committee. Yesterday he was interviewed on radio about the issues raised by the Hong Kong University student vote to withdraw from the federation.

Nathan Law was asked why the students are demanding that Hong Kong should not elect its Chief Executive by a small election committee but meanwhile the Federation leaders are elected from among and by a small group of student representatives. Isn't that a self-contradiction? Nathan Law replied that some of the student representatives were popularly elected by students. Furthermore, if the secretary-general is elected by universal suffrage by all university students, then his powers and accountability would far exceed that of any representative of a student university at a particular university. Thus, Nathan Law said that it is impossible to elect the federation secretary-general by universal suffrage.

Concerning the federation finances, he said that the federation hands the financial documents to the representative groups from the member universities. He acknowledges that as a the president of the Lingnan University Student Union, he has omitted to disclose the details to the student body. He said that the federation is doing an internal review about the composition of the secretariat and the executive committee.

Concerning whether the Hong Kong University Student Union will receive its share of assets back from the federation, Nathan Law said that no such stipulation exists on the procedure of withdrawal. However, it is written elsewhere that "members do not share the assets."

(Wikipedia)

The Hong Kong Federation of Students is formed by the student unions of 8 institutions: Hong Kong University, Chinese University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, City University, Hong Kong Baptist University, Lingnan University, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

(University Grants Committee student enrolment 2013/2014)

Hong Kong University: 17,888
Chinese University of Hong Kong: 8,687
Hong Kong Polytechnic University: 17,293
City University of Hong Kong: 13,004
Hong Kong Baptist University: 7,051
Lingnan University: 2,645
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology: 10,146

(Hong Kong Federation of Students)

Each member university elect its chief representative to the federation. The rest of the team of representatives is either appointed by the chief representative, or appointed by the student council, or appointed by the student union executive committee (that is to say, they are not elected by the student body).

The standing committee of the federation is composed of the chief representatives of the member universities; the chairman of the standing committee; the secretary-general and the deputy secretary-general.

The secretariat is composed of the secretary-general, the deputy secretary-general and an appointed secretary.

The standing committee makes it decision through consensus. On any decision, there has to be a consensus for the federation to proceed. If a consensus is not reached, then member universities can proceed on their own but they cannot use the name of the federation.

The student representatives are held accountable to the student councils and the students of their respective universities.

Internet comments:

- The Federation of Students secretary-general Alex Chow goes around saying that he is representing the people of Hong Kong to meet with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. Now it turns out that he was elected by eight elected student representatives and the toadies that those eight appointed. This sounds a lot smaller than the 1,200 election committee for Chief Executive.
P.S. Their new name is "The Hong Kong Federation of Students (minus Hong Kong University)."

- The Federation of Students wants universal suffrage for the Hong Kong Chief Executive, but not for their own secretary-general. Ex-archbishop Joseph Zen wants universal suffrage for the Hong Kong Chief Executive, but not for the Pope. These are examples of Hong Kong democracy: You shout slogans for democracy, but you won't practice democracy yourself.

- "If the federation secretary-general is elected by universal suffrage by students in all the member universities, then his powers and accountability are greater than those of a student union representative from any individual member universities. In that case, it becomes impossible to determine accountability. Therefore, it will be impossible to elect a federation secretary-general."

-- "Some of the student representatives are elected by universal suffrage." That means "some other student representatives" were not elected by  universal suffrage, just like the corporate votes in the current Chief Executive nomination committee.

-- DLLM, now you tell us.

-- This is the Federation of Students Standing Committee's version of the August 31st resolution?

-- "I want genuine universal suffrage."

-- Can I believe that some faux democrats are helping me to get genuine democracy? Please do not take me for a fool!

-- Time to escalate action and occupy all eight university campuses to demand genuine universal suffrage.

-- This sounds even worse than what the Communists have to say about universal suffrage. If the Communists require that the Chief Executive be a patriot who loves Hong Kong and China, then these guys must require that their secretary-general not be a mainland student (c.f. Eugenia Yip).

-- The "Communist Federation of Students"?

-- Amazing that 800 comments later that no one Yellow Ribbon came out to defend Nathan Law's statement, not even accusations of fifty-cent gang membership against the naysayers.

-- Down with the Federation of Students Gang of Four (Alex Chow, Lester Shum, Yvonne Leung, Nathan Law)!

- Why doesn't Nathan Law want universal suffrage within the Federation of Students? Just look at the enrolment statistics: Hong Kong University has 17,888 students and Lingnan University has 2,645 students. Other things being equal, representatives from the larger universities will have higher chances of winning than those from the smaller ones. Nathan Law (Lingnan University) is Alex Chow (Hong Kong University)'s anointed successor as secretary-general. His job is on the line. So why would he be interested in universal suffrage? Behind what a politician says is always self-interest.

- Nathan Law is spouting incoherent rubbish even before becoming secretary-general. But he is following the grand tradition established by Alex Chow.

- The eight universities are very different in enrolment sizes. Hong Kong University and Hong Kong Polytechnic University have more than 17,000 students whereas as Lingnan University and Shue Yan  University have under 3,000 students. If universal suffrage is implemented for the standing committee, it will be dominated by the larger universities.
The analogy is with the bicameral United States Congress. There is a House of Representatives which is apportioned to states by population (for example, California has 53 seats and Vermont has 1 seat). There is a Senate in which each state gets two seats irrespective of population size. Legislation has to be passed by both houses before it is sent out for presidential approval. This structure is there to allow the small states to protect their own interests.
The Federation of Students has a standing committee with one student representative from each of the 8 universities irrespective of student body size. Thus, it is like the US Senate. The standing committee also has a secretary-general and a deputy, who are like the US President and Vice-President in powers. But the US leaders are elected by a modified form of universal suffrage (which is not one that the Federation of Students would say is "genuine").

- "The Chinese Communists have lowered the barriers on universal suffrage. We might as well as not waste any more effort on fighting. We will never see universal suffrage implemented in our lifetimes. Instead, we should think about Hong Kong withdrawing from the People's Republic of China to form a new nation that will elect our own leaders to look after our own interests." That can be re-written: "The Federation of Students standing committee through Nathan Law has lowered the barriers on universal suffrage. We might as well as not waste any more effort on fighting. We will never see universal suffrage implemented in our lifetimes. Instead, the individual universities should think about withdrawing from the Federation and go back to electing their own student union members who look after their interests."

- Nathan Law means to say that if students at a particular university are unhappy with what the Federation is doing, they can hold their own student representatives accountable (but not the student representatives from other universities). But if the secretary-general is elected by all students, students at a particular university cannot hold him accountable because he can always claim that he is considering the interests of everybody and not just the students from one university. That sounds tough, except that is what every national leader faces.

- One speculation why the pan-democrats don't really one-person-one-vote for Chief Executive is that this person would have greater authority than the legislators who are elected by functional constituency or geographical district. For example, a legislator in Hong Kong Island was elected by the voters there and not authorized by voters elsewhere. Therefore, this Chief Executive could legitimately overrule the legislators. Within the Federation of Students, an elected secretary-general could legitimately overrule the student representatives from individual universities.

- If the Federation of Students is eventually dissolved as the member universities vote to withdraw, who would be the happiest?
(A) The Communist Party
(B) The three Occupy Central stooges
(C) Joshua Wong/Scholarism
(D) The pan-democratic legislators
(E) The Hong Kong Indigenous group

- If and when all eight universities withdraw from the Federation, the HK$ 20 million sitting in the bank will go into the pockets of the five faceless board directors who have been there since 2003. That's swell.

- This concerns only one student organization, the Federation of Students. As for the other student organization Scholarism, elections are not even held. Nobody knows who they represent or how they come about. They seem to say that they represent the secondary students of Hong Kong. Which secondary school has ever held elections for Scholarism representation?

• [159] Occupy Shatin - The Main Event (2015/02/15)

(Oriental Daily) 3:11pm.

Video action of demonstrators arguing with mainland tourists. In the beginning, the demonstrator in black t-shirt was restrained by other demonstrators who also pleaded with others to stop filming. Then there was shouting of "Go away! You are not welcome here" At around 0:55, a Cantonese-speaking man in a red t-shirt shows up to argue with the demonstrators. The police then interceded.

(Oriental Daily) 3:26pm.

The demonstrators clearly had a plan. They divided the actions into keeping an eye for the police, harassing shoppers, raising their own red warning banners, etc. When the police showed up, they dispersed. During this time, someone grabbed a female plainclothes police officer by the hair so that she lost her balance and almost fell down. Meanwhile the demonstrators yelled "Evil police" and "Good people don't become cops." Meanwhile the New Town Plaza made public announcements to tell tourists to look after their accompanying children given that there are demonstrations going on.

Addendum: (Oriental Daily) Among the 6 persons arrested yesterday was a 35-year-old unemployed man named Wong. He was charged with assaulting a police officer by pulling her hair from behind. Wong was already out on bail for another incident during a Mong Kok demonstration in January. The evidence? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBM2AYkbJSo At 1:05, someone reaches over and pulls the hair of the female plainclothes police officer. This is replayed in slow motion at 1:18.

(Oriental Daily) 3:35pm.

Video action of more than twenty demonstrators surrounding a short fat lady outside a shuttered store. It is reported that inside New Town Plaza, at least 7 stores (including jewellery shops Chow Sang Sang and Chow Tai Fook) shut down. Meanwhile the demonstrators were chanting: "We are not going to let them leave their shopping carts." Some demonstrators distributed surgical masks to others to tell them to "protect themselves."

(Oriental Daily) 3:56pm

On this afternoon, Internet users came to join the "Defend Sha Tin, oppose parallel traders" Action. Some of the demonstrators got very excited and yelled at anyone hauling luggage because they must be parallel traders.

A cosmetics shop near the Yata Department Store had lowered its gates, so some of the customers were trapped inside. Meanwhile a Ms. Chan hauling a luggage was identified by the demonstrators as a parallel trader and they surrounded her and cursed her out. In the struggle, she was also accused of pushing the Mong Kok cross-dressing guy Ah Kay down on the ground. Afterwards, Ms. Chan told our reporter that she is a Hongkonger who went to Yata to buy her family's Lunar New Year items. She said that the demonstrators were out of line.

Addendum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvs2ZHZVdm8 Video posted by SocREC reporter Ava Chan, who happens to be Ah Kay now working as a reporter using a pseudonym.

In the video, there was a wrestling match between a demonstrator in a black t-shirt with a friend who was trying to stop him from attacking mainlanders. Someone noted his state of mind: "He is a drug abuser." At 1:39 of the video, the man in the black t-shirt shouted aloud: "I want genuine universal suffrage!"

Addendum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixWx56EvjxU Another view of the man in black t-shirt.

(Oriental Daily with video) 3:59pm;

The demonstrators told the mainland tourists to "scram back to China." Others chanted "Build the Hong Kong City-State." Some demonstrators intercepted any mainlander with a shopping cart or luggage case and prevented them from moving.

A Mr. Li from Shenzhen saluted the demonstrators with his middle finger. He said that he comes down to Hong Kong once a month. He was trying to buy Lunar New Year items this time, and ran into the demonstrators. He said: "I am very unhappy" and "I don't understand why they would discriminate against mainlanders." He says that this was an isolated incident and he will continue to come to Hong Kong.

[Mr. Li was also interviewed by Apple Daily. He showed that he bought some biscuits and Sugus candies on this trip.]

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo-Wy31QXHw (dbc) At 1:00, there is Mr. Li from Shenzhen trying to making his way through. The plainclothes police woman who would get her hair pulled shows up at 1:13 to help him.]

(Oriental Daily with video) 4:17pm

[Laughing sales assistants being dogged by journalists]

One man got into argument with the demonstrators. The man later walked into the Global Work clothing store. Demonstrators charged into the store, and caused the shop assistants to go into hiding to avoid being targeted. Meanwhile other demonstrators banged on the door of a shuttered underwear shop.

(Oriental Daily with video) 4:42pm

A clash between police and demonstrators on a passageway between different shopping plazas.

A Valiant Warrior punched a mainland tourist from behind.

A Valiant Warrior in black hood and surgical mask delivers the message to mainland tourists ("Chinese people love their motherland, go back and spend money in China")

(Oriental Daily with video) 5:19pm.

Waving the British Dragon/Lion flag for Hong Kong independence.

A man says the demonstrators attacked him. The demonstrators said he attacked the demonstrators.

(Oriental Daily with video) 5:46pm.

A male citizen called out from the fourth floor of New Town Plaza to the demonstrators below: "Young wastrels". About 200 demonstrators rushed up to the fourth floor. The police formed a cordon around the male citizen. But the demonstrators pressed forwards and surrounded the male citizen in front of a store. The police jostled with the demonstrators, raised the red warning banner and then released pepper spray. As more demonstrators surged forward, the mall management stopped the escalators. All the stores on the fourth floor were shuttered.

The man who called the demonstrators "young wastrels" being manhandled by them. Note the bespectacled young man holding on to the right foot.

