July 21st, 2019

– Location: Hong Kong Island –

The protest started at 3pm, with approximately 430,000 citizens cheering for each other under the boiling heat, as well as chanting the 5 demands in hopes that the Government would finally respond to their requests.

By nightfall, most of the protesters had left, but some stayed behind to surround the Hong Kong-China Liaison Office, in which they quickly retreated after the police had asked them to. The police then surrounded them at an intersection and began to charge towards the protesters and members of the press with batons and other weapons in hand. This sent people into mass frenzy and the police continued despite citizens crying out that they were leaving but it would take some time as there were disabled and elderly people at the scene.

Later on in the night, there were still some protesters who decided to stay and peacefully occupy the area to demonstrate their discontent towards the government. However, the police became impatient and employed tear gas bombs and rubber bullet guns to attack the protesters.

(Photos courtesy of Apple Media)

– Location: Yuen Long –

At the same time that this is occurring, a tragic and disgraceful event was happening on the opposite side of Hong Kong.

In a suburban area called Yuen Long, citizens who were returning home from the protest, wearing black, were being attacked on the streets by gangsters, who wore white. This began at roughly 8pm, but by around 10:30pm, this escalated as hundreds of gangsters stormed the train station and began to beat unarmed civilians inside with bamboo sticks. Some of these victims were completely unrelated and were not even wearing black, including a pregnant woman, elderly and members of the press. Journalists were video taped live, screaming as they were being beaten and the worst thing is:

The police had been informed but were nowhere to be found.

Multiple eye witnesses, victims and allegedly the train company themselves contacted the police, but many were disconnected or put on hold. The Yuen Long district police station also closed its gates, preventing anyone from seeking help.

At about 11pm, the gang members hijacked a train and began to hit civilians who were trapped inside. When they were done, they finally left the station and minutes after, the police arrived. Conveniently, too late. As a reference, the distance from the police station to the train station is a 6 minute drive, and an 18 minute walk, yet it took them an hour to respond.

Here are some videos/photos that show exactly how bad it was (warning: blood and violence):

Because the police failed to catch them, they are now roaming free and attacking different parts of suburban Hong Kong, such as Tuen Mun and Tai Po. Their motives are unconfirmed but netizens theorise that they are siding with the government to invoke fear into the public to discourage them from attending future protests.

(Photos courtesy of Apple Media and The Stand News)

And why am I talking about this? Why should you care?

Frankly, because we’re scared. Things are escalating beyond our control and I can only foresee more chaos in the coming weeks as the government continues to ignore public opinion and the protests continue. The society has never been this divided. We have never witnessed this much violence on the streets. But the question here remains:

Where were the police when their people needed them? When will they be held accountable for their excessive force against peaceful protesters, and their utter ignorance towards violent gangsters? When will we be able to feel safe and at home again?

I used to be so proud to say that Hong Kong is one of the safest cities in the world. Now, I’m not so sure I can anymore. And it’s such a shame because it is so, so beautiful.

(Photo courtesy of Discover Hong Kong)