Tai Po Lennon Tunnel gutted by govt workers

Tai Po Lennon Tunnel gutted by govt workers

Workers torn down the giant posters plastered over the walls of the tunnel. Photo: RTHK

Candice Wong reports

Posters and messages in Tai Po's "Lennon Tunnel" were ripped down by cleaners employed by the government on Friday, five months after the pedestrian subway was filled with protest-related material.



The giant posters and thousands of notes supporting protesters and denouncing the police had been accompanied by illustrations and drawings denoting various incidents that have taken place since the summer, including the July 21 Yuen Long attack, and deaths linked to the unrest.



But they were all gone by Friday afternoon, after the government sent dozens of cleaners to gut the tunnel, with police officers standing by while the mammoth operation took place.



A man walking past told RTHK that he was sad to see the posters had gone, because he had appreciated the expressive messages and all the creativity.



"I actually quite liked it, but they've been torn down now. Actually I feel kind of sad that we have lost a platform that allowed people to recall the things and history that happened over the past months," he said.



But another resident said she was happy that the tunnel had returned to normal.



"Seeing that many slogans, some were really radical and I felt unhappy. I just think, sometimes, it's low-class to use words that curse others," she said.



Others said the tunnel had provided a good outlet for young people to express their emotions during the city's unrest and they expected that messages would soon pop up again there.