(Apple Daily) has the same incident. A bald-headed man who claimed to be a Hongkonger clashed with anti-parallel trader demonstrators and accused them of being "young wastrels." He placed his hands around the neck of a bespectacled young man. The young man told the police: "He held my neck." The police eventually took the bald-headed man away for questioning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCJBW93r0u0 (Epoch Times) The bald-headed man versus the mob. At 1:05, he is down on the ground and they are screaming: "Fucking kick him to death!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUTLw7Ij86E (SocREC) The bald-headed guy versus a very valiant crowd. The crowd asked him: "You assaulted someone and now you are breaking out in cold sweat." It probably has more to do with the spitting right in his face.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUjH5YoneNw Internet users compared the bald-headed man to Donnie Yen in the movie Ip Mon as the legendary Chinese martial artist who issues a challenge to fight ten Japanese soldiers at the same time.

(Oriental Daily) 9:18pm

Mr. Cheung who operates a eyeglass store in New Town Plaza estimated that he lost at least 30% of his business today as a result of the two hours when he had to shutter the store. The store depends heavily on weekend sales. But he emphasized that his paramount concern was the safety of the workers and customers. He said that his customers are about half local and half mainland. The mainlanders purchase eyeglasses for personal use. He said the demonstrators can express their demands without impacting others.

(Ming Pao) http://news.mingpao.com/ins/%E3%80%90%E6%B2%99%E7%94%B0%E5%8F%8D%E6%B0%B4%E5%AE%A2%E3%80%91%E7%A4%BA%E5%A8%81%E4%BA%BA%E6%BD%AE%E6%95%A3%E5%8E%BB%20%E5%BA%97%E8%88%96%E9%87%8D%E9%96%8B/web_tc/article/20150215/s00001/1424010921687

According to Ms. Man at the Japanese furniture stop SaLa in New Town Plaza Phase III, they were not aware of the demonstration today. During the action, they lowered the gates for half an hour. Even though the crowd left, business was still affected. Sunday is usually the better day for business, but they lost about $3,000 in business today.

According to Ms. Ho in the women's fashion store Mushroom, they were not aware of the demonstration today and therefore were unprepared. The demonstrators arrived around 4pm and about 100 people gathered outside the store. They lowered the gates for about half an hour. She thinks that evening business was affected. Even though traffic resumed to normal by 6pm, they had missed the prime shopping time period. She estimates that they lost 50% of their normal Sunday business.

(Apple Daily) 8:52pm

An escalation of action took place later. About 50 demonstrators rushed onto Tam Kon Po Street across the Shatin Town Hall, and tossed garbage cans and traffic cones onto road to block vehicular traffic. Many drivers honked to signal their displeasure. The police came and restore order. The entire incident lasted two minutes.

(The Standard) Sha Tin protestors pepper sprayed.

Tensions rose from about 3pm with the group of protesters arriving at the mall and shouting at mainlanders to go home. Some held signs saying, "Get Out" and "You are not civilized." A mainland woman shouted back but was immediately drowned out by several protesters who yelled back while giving her the middle finger. One protester held up the colonial flag and called for independence for Hong Kong.

During the chaos, shelves in one shop were pulled down, scattering goods on the floor. Scuffles between various groups were reported at about 5pm and a shop's shutter was hit by a hard object thrown by an unidentified person. Officers immediately hoisted the red banner and moved in to separate the opposing groups with pepper spray.

One local shopper scolded the protesters, calling them "useless youths." As tempers flared, police surrounded the shopper, but protesters pushed forward and scuffled with officers.

Several more scuffles erupted among protesters, shoppers and the police, with several people falling over. Police then formed a human wall to separate protesters and others as well as to prevent protesters from launching themselves at the shutters that shop operators had pulled down.

The protesters were not deterred by the pepper spray and most shops on the fourth floor were forced to close amid fears protesters might rush in. Police used batons to disperse protesters, and a policewoman had her hair pulled.

A mainland shopper from Dongguan said: "By organizing such a rally, Hong Kong people have shown themselves to be troublesome." Others said they will continue to shop in Hong Kong.

A Hong Kong woman said the increasing number of mainland visitors had disrupted locals' daily lives and she now visits the mall less often."They are impolite. The hit people with the luggage they drag around and do not even apologize," she said.

(SCMP) Fresh clashes in New Territories protest against parallel traders

Clashes erupted in the New Territories for the second Sunday in a row yesterday as a shopping mall was overrun by anti-parallel trading protesters.

Police were repeatedly forced to intervene, wrestling protesters to the ground, drawings batons and unleashing pepper spray. But a series of arrests led to demonstrators confronting officers, hurling abuse such as "black police" and other insults.

For a second week, after protests erupted in Tuen Mun last Sunday, the colonial-era flag was waved at the protest. One demonstrator waving the flag was aged just 13.

Police last night said six men were arrested for offences including assaulting police, disorder in a public place, obstructing police and common assault. Three people, including an officer, were injured, police said. They later said more arrests may follow.

Trouble flared after more than 100 young protesters marched from the Sha Tin MTR station through the New Town Plaza, chanting "mainlanders go back to the mainland" and telling mainlanders to "drink their own milk powder".

As demonstrators advanced, shops rolled down their shutters - many with customers still inside - and escalators were stopped.

One local, who gave her name as J.Chan, 29, said she resented mainlanders. "The situation is bad here. Sha Tin has become a parallel trading heaven," said Chan, who grew up in the district but moved away a year ago. "I once saw a mainlander just casually having a meal of siu mei [Chinese barbecue snacks] in a shopping mall nursing room. They have no manners and no culture."

Mainlanders and parallel traders were berated by demonstrators, with some reacting angrily by giving protesters the middle finger. "I don't understand what they are saying [in Cantonese] but this is crazy, I don't know why they are so violent," said a mainland tourist from Hangzhou . "I have only come to buy gifts for the Lunar New Year ... I guess I won't spend so much here in the future."

Tensions rose as sporadic clashes erupted between protesters, police and even shoppers. Some mall-goers were so angry about the protests that scuffles broke out with those marching.

A spokesman for one of the activist groups at the protest, HK Indigenous, which had coorganised last week's Tuen Mun rally that led to more than a dozen arrests, said the Sha Tin event was spontaneous. "We are not here to cause trouble. We are here merely to see how this [parallel trading] activity is affecting Hongkongers' lives," he said, adding one member of the group was arrested yesterday "without reason" .

 Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgaBZvhmJhI (SocREC) Taken at 6:17pm. The video title said that a Chinese woman is surrounded by a large number of citizens.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDyCQWO-GgY (SocREC) Action from the rear. People milling around looking to take pictures and videos. What was happening?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOqITIwqMCw (SocREC)
0:08 (Crowd) Fuck your mother! Fuck your mother! Fuck your mother! Fuck your mother! Fuck your mother! Fuck your mother! Fuck your mother! Fuck your mother! ...
1:00 (Crowd) Evil cop! Evil cop! Evil cop! Evil cop! Evil cop! Evil cop! Evil cop! Evil cop! ...
1:18 (Woman) Fuck your mother! Fuck your mother!
1:30 (Woman) Release him! Release him! Release him!
1:36 (Woman) Why are you arresting the kid? Why are you arresting the kid?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3-X47b1aOo (SocREC) Taken at 6:19pm. The police removed a luggage case (according to the video title, but the said action was not observed on this video). The demonstrators chanted "Evil cops" and "Fuck your mother!"
(Oriental Daily) A female mainland tourist with a luggage case was cursed out by the demonstrators and fled leaving the luggage case behind. When she went back to retrieve her luggage, she got into an argument with a demonstrator wearing a surgical mask. The police separated the two. The demonstrator would not stop and continued to curse for 10 minutes. The police escorted the female tourist to leave. But her luggage was pasted with banners saying "Valiant resistance" and "Building the Hong Kong Nation." The demonstrators then tried to kick the luggage case. More than a dozen policeman surrounded the luggage case. The demonstrators accused the police for guarding luggage on behalf of mainlanders. They said that this was a waste of police resources. The luggage case was finally removed by the security personnel at the shopping mall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqBFe8L1Wxk (SocREC) Physical confrontation between police and demonstrators. Pushing and shoving. A shop gate was damaged.

(INT News Channel)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4073xL1n3Y Part 1 at 3:10pm. Assemble at the train station and give the obligatory press conference.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTezhK_UM3w Part 2 at 3:19pm. The video begins with the man in the black t-shirt wobbling around and cursing everybody's mother. At 2:22, he says "I want genuine universal suffrage."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2VQNPbES2w Part 3 at 4:11pm. At 1:26, the crowd chases someone into the Global Work clothing shop. A man and his son are escorted away to leave through the door on the lower floor of the store.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oorKiLPeDE Part 4 at 4:45pm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko5Mezv5kNg Part 5 at 5:11pm. The bald-headed guy versus the mob. They mill around. At 4:12, "Don't hit him." "Don't hit his groin." "Don't hit him in the face." "Don't hit him with your hand. Fingerprints." "Don't let anyone see you." At 4:43pm, "Go back to the mainland! Go back to the mainland! Go back to the mainland!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiETC0tFBeE Part 6 at 5:56pm. Police use pepper spray.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab1C-JCm0Hw Part 7 at 6:05pm. The bald-headed guy got thrown on the floor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mezcJ8Vqcdc Part 8 at 6:22pm. First a couple is surrounded and cursed at. Then there is the mysterious luggage case in the middle of the hall. At 2:00, a woman gets yelled at by pro-democracy mouth-foaming valiant warriors with lots of "Fuck your mother" and "Go back to China." At 2:29, the gentleman in the white t-shirt screams a few inches away: "What the fuck is this to you!? Fuck your mother! Don't ever fucking come here again! Did you hear me?" Then the crowd applauds his speech. At 2:45, the gentleman in the white t-shirt is encouraged by the reception o this speech, says: "I fuck you mother! Don't fucking come here!" The female says that he is blocking her way. He screams: "I am fucking refusing to let you pass! Does that fucking upset you?" And it goes on for a while. Nothing of substance except "Fuck your mother!" and "Don't ever fucking come back!" At 5:20, the camera pans back to the luggage case, now plastered with slogans. The police show up to chants of "Evil police!" At 6:24, a mall security guard removes the luggage case. At 12:27, the crowd surrounds a man in a corridor and offers him some more "Fuck your mother!" He waves an ID card and a demonstrators tries to grab it. More "Fuck your mother!" They won't let him leave until he apologizes. For what? The man's female companion makes the pray sign, slaps him lightly on the face and begs the crowd to forgive him. More "Fuck your mother!" He says, "I am a Hongkonger and I am Chinese." At 16:07, a middle-aged man gives the real message: "I am a Hongkonger. I am a Hongkonger. You eat shit!" The distressed woman slaps her companion a few more times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSQ1jRA0-e8 (dbc) A series of citizen-policeman confrontation. A policeman gets injured on the forehead at 2:11. The crowd surges forward. The police raise the red warning banner and then used pepper spray.

http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/realtime/breaking/20150215/53441838 (Apple Daily) At 5:45pm, more than one hundred demonstrators clashed with the police. The police pushed forward, and the demonstrators and reporters were backed into a fashion store after forcing the plastic door open. The police used pepper spray, and many reporters got sprayed. Fortunately, the people only pushed the display shelf down and did not break the kitchen cabinet which held some glass dining utensils, or a lot of people might be injured.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFP4cCYURdM (Epoch Times) A man tries to sneak away while the policeman is listening to a complainant. Other policemen chased him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBM2AYkbJSo (Epoch Times) At 1:05, someone reaches over and pulls the hair of the female plainclothes police officer. This is replayed in slow motion at 1:18. The police woman want certain bystanders to play their videos to locate the perpetrator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRVjghKn040 (TVB) News hour report
0:43 An elderly couple claimed to be tourists on their first visit ever to Hong Kong. The man said: "I feel that you Hongkongers are very troublesome. You Hong Kong people. We did not block the passageway. We were only sitting there. This was my first time here. How would I know?  Very bad. Very bad. Chinese people don't curse people this way.
1:00 Placard: "Chase away Communist locusts; restore British Hong Kong; build a Hong Kong People's Government." "Eradicate the 1 million barbarian Communist locusts, wash away the shame of 18 years of oppression by the Communist locusts, cleanse Hong Kong once more."
1:26 Masked young man: "Chinese people should buy Chinese products." Woman with children: "We used came to walk around. What is the matter with you people?"
2:25 Ms. Ho who is in charge of a cosmetics store: "I guess that business would decrease by 20% to 30% because the traffic flow. The gate is lowered now, so the customers aren't coming in. It becomes harder to conduct business."

Internet comments:

- Yet another demonstration with unique Hong Kong characteristics: twenty demonstrators, a hundred spectators, and five hundred so-called "photojournalists", most of whom don't work for media outlets and are only looking for Like's on their Facebook.

- If you know anything about mainland China, you will know that February 15 (Sunday) was a regular working day because they shift the rest day to the long Lunar New Year vacation week. So most of the shoppers in Sha Tin today are Hongkongers.

- The action is "Defend Sha Tin, oppose parallel traders." They targeted the jewellery stores Chow Sang Sang and Chow Tai Fook. What have the jewellery stores got to do with parallel traders? Nothing. This is just a Sino-phobic action in disguise. That was why you have people waving the British Dragon/Lion flag for Hong Kong independence.

- One demonstrator was heard yelling: "Why are you expelling me from the mall but not the locusts?" That is because the mainlanders are shopping whereas you are trying to stop them from shopping. If this reasoning defies you, you need to check into the Castle Peak Psychiatric Hospital.

- How did a protest against parallel traders became an all-out attack on mainland tourists? What is the future of a city whose citizens harass tourists?

- If you say that the mainland tourists are rude and disorderly, then I don't see how the mob today can be described as polite and orderly. "You are wrong, therefore I must be right" is a weird logic.

This demonstrator brought his own red banner: "Oust all barbarians." On this day, the demonstrators were the barbarians, both in behavior and in literal meaning: "The word 蠻 refers to those uncivilized people living in Southern China (e.g. Hong Kong) and far away from the Central Plains, which was the political and cultural centre of the Middle Kingdom."

- The slogan was to eliminate multi-entry visas for mainlanders. Fine, what if the Hongkongers' Home Visit Permit is entitled to only one visit? If you want to make another trip, you have to go down to the China Travel Service and re-apply? How would you feel? Very inconvenient for some Hongkongers who need to travel more often, eh?

- I support ousting the parallel traders (both mainland and Hong Kong citizens), but I oppose the ousting of all mainland tourists. But unless the Localists have special abilities, they can post guard in front of PrizeMart and they won't be able to correctly distinguish between the two types all the time. So this type of effort is going to result in some mistakes. But I suppose this was the intention of a subset of those demonstrators, namely those waving signs that they want to cleanse one million mainland locusts from Hong Kong.

- The real purpose today cannot be about harassing mainland tourists or parallel traders. It is to harass Hong Kong shoppers doing their Lunar New Year shopping, in the hope that they will be stupid enough to blame CY Leung for what happened.

- As for the 50 people who tossed garbage cans and traffic cones outside the Shatin Town Hall, I completely fail to see the connection to stopping the parallel traders. There isn't even any symbolic value. It only reminds people of the losing cause known as Occupy Central. Sometimes, I wonder if these stupid people doing stupid things are actually Communist agents provocateurs who want to provide the rationale for legislating Article 23.

- Apple Daily said that drivers honked to express their displeasure at the people tossing garbage cans and traffic cones on the road. This is speculative on the part of the reporter. How do you know if the drivers were not honking in support of the action? Apple Daily must apologize for this reporting mistake and the chief editor must resign to complete the accountability process.

- I just saw on TVB News a female Shatin resident voicing her support of the demonstrators. Well, does she welcome the Umbrella people to block all vehicular traffic (including buses and minibuses) and set up a tent city in downtown Shatin? She just might, but only if she assumes that the government will fall as a result. Except that won't happen.

- These young wastrels are really good at attacking in wolf packs one or two mainland tourists. But they will never go to Beijing and mount a protest in Tiananmen Square. What is holding back "genuine universal suffrage" is not the CY Leung government; it is the Chinese Communist Party. So they attack the enemy by harassing one or two mainland tourists at a time. And they call themselves the Valiant (勇武) Ones.

- I once thought that this was a campaign against parallel traders. Then I noticed that all Hong Kong mobile telephone equipment companies engage in parallel trading -- that is, you can buy either the Hong Kong model or an imported model from somewhere else (Australia? Vietnam? Indonesia? wherever) which is cheaper due to price differential. Who are we trying to kid here? It was never about parallel trading. It was always about Sinophobia.

- They keep shouting "Mainlanders should go home and use Chinese products." Does that mean that Hong Kong people should stay home and use only Hong Kong products? Oh, wait, Hong Kong does not make that much, does it? So what is the rationale?

- The confrontation with the bald-headed guy made clear what the underlying strategy of the day was. After the Umbrella Revolution, it was clear that long-term mass occupation was unsustainable, would lose public opinion support and be forcibly cleared by the police. Then they thought about reaching out to the local communities. But when a handful of Yellow Ribbons set up street booths, they get chased away by dozens of angry citizens. Therefore the current strategy is an optimal solution.

First of all, there is no intention of running a long-term mass occupation. This is just fluid and transient for a couple of hours only.

Secondly, their numbers are just big enough (200 according to the police estimate). The bald-headed guy challenged a demonstrator to a fight. The demonstrator refused to fight him. Instead, a dozen of demonstrators jumped the bald-headed guy and held him on the ground. The bald-headed guy got up and want to fight one-on-one. The telling remark from a demonstrator was: "Yes, the whole point is that we have the numbers. Does that upset you?"

If you spread the 200 people across the main parallel trading towns (Sheung Shui, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, Sha Tin, Tai Po, Fan Ling), then each location will have only 30 to 40 people who may be lynched by local resident and shopkeepers. Therefore this current strategy of one town each Sunday is optimal.

But it won't change anything, because they can cause trouble in one town for two hours every Sunday while business goes on as usual at other locations and at other times. The whole exercise is only for media consumption.

- The appearance of the bald-headed guy revived the old "All bald-headed guys look the same" talk.

Top right: Mong Kok anti-Occupy demonstrator.
Bottom right: Admiralty police officer
Top left: Sha Tin heckler
Bottom left: Sha Tin heckler
For a previous feature analysis, see ETTV report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yei_IOjNVmU

- As for the couple who were surrounded, the man made the mistake of saying: "I have a Hong Kong ID. I am Chinese." He completely failed to realize that the goal of the day was not to oppose parallel traders. The goal was not even to oppose mainlanders whether they are parallel traders, tourists or migrants. The goal was to oppose all Chinese. Even if the man was a Hong Kong aborigine of a dozen generations, his original sin was to think that he is of Chinese origin. According to the Localists, the Hongkongers are a different species from the Chinese people.

- Before they ever permitted individual tourists from mainland, it was just as crowded in Causeway Bay or Mong Kok. Nobody came out to cleanse the Hong Kong locusts. So to come out now is hypocritical. If you want to target the Communists, just say so. Instead you start opposing everything and everybody from China and thus show that you have even worse quality than your enemy. This is doing a huge disfavor to the other Hongkongers.

- When the Hong Kong University students voted to withdraw from the Federation of Students, opponents said that the Communists would be most delighted to see that happen. Given what happened today, I must say that the Communists would be most delighted to see that happen. If this road show can tour all 18 districts of Hong Kong, it will wipe away any modicum of sympathy left for the pro-democracy movement. Previously, most people outside of Admiralty, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok only saw it on the news. Now they will get a up-close-and-in-person look at what Occupy-style democracy shall be.

- This woman was complaining on TVB that the mainlanders are blocking the passages. She said: "They run their cart over your foot, break your toenail and still they never apologize." Hell, yes! I know of a bunch of other people who blocked the streets of Hong Kong for seventy-nine days and still they never apologize. Who is worse?

- The numbers. Maybe 200 active persons showed up today (you can't include the spectators or 'photojournalists' as well). How many mainland parallel traders were in Sha Tin today? Probably none, because it makes no economic sense (that is, they would have gone to Sheung Shui or Tuen Mun which are much closer to border crossings to save time and money). How many mainland tourists were in Sha Tin? Probably in the order of thousands (if not tens of thousands). How many persons who were born on the mainland were there? Probably close to two to three hundred thousand.

If the goal was to stop mainland parallel traders, then this was a total victory (because they were never there to begin with). If the goal was to stop mainland tourists (not parallel traders), then the enemy won. If the goal was to stop anyone born on the mainland, then this was a total defeat.

So what was the goal?
According to the original announcement, it was to stop the parallel traders.
According to what some demonstrators did, it was to stop mainland tourists (or anyone with a cart or luggage case).
According to what some demonstrators said, it was to stop the mainland Chinese (who are all Communists). Evidence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_dNKnEXlIs The crowd was chanting "Down with the Communists!" repeatedly.

- So the point of the exercise today is to oust all the mainlanders from Hong Kong. For example, the mother who took her children to stroll around the mall was told by a masked demonstrator to go back to China. According to Wikipedia,

Ethnic Cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic groups from a given territory with the intent it making it ethnically homogeneous. The forces applied may be various forms of forced migration (deportation, population transfer), intimidation as well as mass murder ... the purpose of ethnic cleaning is to remove competitors. The party implementing this policy sees a risk (or a useful scapegoat) in a particular ethnic group, and uses propaganda about that group to stir up FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) in the general population. The targeted ethnic group is marginalized and demonized. It can also be conveniently blamed for the economic, moral and political woes of that region ... Ethnic cleaning is defined a a crime against humanity under the statutes of the International Criminal Court.

- Food for thought experiments:

(A1) What if the person hauling the luggage case is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, big-breasted British woman?
(A2) What if the person hauling the luggage case is a black Sudanese man seeking political asylum here in Hong Kong?
(A3) What if the person hauling the luggage case is a big fat Brazilian trader working out of Chung King Mansion?

(B1) What if some rich pro-democracy person raises the money to buy the whole mall, and then posts "We don't sell to mainlander pigs" signs everywhere?
(B2) What if some rich mainland person raises the money to buy the whole mall, and then posts "We don't sell to Hong Kong pigs" signs everywhere?

- I was shopping at the Burberry store today. I could not get out before the gates were lowered, so I stayed inside. They were banging on the doors like rioters. Sigh!

- I went out to Cheung Chau to relax this time. Instead, I found more people there than in Mong Kok. Next week we need to Occupy Cheung Chau and cleanse the locusts. Oh, wait, those locusts are all Hongkongers on weekend vacation. Mainlanders come from rural areas and see no reason to visit what looks like home. But Hong Kong city hicks want to go out to Cheung Chau and experience that rural feel.

- The Kee Wah Bakery lowered its gate and posted a sign: "Due to the rioting, we are temporarily suspending business." This has hurt the feelings of many pro-democracy people. There was no riot, unless you count the police riot. If there was pepper spray, the police used it without any justification whatsoever. We will boycott Kee Wah until they surrender and apologize.
\

Addendum: (Oriental Daily) Justice prevails! Kee Wah surrenders and acknowledge that the workers used an inappropriate description.

- The only way out is (A) CY Leung must resign; (B) Hong Kong must close its borders with China; (C) Hong Kong must have genuine universal suffrage which means civil nomination of the Chief Executive. If we can have all three, happiness will greet us at the end of the rainbow!
Another way out is (X) expel all the young wastrels and the valiant warriors to Namibia (to sew clothes at Chinese-owned garment factories) or the Falkland Islands (to rear sheep for the British).

- I watched these videos from SocREC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMXRxmdJOWw  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwDU1cqed_U taken at 4:27pm. A middle-aged man with a military crew cut and a woman were surrounded and cursed out ("Fuck your mother" etc). The couple kept saying "We are Hongkongers" to no avail and the guy waved his Hong Kong ID.
So on this day, the mob targeted anyone whom they think looks like a mainlander, regardless of whether the person is a parallel trader, or a mainland tourist with a multiple-entry visa, or a mainland tourist with a first-time single-entry visa (as were the elderly couple from Dongguan as recorded by TVB News), or a new migrant from the mainland who came within the past 7 years, or someone from the mainland who has already earned permanent resident status (according to the Population Census, 2.2 million Hong Kong residents were born in the mainland, Taiwan or Macao), or a native born Hongkonger. Of course, the demonstrators are never to be blamed. Instead, it is the fault of 689 and his Communist masters to allow mainlanders to come to Hong Kong for any reason at all (as immigrants or tourists).

(Apple Daily) When this Hongkonger couple walked by, the demonstrators thought that they were mainlanders. The man raised his ID and said: "I have an ID, but I am Chinese." This infuriated the demonstrators who surrounded the man and cursed the couple out. The wife slapped the husband a dozen time and begged the demonstrators for forgiveness. But the demonstrators ignored her pleas and continued with their cursing. They forced him into a corner. Finally a plainclothes police man came and escorted the couple away.

- Another Sunday, another shopping mall. Has total victory been achieved? Or even partial victory? An hour later, all the stores will re-open for business as if nothing happened. If you are truly valiant and strong, you would have burned the mall down to the ground and then there won't be any more parallel traders or tourists in Sha Tin for all times. As it stands, you have changed nothing. I suppose that's fine as long as you feel good about yourselves with the many Like's on your Facebook.

- Yuen Long next week? That will be the Grand Battle of the Valiant Ones versus the Rural Triads while the police take a Lunar New Year vacation.

- A Yuen Long fruit stand sign says: "This stand does not sell to mainlanders."

Related link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cvK-VGPocQU No dogs or Chinese allowed in Huangpu Park scene from Bruce Lee's Fists of Fury.

- Wong Yeung-tat (Civic Passion) probably wants to run for Legislative Council in the Kowloon East district once more. So the big question is: Will Civic Passion try to occupy the APM mall in Kwun Tong? If they do, it will upset the local shopkeepers and residents, and they will remember it when the voting comes around. Therefore, it is better to reclaim Tuen Mun (New Territories West district) and Sha Tin (New Territories East district). But rival radical party People's Power may want to press on with Occupy APM anyway and put the blame on Civic Passion.

• [158] The University of Hong Kong Student Referendum (2015/02/15)

(The Standard) HKU students back vote on matter to quit. January 27, 2015.

Two University of Hong Kong students running in upcoming Students' Union elections disagree with a proposal for the university to leave the Federation of Students. But they back a referendum on the issue.

Speaking at a forum hosted by the Hong Kong University Students' Union yesterday, the leader of the Smarties group, Michael Pang Cheuk-kei, said: "We're happy with a referendum, though we oppose leaving the federation. But we'll respect the result if students want to do so." The leader of Ascent, Fung Jing-en, said the group has a similar stance: "We do not want to quit the federation. We should consider reforming it first."

The motion for the referendum was passed narrowly by the Students' Union Council last night. It will be held from February 9 to 13 simultaneously with the union elections.

The federation came under fire from two other student representatives from the HKU Independence group. They criticized its decisions and actions during Occupy Central, which they said included being too late in escalating action. And an escalation on November 30 "should not have been only symbolic," representative Lee Kai-tik said. Another representative, Ng Wai-ka said he had heard various students talk about boycotting the federation.

(South China Morning Post) Federation of Students suffers biggest split in 57-year history as HKU quits over Occupy. February 15, 2015.

Hong Kong's oldest and most politically influential student body, which organised the sit-ins that acted as a catalyst for last year's Occupy turmoil, suffered the most significant split in its 57-year history yesterday when one of its biggest bloc of members voted to leave.

University of Hong Kong students voted narrowly in favour of quitting the Hong Kong Federation of Students in a referendum sparked by a groundswell of support for the so-called localist movement, which to varying degrees supports Hong Kong independence and believes the federation's core mission to "build a democratic China" diminishes its ability to represent the interests of the city.

(Bastille Post) February 14, 2015.

Final vote:
2,522 for
2,278 against
1,293 null

The Federation of Students was the active leader of the Occupy Central movement. When the Hong Kong University Student Union quits the Federation after the Occupy Central movement, one would think that the pro-establishment forces propelled the referendum to quit. But the fact is the exact opposite. The referendum was instigated by radical students. 400 of them thought that the Federation of Students was too moderate and therefore they started the referendum to for their student union to quit the federation.

Afterwards there were arguments between the pro- and anti- sides on this referedum. Former Federation of Students secretary-general Daisy Chan wrote on her Facebook that the pro-withdrawal faction was "really XXXXXXX trash." She added, "Withdrawing from the federation" is a false issue, because the proponents really want to dismantle the Federation of Students as a whole. The dissolution will "only create problems without solving anything." Thus, if the pro-withdrawal faction has the courage to "benefit the enemy (the Chinese Communists), then they should know that they will be XXXXXXX cursed out as traitors who abet the Chinese Communists." She said that the pro-withdrawal faction is brainless, and wanted the citizens to start a "Save the university students by finding their brains for them."

Daisy Chan's remarks were passed around the Internet. The group that started the referendum process posted a screen capture on their own Facebook page, with the comments: "'Actually those who propound the withdrawal from the Federation are really XXXXXXX trash.' Thus spoke the 2011-2012 Federation of Students secretary-general Daisy Chan. Current Federation of Students deputy secretary-general Lester Shum also posted a 'like'. After two months of discussion and more than 400 persons signing the petition to hold the referendum, this was the response that we got. What do you expect out of the Federation of Students? Are reforms from within possible? Hong Kong University people, how can you not be angry?

(VJmedia) February 14, 2015.

Since when did my standard for doing things become "Would the Communists be happy or not?" We must cast our votes for the pan-democrats "or else the Communists would be most delighted". We must not withdraw from the Federation of Students "or else the Communists would be most delighted." We must not criticize the leftwards, "or else the Communists would be most delighted." We must not charge at the national flag, "or else the Communists would be most delighted" ...

But when you advised people to withdraw from the Occupy areas, you didn't say "the Communists would be most delighted"? And when the Democratic Party got into a secret discussion with the China Liaison Office behind closed doors, you didn't say "the Communists would be most delighted"? When you tell us to oppose the localist movement to reclaim Hong Kong, you didn't say "the Communists would be most delighted"? When the leftards want Hong Kong and mainland China to meld together, you didn't say "the Communists would be most delighted"? When the Catholic Justice League wanted to pray for the melding of Hong Kong and mainland China, you didn't say "the Communists would be most delighted"? ...

Can you please explain?

[After the results were announced, Daisy Chan wrote on her Facebook:

Daisy Chan: If I were Wong Yiu-ying, I would open up eighteen bottles of red wine to celebrate. I didn't even have to raise my hand and it was already a bountiful harvest. This has been unbelievable.

Daisy Chan: Actually, if I were the Communists, I would want chaos in Hong Kong, because Grand Peace comes only after Grand Chaos. They already posted soldiers in Hong Kong, so it is easy to send the dispatch the soldiers. But I am less optimistic about whether the people of Hong Kong can weather the storm. More likely they will use their foreign passport to leave in case of trouble.

Daisy Chan: If this is going something bad out of good intentions, then it is not a simple matter about the freedom to associate. The Federation of Students is really no big deal, but I believe they can insure that the academic field won't be turned 'red' overnight. Besides, I can't see how the Hong Kong University which founded the federation many years ago is in anyway not independent or free.

Simon Cheung: Today, the Communists must be very happy.

Daisy Chan: Actually, people do not deny that the Communists are applauding. We have reached the greatest possible consensus. This post is over. Maybe not liking the Communists is an idea that is past its time.]

What is the basis for you to deduce that "the Communists would be most delighted" with the withdrawal of Hong Kong University from the Federation of Students? Why couldn't the referendum be interpreted as the young generation voting for rapid de-Sinoficaiton, which would in fact caused maximum headache for the Communists? Besides, there are many factions within the Communists and they don't share the same interests. Where is your evidence? Aren't you supposed to be "scientific, objective, neutral, unbiased, fair and comprehensive"?

Please don't be so hypocritical, okay? Please don't hold too many double standards, okay? Please do as you say, okay? I am not asking too much. You have been moving the goal posts around, just like the Communists. As Ms. Yip Po-lam said, "You detest the Chinese Communists, but you act just like they do. Is that worth it?"

To be fair, the current Federation of Students cabinet will seem to favor Greater China and leftist ideology less than previous ones, but it doesn't mean that Hong Kong University students must join. Whatever our positions, we must share the basic consensus to respect the democratic system and the referendum results. Frankly, I don't see the current result will be making a material impact soon. But the Federation of Students folks need to respect the wishes of the voters, stop making snide remarks and apologize for calling people "XXXXXXX trash."

(Bastille Post) February 15, 2015.

In the Hong Kong University referendum, the measure to withdraw from the Federation of Students was passed by a margin of more than 200 votes. Next, the Lingnan University students will hold their own referendum. If they vote to withdraw as well, the the Federation will lost 2 out of 8 university members. If more universities follow suit, the Federation will be shattered.

... In retrospect, this action by the Hong Kong University students was clearly planned by some very smart people. They took advantage of the frailties of the current Federation of Students -- namely, their inability to grind out a ground game patiently because there was neither media spotlight nor large numbers of cheerleaders.

The whole lesson taught us that the reason why the Federation of Students seemed so powerful during Occupy Central was that they were attacking the establishment only. It is easy to attack people, but it is a lot harder to defend against similar attacks. The Federation of Students is a 57-year-old establishment. Their opponents perceived the weakness in the Federation in defending their establishment. So it was a rout in the end.

Internet comments:

- The Federation of Students ran around claiming to represent the people of Hong Kong, who don't remember ever empowering them. Now it turns out that the Federation cannot even claim to represent the university students of Hong Kong.

- Voter turnout of 6,093 was said to be 39% in this referendum. Of these 2,522 voted 'for',
2,278 voted 'against' and 1,293 cast 'null' or 'blank' votes. Thus, 39% x 2522 / 6903 = 14% voted for the Hong Kong University Student Union to withdraw from the Federation of Students and 39% x 2278 / 6903 = 13% voted against. The remaining 73% of students either did not vote or cast 'null'/'blank' votes. What is the popular mandate as indicated by these results? Why won't people respect the 73%?

- All this means is that the Undergrad faction has won and the Hong Kong University Student Union can go ahead full-steam with the independence movement.

- This is good beginning. All university student unions should hold the same kinds of referendum so that all students can express their own opinions. At present, the Federation of Students make all the decisions without allowing for individual expression. What kind of democratic system is this? How can this be genuine democracy/universal suffrage? The students should be allowed to tell their Student Unions whether they want such a state of affairs or not.

- "This means that the Hong Kong University students have rejected the leftards and want to become Valiant Localists." Good, let's start the Revolution then. Please name the time and place.

- It was said that Yvonne Leung, ex-HKUSU president, declined to make a statement on this referendum and thus fail to rally students to vote against. Well, actually, it won't help. Suppose she came out with a firm statement on the importance of the Federation of Students to Hong Kong democracy, she would only rally students who dislike the Occupy Movement to vote 'for.'

- The referendum instigated by the Valiant Localist students was passed. This meant that future student resistance movements will be more "valiant" and "localist" in nature. These two ingredients imply that an armed rebellion for Hong Kong independence will be in the cards for the future. The incoming Student Union president said that if the Hong Kong University students are treated violently in future demonstrations, they will come "wearing armor and carrying shields" and they will "use force to stop the violence."

- There was no exit poll. But there is a suggestion that the "for" votes came from two extreme ends of the political spectrum. On one hand, there are those who thought that the Federation of Students was too moderate and failed to escalate during the Occupy Movement. Therefore, they want the freedom for HKU students to act more valiantly in the future. On the other hand, there are those who thought that students should be studying and not playing politics.
This landscape is reproduced in the larger society, although it has not played out in this way yet. At present, the confrontation is between a pro-establishment camp and a pro-democracy camp. The present Chief Executive and his cabinet are pro-establishment. Someday it may come to pass that a moderate pan-democrat becomes the Chief Executive. The lesson from the student referendum is that this Chief Executive will be opposed by both the pro-establishment camp and the more radical pro-democracy camp. His/her position will be even more precarious than the present CY Leung government.

- Since when have they respected voting? It was always about the quality and not the quantity of voters. 80% of citizens opposed Occupy? It's the 20% high-education, high-quality people that count! So they should annul the referendum results and go ahead before. [Indeed, the current HKU student leadership has said that nothing will change as they will continue to attend Federation of Students executive committee meetings as before.]

- It doesn't matter to the Federation of Students. It is a duly registered organization with something like several tens of millions of dollars in assets (since all university students automatically pay HK$6 to them each year). Although a new cabinet is elected every two years, the board of directors is a bunch of faceless individuals who have been there forever. Even if all the individual student unions withdraw, the Federation will merrily continue to raise more money to fight for freedom and democracy.

• [157] The Umbrella Relief Fund (2015/02/13)

(South China Morning Post) February 13, 2015.

A fund was launched yesterday to help people who were arrested or injured in clashes with police during the 79-day Occupy Central protests last year. The Umbrella Relief Fund will pay for medical expenses, loss of income as a result of having been arrested or legal fees where necessary.

The fund's trustees have set an initial target of raising HK$1 million, which is to be available for up to six years. They believe about 100 to 200 Occupy protesters will need financial assistance.

"We are not encouraging people to take part in illegal activities. But we would like to offer some help to those who suffered losses because they have done what they believe is good for Hong Kong," said trustee Christine Fang Meng-sang, a former chief executive of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service.

Trustee Edward Chan King-sang, a former Bar Association chairman, said: "Some also face hardship as a result of having been arrested or having had to attend inquiries or court hearings."

(Oriental Daily) February 13, 2015.

The Occupy Movement caused some businesses to suffer tremendous economic losses and some police officers to be injured or face criminal prosecution. When asked whether the Umbrella Relief Fund would accept application from these victims, Chan King-sang said that the government claims to be seriously considering giving aid to the affected businesses, so there was no need for the Umbrella Relief Fund to help them.

Fang Meng-sang also said that the police themselves have relief funds and donations. She also said that the Umbrella Movement did something that Hong Kong needs to have, and that is why the Umbrella Relief Fund will only help those people (including those who participated in the unlawful Occupy activities).

(Ta Kung Pao) February 13, 2015.

You beat someone up and then you want them to pay your own medical expenses? This sounds totally preposterous and absurd ...

The Umbrella Relief Fund does not have an evaluation system and it has no upper limit on the amount that can be applied for. Even Chan King-sang admits that they don't have the capability of doing a detailed investigation of the circumstances and therefore they may be deceived. Thus, the Fund relies on the honesty and integrity of the applicant. Furthermore, the Fund says that they don't care whether the applicant had engaged in illegal activities and all they care is that the applicant was injured or suffered economic losses.

How did these people get injured during the Occupy Central events? They were the radicals who stood in the front lines to fight the police. The Fund is footing their bills, thus encouraging such extremist behaviors. Chan King-sang said to hilarious effect: "These lawbreakers had already committed their unlawful acts. Therefore we cannot be encouraging them after the fact." Meanwhile the businesses in the Occupy areas which suffer economic losses will be ignored by the Fund because the government is "considering" giving them aid ...

(Passion Times) February 13, 2015.

The Umbrella Revolution died at the end of last year. Although the process was tumultuous, it contributed nothing towards democracy. Maybe some people thought that it was a useful enlightenment process, but the truth is that it was a waste of time and effort.

... Recently, a bunch of "democrats" started the Umbrella Relief Fund to help the Occupy participants and medical workers to cover their medical expenses and legal fees. They aimed to raise $1 million. The applications are to be processed by the Civil Human Rights Front.

The Hong Kong social activists know what the Civil Human Rights Front are about. If you are unfamiliar, then they are hucksters who try to sell you blessings and medicine for your wellbeing.

If you remember back to the start of the Umbrella Revolution, a group of lawyers started a volunteer group to proved free legal aid to those who are prosecuted. But before it took effect, the clash at the Legislative Council ripped the beautiful lie apart because these lawyers said that they won't serve those accused of violent crimes.

If you remember even further back, the Occupy Central organizers raised money through public donations with a goal of $7 million. Nobody knows where that money went, although some people have surely made their contributions. After the Occupy Central died noiselessly, that money vanished into thin air.

Given those precedents, the emergence of an Umbrella Relief Fund is incomprehensible. The only explanation is that this is yet another confidence game, whether this was for the money or the fame or mostly likely both. The chances of the those truly victimized Umbrella Revolution participants getting this money is near zero.

Setting up such a Fund today is like rubbing salt into the wounds of those who were hurt physically and/or emotionally during the Umbrella Revolution. These people have the audacity to package this as a charitable act. Their shamelessness and hypocrisy is colder than the winter this year.

Internet comments:

-
To the Umbrella Relief Fund: I was hit and injured in the head during the Umbrella Revolution. Can you help me?
Response: Thank you for your inquiry. You need to file an application with the Civil Human Rights Front's volunteer secretariat. This Facebook page is for promotional purposes only. Please excuse us.

- (VJmedia) The Umbrella Relief Fund thanks a number of other organizations, including the Civil Human Rights Front, the Hong Kong Shield, the Umbrella Parents, the Umbrella Arrested Alliance etc. They all belong to the same grouping. For example, Fang Meng-sang of the Umbrella Relief Fund is on the board of director of Stand News, etc ... This so-called Umbrella Relief Fund is merely a brand extension from the Civil Human Rights Front, the Catholic Church Peace and Justice League, in as much as Ajisen Ramen and Sapporo Ramen are two brand lines within the same company.
The application form requires that you fill out your personal particulars including where, when and how you got arrested/injured. Whether they will help you is going to depend on whether you belong to their group. For example, the Occupy Central secretariat led by Melody Chan Yuk-fung had plenty of justification for refusing legal aid to action-takers ... If you are not aligned with them, they will only trample you a few times more. You didn't accept the Admiralty organization? You criticized Yip Po-lam? You don't like the pan-democrats? They will tell you to drop dead.

- Five persons came up with $6,000 totals (Mr. Chan gave $2,000 and the other four gave $1,000 each) and they want others to contribute to reach $1 million. If you want to make the big money, you must spend a little bit of seed money up front. Well, these five persons get to decide what to do with the money which they will pocket first. And they won't tell you because they have to protect the privacy of the recipients. Well, well, well ... If this isn't a confidence game, what is?

- Mr. Chan is a senior barrister and commands $100,000 per hour for his services, and he donates 2% of one hour of his time (at $2,000). I make $30 per hour. Where should I send my 2% (= 60 cents)?

- There is the interesting case of the dim sum chef living in the Sun Hing Building in Mong Kok. He was going home after dinner with this wife and mother when he found his building entrance being obstructed by Occupy Mong Kok. He moved the obstacles aside in order to go home, and he was attacked by several Yellow Ribbons. His hand was broken and he could not work for three months. Will the Umbrella Relief Fund provide relief to him? Fang Meng-sang said: "We would like to offer some help to those who suffered losses because they have done what they believe is good for Hong Kong." So that would seemingly disqualify our chef, because all this selfish prick did was try to go home that night. And what he achieved by his broken hand was to sully the name of the Umbrella Revolution, and we all know that was a bad thing.
P.S. The guys who assaulted him may be entitled to financial aid, though.

- Cheap bastards! The Umbrella Relief Fund organizers are two lawyers, one doctor, one accountant and one social worker (a former chief executive of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service), and they couldn't come up with 1 million themselves. It is only bread crumbs to them.

- "I want genuine financial assistance" and "I want genuine legal aid" banners are appropriate.

- I want to donate the 50 cents that I will get for writing this negative post.

- Wow! The Fund is going to accept applications which they won't check because they are going to count on the honesty of the applicants! You must be really stupid if you donate a single cent to this Fund.

- Can I donate in Bitcoins? I have plenty left on hand and I don't know what to do with it. Someday it may be worth something again.

- This is so inane that it must be a money laundering operation. Lots of anonymous cash coming through the door and spent through a black box operation in order to protect the privacy of the donors.

- What would happen if some Americans were to form an ISIS Relief Fund to help the ISIS members pay for their medical bills and legal fees? What would the United States government do?

- The Hong Kong University Public Opinion Programme reported that 1.2 million persons participated in the Occupy Movement. If each one would donate a dollar, there would immediately be $1.2 million in the Fund. Better yet, if each would donate ten dollars, there would be $12 million!

- The poor attendance at the February 1st demonstration march organized by the Civil Human Rights Front was not necessarily a huge problem. The bigger problem is that donations and sales have plunged at the booths along the route. The money flow is stopping, so that it is necessary to come up with alternate revenue streams. Not to worry because there are always enough fools out there who can be counted to part with their cash.

- I am going to tell all my friends and relatives to apply. The Umbrella Relief Fund/Civil Human Rights Front have already said that they won't check the story because they don't have the resources. So this is a test of writing creativity. You could get $10,000 for writing a good fictional essay.

- This is as stupid as asking people to contribute money to save ATV. Fucking stupid!

Archival material: This famous post from Melody Chan of the Occupy Central secretariat.

Someone called me at 5am to say that two people have been arrested and requested help. I guessed that they are those who were arrested at the Legislative Council, but I asked against hope in case I am mistaken. Through Whatsapp, I asked: "Where? Why?" He had the nerve to say "Legislative Council." I thought, "You have to nerve to seek me out." Then I switched the phone into airplane mode.

Are you guys the one who object to the organization and want to dismantle the Grand Stage? When you get into trouble, you call the arrest aid hotline. Nothing is ever so easy in this world.

Yes, lawyers should put aside their personal views and do their best for their clients, who may be murderers or Rafael Hui, to defend their rights under the existing system. But sorry, the volunteers at the legal aid group are not your lawyers. We are not obliged to cover every case. To put it bluntly, we are not even obliged to provide arrest aid in the middle of the night while leaving our families behind. We don't have to go to Central, or South Island, or Mong Kok police station to accompany you to make your statements and get fingerprinted and photographed, and then we have to go to work the next morning.

The volunteers and lawyers have been silently making their contributions to the movement. It is often inconvenient to be interviewed by the newspapers for this kind of work. We don't even want to be identified. We just quietly contribute our share for the citizens. But what have you done for the movement? You have been cursing the Grand Stage. In Mong Kok, you made posters against Yip Po-lam, you sold souvenirs and you disbanded the marshals. Every time that you rashly charge the police line, you curse the citizens for not supporting you. After you made your charge, you disappear and the only arrestees were the students and citizens who couldn't flee as fast as you can. The only people who got beaten were the uncles and lads who came out to support you.

And you had the nerve to call me up at 5am to provide support for arrestees? If you really need a lawyer, we can certainly help you: You sign a retainer first and you pay by the hour. Currently most of our lawyers are billing $3,000 to $5,000 per hour. There is a discount rate of $20,000 only for one nighttime visit down at the police station. Once you wire the money into the lawyer's bank account, we will rush over any time of day that you want.

• [156] A Westerner Reporter in Tuen Mun (2015/02/13)

(Ming Pao) February 10, 2015. http://news.mingpao.com/ins/%E5%B1%AF%E9%96%80%E5%99%B4%E6%A4%92%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6%20%E5%A4%96%E7%B1%8D%E8%A8%98%E8%80%85%EF%BC%9A%E9%81%8A%E8%A1%8C%E6%9C%AC%E5%AE%89%E5%85%A8%20%E8%AD%A6%E5%88%B0%E5%A0%B4%E8%AE%8A%E6%88%B0%E5%A0%B4/web_tc/article/20150210/s00001/1423559437602

The foreign reporter Richard Scotford for the bilingual Hong Kong publication <bc magaine) was gathering news last Sunday on the demonstration against parallel traders in Tuen Mun. He personally witnessed the police using pepper spray inside the shopping mall. He also claimed to have been verbally harassed and attacked by the police.

This morning, Chief Executive CY Leung said that it was unacceptable that a small group people can charge at a shopping mall and harass people in order to express their discontent. The Hong Kong SAR will rigorously enforce the law.

On Facebook, Richard Scotford responded to CY Leung:

Internet comments:

- Does anyone read this <bc magazine> thing? Who cares what this Richard Scotford guy says?

- Why was it necessary to invoke a foreign reporter? What is the matter with Ming Pao's own reporters? They were there too. Have they censored themselves? Are they Sinofied/mainlandized?

- Why am I surprised that a foreigner should think that it is okay for wastrels to stop people from conducting business? After all, Yanks and Brits think that invading Iraq is a very good thing too.

- After the relay hunger strike, this is the next great invention for the Umbrella Revolution: safe demonstration marches inside shopping malls!

- Does this brother mean that if the police didn't show up, then it is not a crime to have an illegal gathering inside a shopping mall to halt business. In like manner, if you rob a bank and you leave before the police arrive, then it is not a crime. But if the police arrive quickly and there was a gun fight between cops and robbers with innocents getting shot, then it is the police's fault!

- Trend Plaza is owned by Henderson Land Development Company Limited. It is private property. It is not like in the open streets or public parks. You cannot march onto private property without permission. If you think otherwise, let me know because I'll march right into <bc magazine> and occupy the publisher's office, and you better not call the police.

Reference: (American Civil Liberties Union) "The general rule is that the owners of private property can set rules for speech on that property. If you disobey the property owner's rules, they can order you off their property (and have you arrested for trespassing if you do not comply)."

- You enter private property to interrupt business. The owners called the police, and you say that it was wrong for the police to come. You should have said so beforehand. If the police won't come, the owners may take the matter into their own hands. When that time comes, please make sure that you don't call the police to come and protect you!

- The organizers filed an application with the police. The police did not object to a march through the streets of Tuen Mun. However, the filing did not indicate that the procession would head inside an enclosed shopping mall. When the demonstrators entered the mall, the assembly became unlawful. What do you think the relevant law enforcement agency should do? This is a rhetorical question to which the correct answer is always: They should always support freedom, democracy, human rights, universal suffrage and rule of law. Mom, apple pie and baseball too.

- "It was safe to walk around Trend Mall in Tuen Mun" needs to be amended as follows: "It was safe to walk around Trend Plaza in Tuen Mun to harass shoppers and prevent shopkeepers from conducting business."

- The policeman told Richard Scotford: "Go here." That is grammatically wrong because it should have been "Go there." This shows that all Hong Kong police officers are poorly educated IVE (Institute of Vocational Education) trash. Meanwhile those arrested Civic Passion members are reporting upper-class occupations such as welfare recipients, waiters, apprentices or (most frequently) unemployed/unemployable.

- Safe to walk around? How can any demonstration march organized by the Hot Dogs (=Civic Passion) be safe? This is a self-contradiction!

- Is a demonstration march so important that (1) the police have to disappear; (2) all the shops have to be shuttered; (3) six vehicular traffic lanes have to be closed for seven days; (4) all newspapers have to give four pages of full coverage and only report the organizer's crowd size estimate? There is a limit as to how much the people of Hong Kong will put up with!

- The arrests were made near the top of a long escalator. Why don't you tell me whether it was safe to have a physical confrontation at that location? People tumbling down the escalators? People crashing through the glass wall down several storeys? Of course, when that happens, it is the police's fault.

- It was safe for the reporter to walk around the women's restroom. Then the police came, tried to make him leave and turned the women's restroom into a shit show.
It was safe for the reporter to walk his dog. Then the police came, tried to make him clean up the dog pooh and turned the street into a shit show.
It was safe for the reporter to walk around Baghdad. Then the American stealth jets came to put on a shock-and-awe show and turned Iraq into a shit show.
It was safe for the reporter to walk around ... you can fill in whatever story that your imagination can conjure up ...

- This Richard guy is just like that female American photojournalist who jumped on the car hood in Mong Kok to take pictures. For them, it is news first, rumor mongering second, rule of law third.

Reference (Stand News) Richard Scotford

• [155] The Tuen Mun Light Rail (2015/02/12)

(Apple Daily) "Big Mouth Ling" interviews Cary (Tuen Mun resident)

689, do you know how the daily lives of the people of Tuen Mun are being affected by parallel traders? Do you know how severe the problem is?

As the problem of parallel traders grew worse, there was a thousand-person demonstration in Tuen Mun recently. The demonstrators took the action to arouse public attention to the problem of parallel traders. We interviewed Cary, who has lived in Tuen Mun since he was young.

Cary pointed out that apart from congestion, the Tuen Mun residents' biggest problem is traffic.

Because the Tuen Mun residents use the Light Rail as the principal means of transportation, the influx of more luggage-carrying parallel traders have caused the Light Rail to be more congested, with many people having been knock down by luggage cases.

Because the Light Rail is so congested, Tuen Mun residents usually have to wait two to three trains before they can get on. Therefore, they are often late for their appointments.

Cary said that a number of Tuen Mun residents are accustomed to using taxis instead of the Light Rail, especially those parents taking their children to school or picking them up after school. For the sake of the safety of their children, the parents are willing to pay more. But Cary said that the taxi fare is usually only about 30 dollars within Tuen Mun.

Internet comments:

- Let me get the facts right first:
(A) School children leave for school between 7am and 8am.
(B) Wellcome and other supermarkets open at 8am.
(C) Mannings and other pharmacies open at 9am.
How in the world are you going to get hundreds of parallel traders taking the MTR Light Rail on the way to school?

- At that hour, you are more likely to be run over by primary school children carrying their school bags than parallel traders. The parallel traders can take the B3X bus. Why would they be taking the MTR Light Rail?

- Where does the Light Rail run? It runs within Tuen Mun/Tin Shui Wai. It does not go anywhere near the border. Why are parallel traders taking the MTR Light Rail at 7am? Where do they come from? Where are they going to?

Paul Cezanne: Da dove veniamo? Chi siamo? Dove andiamo? (1897)

- When I was young, I walked to school because the buses were always full. Nowadays kids are spoiled and take taxis because the MTR Light Rail is crowded.

- The MTR Light Rail has been congested for the longest time. The fact is that Tuen Mun is a satellite town of almost 500,000 residents. The MTR Light Rail has a daily ridership of almost 500,000. There is a train in intervals of 4 to 9 minutes. Of course, it is going to get crowded.

- This bloke Cary in the orange shirt claims that he is a Tuen Mun resident. But the videos were taken in Tin Shui Wai and did not show any parallel traders. Does this Cary even know the difference between Tuen Mun and Tin Shui Wai? And he could not name which station has a lot of parallel traders at which hours. This Cary guy must be a Civic Passion member pretending to be a Tuen Mun resident.

- More likely, the students are habitually late for school. Therefore, the Light Rail congestion due to parallel traders is offered as the excuse.

- I live in Shenzhen and I work in Hong Kong. Therefore I cross the border every morning to go to work. All I see are other people going to work and school children going to school. I never see any parallel traders at that hour.

- During the 79 days of the Occupy Revolution, cars, buses and taxis could not go through Admiralty. Therefore, many people took the MTR to and from work. It was normal for five or six trains to pass before you can get on. Most people get up earlier in the morning and arrive home later in the evening. If you complained about the additional commute time, the Yellow Ribbons said that you were being selfish. So to the people waiting for the MTR Light Rail in Tuen Mun, suck on it!

- I take the MTR from Quarry Bay to Admiralty every morning. It is normal for three to four trains to pass before I can get on. It must be because of those goddamned parallel traders, as there cannot be any other explanation.

- Someone just wrote: "It is normal in China to have to wait two to three trains. But this is Hong Kong. This should not be happening." Well, I take the minibus at Metro Plaza (Kwai Fong district) every morning to go to work. It is typical to have to wait for three buses to fill up before I can get on. Sometimes, it could be as many as five to six buses. So am I living in China now?

• [154] The Sayings of Tiffany Chin Sze-man (2015/02/12)

(YouTube)

0:02 (Chairman Tam Yiu-chung) Eh, Ms. Tiffany Chin Sze-man.

0:03 (Chin) Thank you, Chairman. Although the Occupy Movement has temporarily stopped, it does not mean that the Umbrella Movement has ended. The Umbrella Movement broke out because the problems with the political system in Hong Kong and because the police fired tear gas canisters. To this day, the problems with the political system are still not resolved. Not resolved. Not resolved. We are not talking about opening Civic Plaza or getting someone to resign. The problems originated from within the system.

We are talking about civil nomination. As  long as we don't have civil nomination, the authorities such as yourself and the large financial interest groups will continue to monopolize. It is very boring to talk about this stuff, because it has looped for more than a decade. But it has to be continued to be discussed until the problems are resolved.

I will talk also about the problem with the police. The police is supposed to be politically neutral. Why can the police wear blue ribbons to work? Why can the police beat people without any justification? Why haven't the seven policemen been prosecuted yet?

The problem about the political system is not a communication problem between this generation and the previous generation. Very simple. Civil nomination. One person, one vote. Very fair, very democratic. Simple and straightforward. All this stuff about gradualism and pragmatism. An equal system of nomination is the most practical.

If there is an adjective for you pro-establishment people, saying "Pok-gai" is not enough.

1:10 (Chairman) You used foul language again.

1:12 (Chin) When the evil cops beat the citizen, you keep quiet. When the government runs a black-box operation, you keep quiet. What you like most is to be selective and oppress the common citizens. This chairman is going to tell me to pay attention to what I say and how I act. But I can go back to my true self and even if I use foul language, I am still better than you beasts wearing human clothes and you animals with human faces. You say one thing and you do something else. You only know how to suck up to the Communists.

According to the discussion between the government and the Federation of Students on October 21 last year, it was said that Lau Kong-wah's speech was leaked. Maybe you want to open your mouth and let the mold grow. I want to give you an opportunity and I will add to what I just said with (in English): "I agree with you."

I still have a little time. I want to sing a song for Lau Kong-wah and 689 (nickname for Chief Executive CY Leung). "689. You are too fucking stupid. Let me say out that if you want to eat shit ...

(Chairman) Please do not use foul language ...

Internet comments:

- The Chairman Tam Yiu-chung was extremely disrespectful. All the girl did was to use some mild language (equivalent to saying "Eat Shit" or "Drop Dead" in English). The chairman should not be interrupting someone in the middle of a speech. Simply awful.

- "Pok-gai" is not really obscene language. You go down to the wet market and you hear women say a lot more worse things that this. What is the fuss?

- (Speakout HK)

Everybody has the right to express dissatisfaction against those who hold different opinion on constitutional reform, especially towards HKSAR Chief Executive CY Leung. There are many ways of expression. Nowadays, the young people in the front lines of social movements like to use obscene language to express their dissatisfaction ...

Obscene language does not necessarily cause harm to other people. Plenty of discussants have covered this topic, and I don't intend to delve into this any further ...

But during the past period, we can see that such behaviors cannot change anyone or anything in a positive direction. On the contrary, it breaks down communication and mutual trust, and ensures that social divisions are deepened. It can be said to have every disadvantage and no advantage whatsoever. Shouldn't we be concerned when young individuals prefer this manner of expression?

- What is the purpose of this session at the Legislative Council? It is to let people have their say on constitutional reform in public. If you believe that the world is divided into mutually exclusive pro-democracy and pro-establishment camps, that you are in the pro-democracy camp and that you are addressing the pro-establishment camp as represented by Tam Yiu-chung and Lau Kong-wah, then what good does it serve to say "To call you guys Pok-gai is not going far enough"? You have merely made sure that there can be never be exchange or trust. The only thing that this does is to make yourself feel good and important. You said some clever words, you drew media attention and then ... nothing. Whatever you want to achieve isn't an inch closer. Why do you do this? You don't reflect on what you need to do. You seek instead your next media-moment to repeat the same. Except your act gets tiresome eventually.

- In the five-step constitutional reform process, we are presently in the second round of consultation in preparation for the Legislative Council to vote on the proposed package. There are 70 seats in the Legislative Council. Two-thirds (=47 votes) is required to pass the law. The pan-democrats hold 27 seats and they have averred that they will veto the proposal. The government needs to pry loose 4 votes to pass the law. This is where we are.

Scholarism says that they want civil nomination of the Chief Executive candidates. That is to say, anyone who gathers a sufficient number of petition signatures from registered voters will be able to become a candidate.

According to Article 45 of the Basic Law, "The method for selecting the Chief Executive shall be specified in the light of the actual situation in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and in accordance with the principle of gradual and orderly progress. The ultimate aim is the selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures." If you want civil nomination instead of a "broadly representative nominating committee", then the Basic Law has to be amended.

Guess what? Amending the Basic Law requires the concurrence of the Chief Executive, the National People's Congress Standing Committee and two-thirds of the Legislative Council. How do you get these people to concur?

You have been calling the Chief Executive a "wolf", you refuse to call him by his name and you will only say "689", and you have said that his resignation is required for any negotiations with the government. Why would he concur?

You have been calling for the overthrow of one-party rule by the evil Communists? You advocate Hong Kong independence. Why would the National People's Congress Standing Committee concur with your demands?

You have been calling the pro-establishment camp of the Legislative Council worse than "Pok-gai". It so happens that they hold 47 out of 70 votes, and only 24 votes are needed for a veto. Why would they concur?

Since you can't deal with any of these three parties, and you can't do anything to affect them directly, you decided on the Occupy Movement: You will hold the people of Hong Kong hostage and make these three parties bend to your will. Except they refused to move. What is left in your toolkit now? More Occupy? More obscene cursing on television? Reaching out to the local communities and preaching the democracy gospel?

- The speech is typical incoherence from Scholarism people. There are so many unproven assertions. For example, she said: "As long as don't have civil nomination, the authorities such as yourself and the large financial interest groups will continue to monopolize." Where is the evidence for the converse: "If we have civil nomination, then the authorities such as yourself and the large financial groups won't be able to monopolize."?

First of all, civil nomination does not exist in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Australia, etc. The most powerful country in which civil nomination exists is Russia, which is a kleptocracy run by oligarchs. The reason is that civil nomination gave the cover of legitimacy for those who have the overwhelming power to guarantee that the elections will work in their favor. A poor righteous guy will never defeat the dark sinister guy backed by the financial might of the oligarchs. If the oligrachs win the election through the most universal of universal suffrage, they can do as they please afterwards. Why would we want that to happen in Hong Kong?

(Apple Daily) "Big Mouth Ling" interviews Tiffany Chin Sze-man.

- Tiffany Chin grew up in Shatin. She has lived there for more than a decade and felt that the district was being vexed by mainland individual tourists. She said that she had to queue up to buy lipstick: "I went to Mannings to buy lipstick. I had to stay in line for one hour. Isn't that too much?"

Internet comments:

- She stood in line at Mannings for one hour. That line must have been long enough to wrap five times around the building. It is one thing to exaggerate a little bit, but this is beyond all reasonable bounds. Hong Kong students are very good at lying, and they are also very good at lying too. I don't know what else they are good at.
P.S. Of course, the line couldn't go out of the store because the alarm bells would ring when someone takes the goods outside the store without paying.
P.P.S. So if the line was inside the store and let's say there were 30 people. If it takes 4 cashiers to handle 30 people in 60 minutes, Mannings might as well as close up shop because they won't be able to cover rent and wages.

- Of course it is possible that this happened. Mannings opens at 9am, and she shows up at 8am. Therefore she stood on line for one hour. This is a very straightforward as well as the most reasonable explanation.

- 信你一成，雙目失明 Famous Cantonese saying: "If I believe you 10%, my eyes will go blind."

- She stood in line for one hour and she is whining like crazy about the wasted time. But she blocked the streets for 79 days and how much time did millions of people waste as a result? Many people spent more than one hour extra each day on commuting. Who's got the bigger complaints here?

- There is always a long queue outside the (in)famous Australia Dairy Company restaurant every day. But it looks like those waiting are all Hongkongers because mainlanders fail to see the value of poor food and lousy service. On one hand, this is bad because queuing is a waste of time. On the other hand, it is good because it means the Communists have not taken full control yet. What gives?

- The last time I ate at Hinsho Yokohama Ramen in Jordan district, they made me wait outside for more than one hour. This is bad on two counts. Firstly, queuing is a waste of time. Secondly, Japanese militarism is evil. But why do I keep going back?

- She was stupid. Here is what she should have done: First she locates the lipstick that she wants to buy. Next she opens out a yellow umbrella. Then the store manager will rush over, open an express lane to complete the transaction and send her on her way. It works almost every time, except on those occasions when the store manager throws everybody out and lowers the gate.

- Her first mistake was to stand in line for one hour without figuring out that the right thing to do was to bolt and wait for another time and place. Her second mistake was to blame the Communists for wasting her time instead of her own self. But Yellow Ribbons never learn from their mistakes.

- Tiffany Chin stood in line for one hour along with the mainland individual tourists. This is baloney. Given the legendary uncivilized nature of mainlanders, there would have been a mass riot already.

- Why did she patronize Mannings? She is the one who said that she opposed the monopolistic power of the big financial interest groups. Mannings is owned by Dairy Farm International Holdings which is a member of the Jardine Matheson Group, which also owns/operates the Wellcome supermarkets, Maxim's Catering restaurant, 7-Eleven convenience stores, IKEA home furnishing stores, Jardine Motors (including Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai), Hong Kong Land, Mandarin Oriental Hotel and others. She should be patronizing friendly independent neighborhood stores.

- If the mainlanders ignore queuing and jump the line, she complains that they are uneducated and uncivilized. Now they learn to queue up like other Hongkongers, she complains that they are wasting her time. So the only way to please her is to make them disappear altogether -- that is, no mainland tourists allowed in Hong Kong! Then she is going to complain why half the stores in New Town Plaza are shuttered and she wants 689 to resign for causing that to happen.

- At Ocean Park and Disneyland, some of the better rides have waiting times of two hours or more (by design because making it quicker would diminish their value). Obviously the problem arose from the mainland tourists. If they are not allowed in, Hongkongers shall have instant access with zero waiting time. Of course, Ocean Park and Disneyland will go out of business, for which 689 will have to resign for allowing it to happen under his watch.

- So Tiffany Chin's greatest concern about Hong Kong being taken over by the Communists is the long line to buy lipstick?

- She keeps referring to the Communists taking control of Hong Kong. [赤化 means "turn to red."] This seems very arbitrary to me.

Here are the things that she apparently feel are the effects of the Communist takeover:

- She has to stay in line for one hour to buy lipstick
- She can't say "Puk-gai" in making a statement at the Legislative Council

There are plenty of other things Hongkongers don't mind working with the Communists or taking advantage of them:

- Drink the water from Dongjiang River
- Use the electricity generated from the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant
- Use red lipsticks (and I don't see anyone using yellow lipsticks)
- Buy an iPhone6 in Hong Kong and sell it in Shenzhen for profit
- Download unlimited mp3 music and Korean drama shows from mainland-based bittorrent websites
- Use Taobao to search for and buy products and use SF Express to deliver to Hong Kong
- ...

- Has Mannings been taken over by the Communists? Where is the evidence? Do you see Chairman Mao portraits on the wall? Hammer-and-sickle banners hanging down from the ceiling? Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points of Attention music on the sound system?

- Queuing up? Check Google Image search on Post Office Queue, okay? Get used to it. It happens everywhere in democratic or Communist countries around the world. Or read this story about getting an ID at the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.

- Is Tiffany Chin the fat chick who secretly ate a McDonald's burger while on hunger strike?

- If the building of the nation of the Hong Kong City-State requires young noble democratic people, then we are screwed if all we have is Tiffany Chin and her boyfriend Joshua Wong.

- (Addendum) Tiffany Chan traveled to Kunming city (Yunnan province) with her family to visit relatives. She was stopped by the Public Security Bureau and sent back to Hong Kong. It means that her parents are mainland migrants (="locusts"). In the categorization of Hong Kong Indigenous, she is a "Pok-gai" to be exterminated too.

• [153] Occupy Shatin - Preparations (2015/02/10) On February 1, it was Occupy Sheung Shui. On February 8, it was Occupy Tuen Mun. Where will the next Occupy be for February 15? At the HK Golden Forum, a vote was taken to choose among Shatin, Tsuen Wan, Tian Shui Wai, Yuen Long, ... and it looks like Shatin is the winner.

Here are some of the considerations:

- Ideally we should be attacking multiple districts on the same day because the 'locusts' are everywhere -- the Umbrella Revolution occupied three districts. But then we don't want to have too few people show up.

- Yuen Long has the first wholesale infant formula market designed to meet mainland needs. If we don't stop them, Yuen Long will become just like Yiwu in China.

- If we can occupy Yuen Long, it will be a huge AWAKENING for the Yellow Ribbons.

- New Town Plaza in Shatin has the highest number of mainland 'locusts'.

- Shatin is one big shopping mall with lots of entrances/exits to make escape.

- The pedestrian walkways in Yuen Long are narrow, but there are lots of 'locusts' around especially down near Wing Wah on Yuen Long Main Road. But if we spill into the streets and block vehicular traffic, it will give the police the excuse for clearance.

- Someone is going to say to stay away from Yuen Long because there are many triad people there. DLLM! We've already seen it all in Mong Kok so what do we have to fear?  We are valiant and we shall defeat the triads in a resounding victory!

- During Occupy Central, some guys tried to set up a street booth in Yuen Long but they were immediately chased away by some New Territories gentlemen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYoY-nOExqo There are too many of these uneducated country bumpkins in Yuen Long. They just don't understand what is good for them.

- I think we should do Shatin for training (confession: I am playing Battlefield 4 right now), because Yuen Long will be more fun and exciting. I promise I will lead the way for the Valiant Ones.

- I vote for Shatin. The battlefield is a lot larger and there are many more 'locust' targets. So it is the final Big Boss level. Anything else will be an anti-climax.

There is an Occupy Shatin Facebook page with the details being worked out:

- Event: 3pm - 6pm, Sunday February 15, 2015. Assemble at Shatin East Rail Station Exit B.

- The slogan shall be "Reclaim Shatin, Defend our Homeland, Eliminate multiple-entry visas."

- Target locations: Wai Wah Centre (four dispensaries are there); Shatin Centre (PrizeMart); the East Rail station (where mainlanders and parallel traders take the train); Shatin Plaza (three to four dispensaries plus Mannings and Watsons); UNIQLO (clothing); Sasa (cosmetics); Yata supermarket.

- Please remember to bring helmets, goggles, surgical masks, bottles of water, thick clothing. Also memorize the telephone numbers of the volunteer lawyers and your school/company.

- As of Tuesday, more than 700 people have pledged to show up at this event. At this rate, we will have at least 10,000 demonstrators on Sunday and we will completely paralyze Shatin!

- Someone claims to have reported this Facebook page to the police. Well, we haven't done anything unlawful and we don't intend to either. It is perfectly legal for us to enter by the hundreds into these stores and shop. Shatin is a big place. It will take a lot of time to visit all these stores.

- This week, it will be New Town Plaza. Over the next few weeks, we will target Moko (formerly Grand Century Plaza) in Mong Kok, Telford Plaza in Kowloon Bay, Hollywood Plaza in Diamond Hill, Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong, APM in Kwun Tong, Times Square in Causeway Bay, Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui and Pacific Place in Admiralty. These malls are frequented by mainlanders. We will show up and stop business every Sunday between 3pm and 6pm until as such time when the multiple-entry visas for mainlanders are eliminated. Then Hong Kong will be free and democratic.

-To the anti-locust warriors, be careful about the New York Times reporters. As you can see, when they pick the photos of the demonstrators, they want to create the image of the demonstrators as being vicious and nasty. They won't post any photos of the police raising the red banner and using pepper spray, or how the parallel traders are affecting the lives of local residents. In the article, the New York Times reporter said that the demonstrators "claimed" that parallel traders are affecting people's livelihoods. They also paid special attention to the demonstrators calling the parallel traders locusts.

- (Update on Thursday) The Facebook page administrator has deleted the page, upon receiving the warning that he/she may be charged for inciting an unlawful assembly and using a computer with dishonest intent.

• [152] Occupy Tuen Mun (2015/02/08)

(SCMP) Tuen Mun protest against parallel traders ends with arrests and pepper spray. February 8, 2015.

Tensions ran high in Tuen Mun this afternoon as a protest attended by hundreds against the impact of parallel goods trading on the community ended with chaotic scenes, arrests and pepper spray.

From the Tuen Mun light rail station protesters marched to the notorious B3X bus stop down the road, where they shouted "go back to mainland China" and "give us back Tuen Mun" at passengers. Citybus’ HK$11 express B3X route runs from Tuen Mun Town Centre to Shenzhen Bay Port and is known to be used heavily by parallel traders and mainland visitors on individual visits. "Every time I walk home I can’t get by because I am blocked by a horde of [mainlanders] with luggages on the pavement," said one Tuen Mun resident who went by the name of "Chris".

One of those leading the march was Civic Passion’s Cheng Chung-tai, which called the buses "private coaches for parallel traders" and urged protesters help Citybus employees clamp down harder on the practice. "Tuen Mun residents, counting on the authorities ... will no longer work. You must take charge of your own district," he said.

The jeering and taunting were met with mixed responses from some parallel traders. Some took photos of the protest with their phones and laughed. A few even threw up their middle fingers at the protesters as their buses went by.

From the bus stop the protesters marched to Yan Ching Street, an area full of dispensaries and gold shops, where they demonstrated against the impact of parallel trading on the local livelihood. Some shops had to shut their gates, and the situation became even rowdier as protesters began irking residents and shop owners in the area.

Eventually, the crowd moved to nearby malls for "gau wu" style protests. “Gau Wu” is a Cantonese transliteration of Putonghua's "gou wu", which means "to shop", and became a popular protest phrase after a mainlander at an early anti-Occupy rally told a reporter that she was there to shop.

One scuffle between a couple and a group of protesters at Tuen Mun Town Plaza turned into a shoving match, which eventually led to police officers launching a volley of pepper spray into the crowd. Batons were pulled out and a red warning flag was raised outside the entrance of the mall warning protesters to leave the area.

By nightfall, shops at nearby Trend Plaza were forced to shut as protesters took over nearly half of the mall. Batons and more pepper spray were deployed as clashes broke out between protesters and police. Injuries were sustained on both sides and multiple arrests were made.

"Yes, it was chaotic but I think it was very successful as we really got the message out to the parallel traders," said Andy Yung Wai-yib, holding a colonial-era flag. Yung is better known as "Captain America" for his role in last year’s 79-day Occupy movement.

This is not what you think it is. There is a sub-text running underneath about the clash of radical factions. The lead group appears to be "Tuen Mun People Tuen Mun Affairs." The announcements were made via Facebook (as recorded at memehk.com):

Tuen Mun is completely unrecognizable today
B3X bus locusts have disturbed the peace in Tuen Mun
The new market has become pharmacy city for the convenience of parallel traders
Tuen Mun Park taken over by prostitutes
Parallel traders showing up in Tai Hing Estates
Tuen Mun Centre filled with luggage-lugging people
Action to oppose parallel traders invading Tuen Mun
February 2nd, 3pm
Assemble underneath the Tuen Mun Light Rail Station

Tuen Mun People Tuen Mun Affairs
Joint "valiant action" on February 8th
The following organizations have announced that they will attend (this action is organized by netizens and residents -- there are no organizers): Civic Passion, Hong Kong Indigenous, North District Parallel Imports Concern Group,  Population Policy Concern Group
...
Participants can bring their own "Yellow umbrellas, surgical masks, V-masks, demonstration banners, flags."
In addition, someone has promised to make an application to the police on our behalf. But the police will drag you to a dark corner and beat you up whether an application was filed or not. When you come out to attend a resistance action,  you must be psychologically prepared to be arrested. By this time, what is there to fear?
(We deeply apologize if we cause any convenience to local residents)

Action map:
1: Assemble underneath Tuen Mun station brirdge
2. B3X bus stop
3. Parallel traders at pharmacies
4. "Brain Fever" Pharmacy
5. V City
6. Mai Kei Industrial Building

Now what must be puzzling is the listing of the "Brain Fever" Pharmacy. Why is it a resistance landmark in Tuen Mun? It turns out that the majority owner of the pharmacy is allegedly Stephen Siu, who is the "Brain" behind the radical People's Power political party. Civic Passion believed that Stephen Siu's Memehk website fingered their member "The French Guy" to the police as the person who illegally entered the Legislative Council (see link). So the subtext is that it is a fight between the radical political parties Civic Passion and People's Power. If you think that you came out to support the Tuen Mun people to reclaim their homeland from mainland locusts, then you are wrong. You were tricked to serve as pawns for Civic Passion to attack People's Power.

The devil Stephen Siu fingering the warrior of justice (The French Guy) to the blind policeman on November 25, 2014.

The overhead banner of the pharmacy has photos of Stephen Siu and celebrities (such as Erica Yuen, chairwoman of People's Power), actor Kent Cheng Jak-si), etc).

Hong Kong Indigenous: We will be distributing surgical masks at 2pm. See you later!

Slogan: "I am a Hongkonger" with British Dragon/Lion flag in background

First stop: B3X bus stop

Next stop: Stephen Siu's pharmacy ( https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1079091575451106&set=vb.160696287290644&type=2&theater ) with people chanting "I want to buy surgical masks" and "Stephen Siu, go to hell for serving RMB (=the people's currency)!"

Slogan: "Stephen Siu, pharmaceutical drug salesman"

Stephen Siu's pharmacy lowered its gate.

Jewellery stores also lowered their gates.

30 minutes after the demonstrators moved on, Stephen Siu's pharmacy raised the gate and resumed business as usual.

Civic Passion's The French Guy leads the crowd to chant "Down with the Communist Party!" Is that the focus of this demonstration march? If that is the purpose, then these people should be shouting in front of the China Liaison Office or the People's Liberation Army barracks, not at some Tuen Mun pharmacy.

17:18pm The Tuen Mun Town Plaza. Police raise red warning banner

Blood is flowing everywhere in the mall! (Note: later determined to be red dye)

Video links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpFSj3u05zM (dbc)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEXCEn-RjrQ (dbc)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R83fTnffPkQ (dbc)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-2cWKPU5Uk (dhkchannel) Trend Plaza action. Good action video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a_MRuZSZe0 (Hei Kwok) Demonstrators delight on scaring female mainland traveler. Yet another victory for democracy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VktmmdelM4 (Jin Wong)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjuXJdLpetk (Hong0Konger)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMbyaCKcsYU (Hong Kong Hermit)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jPu-S03mTc (Diary of Hong Kong Revolution) Slogan chanting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3pkbRB-Cb0 (Diary of Hong Kong Revolution) Slogan chanting outside a pharmacy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Wn03gsw4M (Diary of Hong Kong Revolution) Slogan outside another pharmacy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_qms5fBKTo (Diary of Hong Kong Revolution) Slogan chanting outside Stephen Siu's pharmacy. The demonstrators want to charge inside the store to make purchases.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlSIIE75hXs (Diary of Hong Kong Revolution) Challenges from other citizens

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE1aSPCJ_iY Steven Siu's pharmacy closes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CRqkrdruCQ (SocREC) Trend Plaza. Pepper spray. Injured policeman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi0iILhUrG8 (SocREC) Trend Plaza. Pepper spray.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdka6t2pQr8 (SocREC) Trend Plaza. Pepper spray.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-NmDR0pH1s (yanchi918)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6btLPL5q8Y&feature=youtu.be
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=851305224932646 (Passion Times) Pepper spray used by police without warning at 04:55.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKdMJU35uwI (Epoch Times) Yelling and screaming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J258GAxZHro  (ZEROONE 01) Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VleabsJBjE (ZEROONE 01) Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWDK_fpWhp8 (ZEROONE 01) Part 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr9SIKjfaFI (ZEROONE 01) Part 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RRu17XmJfw (ZEROONE 01) Part 5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btQS32Vs8lE (ZEROONE 01) Part 6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzdDZiaVXzw (ZEROONE 01) Part 7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAdYe_OGx4A (ZEROONE 01) Part 8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si4vC5NVjuc (ZEROONE 01) Part 9

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSU5szRqLtg&feature=youtu.be Street view from above

Internet comments:

- Previously, they attempted to set off fires in Sheung Shui. Today, they announced the action publicly beforehand. So they are not going to do anything that breaks the law. They will go and chant some slogans, take some photos and feel good about themselves.

- (Discuss.com.hk) Yesterday the demonstration against parallel traders evolved into an occupation of a shopping mall. The radical organizations Civic Passion and Hong Kong Indigenous incited the violence. They called 350 persons together to "intercept" parallel traders in Tuen Mun, but they blocked the roads, stopped shops from doing business and charged into the shopping mall. Some shops lowered their gates quickly. In the evening, about 150 demonstrators charged into Trend Plaza, surrounded a shop that sold Lunar New Year goods and cast verbal abuse against tourists. They pushed a police officer down on the ground and then more than a dozen rioters kicked him in the head. Civic Passion and other radical elements clearly used the excuse of a demonstration against parallel traders to conduct an Occupy incident to ruin business and people's livelihood. They pretend as if they care about people's livelihood but they are actually carrying out a mutated version of the Occupy Movement. Citizens need to be aware.

- People make economic arguments for having individual mainland tourists. Mainlander shopping supports the local retail trade. If the individual mainland tourists can't come, the retail workers can switch jobs. They have low education and poor skills, but they can always work in supermarkets for the same wage levels. What is the problem? Even if there aren't even supermarket jobs, they can always go on welfare. So these people should STFU.

- Stop mainlanders from entering Hong Kong? The first ones to support this will be the current parallel traders. They are mostly Hongkongers and they would love you to eliminate their competition for them.

- The demonstrators were estimated to number somewhere between 300 and 500. On this day, there must have been tens of thousands of mainland tourists and parallel traders in Tuen Mun. In Chinese, the word for demonstration is literally "show of force." Who's got the greater force?

- I wonder how many of the participants today are actually Tuen Mun residents. Why would Tuen Mun residents raise the flags of Civic Passion and Hong Kong Indigenous instead of their own local organizations on their home turf? Do the demonstrators know where the line of demarcation between the old and new Tuen Mun markets is? Where is the location of the But San School? In which Tai Hing Estates building is the Choi Yuk Restaurant located?

- I looked carefully at the photo of Mr. Siu's pharmacy. They are selling regular daily stuff (such as laundry detergents, cleaners, facial tissues, hair shampoos/conditioners etc). This is not one of those Lockhart Road pharmacies with LED lighting and ceramic tiles selling New Zealand infant milk formula and Korean facial masks. Why do the people of Tuen Mun want it closed? It is there to serve them.

- They chanted slogan in front of Stephen Siu's pharmacy but they completely ignored the other pharmacies which are dedicated to serving the parallel traders. How else to think about the ulterior motive of the whole action?

- I fully support of occupation of Stephen Siu's pharmacy. He was a pro-democracy stalwart but he is now making critical statements about the Occupy Movement. People like that should be made to suffer for their perfidy.

- I can understand why people want to target pharmacies/dispensaries. I can understand why they want to blockade the Bank of China, even though it is closed on Sundays. I can even understand why they want to harass PrizeMart, which has been in business for many decades and a favorite discount shopping place for price-conscious Hong Kong citizens. But I don't see why they are blockading the Saint Honore Cake shop in Tuen Mun Town Plaza. How do you parallel trade in bread loaves and egg custards?

- Since physical action is involved, I expect Civic Passion leader Wong Yeung-tat to take his usual vacation in Taiwan.

- Oh, I see that they splash red paint in the shopping mall to intimidate the shopkeepers, and they set off a fire outside the Tuen Mun Town Hall. They are behaving just like triad gangs. See, for example, (Forbes)  "On July 4, 16 stores in the CSL New World cellular chain were sprayed with red paint in the wee hours of the morning, a typical warning sign from Hong Kong criminal syndicates, known as triads, against targeted victims. At about the same time, a sedan rammed into the front door of New World's Renaissance Hotel in the tourist district of Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon."

- I'm a longtime resident of Tuen Mun. Prior to today, I have never heard of the Reclaim Tuen Mun project. What is this Tuen Mun For Its Own People thing? Nobody consulted me. I have never heard of Civic Passion or Hong Kong Indigenous. Why are they representing the people of Tuen Mun today?

- I can't believe that a newspaper editorial is saying that the police caused all this when they refused to enforce the law. When parallel traders pick up their wares and block the roads, the police should issue summons to them, or even arrest them if they show sass. Well, well, well. For 79 days, there were a lot of people blocking the roads in Admiralty, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok. Did this newspaper editorial writer demand the police to issue summons, or even arrest the offenders? No. That's called double standards. This is rule-of-man and not rule-of-law when the law applies selectively to only certain persons.

- I just went down to watch the battle live. These people want the mainlanders to be patriotic and buy only mainland products. Well, I am loyal to Hong Kong and I only take the Hong Kong MTR to work. Therefore I must be loyal. Yup! These wastrels think the whole thing is a music concert. They shriek at anything. As they say on the RTHK programme "Gimme Five," this is making something out of nothing and utterly lacking in creativity.

- I'm a longtime resident of Tuen Mun. Prior to today, I have never heard of the Reclaim Tuen Mun project. What is this Tuen Mun for its people? Nobody consulted me. I have never heard of Civic Passion or Hong Kong Indigenous. Why are they representing Tuen Mun today?

- I am a Tuen Mun resident. Today, I became the star of a Tuen Mun Concern Facebook group. I went out shopping this morning with a cart in tow. As a result, I was cursed out as a mainland parallel trader in very very foul language! Yes, I was that fat guy who was going to buy laundry detergent powder. Don't I have the right to curse those fuckers back!?

- If Tuen Man People Tuen Mun Affairs runs a regular weekly "Beat the Parallel Traders/Mainlanders Up" action, then all it means that the parallel traders and mainlanders will go to Yuen Long or Tai Po instead. Then it is time to form Yuen Long People Yuen Long Affairs and Tai Po People Tai Po Affairs groups. Meanwhile Tuen Mun will be turned back into a lifeless city as before with a half-deserted mall with one KFC and several electronic game centers.

- The police used pepper spray without warning in an enclosed space. This is exactly what you expect from a bunch of poorly educated IVE (Institute of Vocational Education) losers who can't read the English-language instructions on the pepper spray can.

- Last week, arson took place in Sheung Shui. This week, arson took place in Tuen Mun while the demonstration was going on. (Oriental Daily) At about 7pm, construction materials for a women's rest room under repair in the Tuen Mun Town Hall suddenly caught fire right after a garbage can caught fire. Firemen suspected arson and turned the case over to the police for investigation. The Fire Next Time?

- This is sweet. Once upon a time in the 1980's, Hongkongers flocked to Luowu Commercial City to buy cheap stuff to maximize returns on their higher purchasing power. The shopkeepers didn't complain about the Hong Kong locusts, did they? Today, mainlanders have higher purchasing power and they flock to Hong Kong to buy the cheap stuff to maximize returns. But some Hongkongers want to chase these locusts away. I love the broken symmetry.

- Last week, it was Sheung Shui district. This week, it was Tuen Mun district. We will be making the grand tour and make sure to spare none of the 18 districts! We'll see you somewhere next week! By so doing, we will insure that the pan-democrats lose every district in the upcoming District Council elections!

- Yet another Civic Passion "Hot Dog" farce. This was supposed to be an action against parallel traders. Instead, it became harassing Hong Kong shopkeepers and salespersons. Why block the entire Trend Plaza mall and stop business for the entire evening? Do all the mall stores serve only parallel traders and mainland tourists? For Hong Kong businesses, the period before the Lunar New Year is critical because volume usually stops during the New Year. This was Occupy Tuen Mun except the Hot Dogs couldn't hold it for more than a couple of hours.

- Desperate times call for desperate measures. The Occupy Movement has ended in total failure. The Civil Human Rights Front march was sparsely attended. So something must be found to keep the level of discontent up. How about getting people to do something stupid so that the police will clobber them? Great idea! Keep charging, guys! If you get arrested, the others will surround the police station and demand your release, so that more people will can arrested. By this time, getting pepper sprayed and arrested isn't going to lift the Movement up to a higher level. What is needed is the first Martyr Hero of the Revolution. Does anyone want the job?

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qW_QCvjUPQ (Speakout HK)
0:56 (Voice of male Commercial Radio host) We saw some photos from the bus stop today. Obscene gestures were made and obscene words were hurled. Do you think that this method will stop the individual tourists? Or perhaps persuade them ...
1:10 (Ray Wong, Hong Kong Indigenous) Eh ... as for this action, I obviously think that it will not have a big effect on individual tourists and parallel traders.
1:22 (Radio host) So this isn't going to solve the problem? You know that?
1:25 (Ray Wong) I know. But this is what the citizens spontaneously did because they were too angry and that is why they made these obscene gestures, even using obscene language.

- (Shu Online) March 7, 2013. According to the mainland customs department, there are about 20,000 parallel traders of which 60% are Hongkongers. During the present week, about 300 persons had gone between Hong Kong and the mainland more than 4 times in one single day, of which 90% are HongKongers. During the year 2012, 8,000 individuals were prosecuted, half Hongkongers and half mainlanders. The highest record is held by a Hongkonger who went back and forth 26 times in one day.

- I see that the demonstrators have declared victory for the action on Sunday. Let me tally for them:

- 13 persons were arrested.

- A number of people were pepper-sprayed by the police.

- 1 policeman was kicked in the head repeatedly, passed out and had to be hospitalized.

- The B3X bus from Tuen Mun to Shenzhen Bay was prevented from leaving for 15 minutes.

- Stephen Siu's pharmacy lowered its gates and stopped conducting business for 30 minutes.

- A number of stores in Trend Plaza lowered their gates and stopped conducting business for about 2 hours. A shopkeeper said that business volume was down 20% for the day.

- A fire was set off to ignite some construction materials used to repair a women's restroom outside Tuen Mun Town Hall.

- Next week, the demonstrators will move elsewhere. It will be business as usual in Tuen Mun.

Does this add up to a resounding victory?