Watching while your once-peaceful and tolerant home city unravels before your eyes, in the intense summer heat, is truly distressing.

Tomorrow, at 3pm local time, it is widely expected that confrontation and anger will reach new levels in the latest in a series of mass demonstrations in Hong Kong which have occurred every weekend since late June.

This event called Reclaim Yuen Long is a coordinated response to the shocking events witnessed last Sunday evening, when an angry mob violently assaulted members of the public with bamboo poles in an underground railway station, while the police appeared to turn a blind eye.

There is no shortage of phone video footage from Yuen Long station on social media. It shows terrified passengers standing in an open train carriage, trying to defend themselves with umbrellas, as violent thugs in white T-shirts hurl abuse and attempt to beat them with sticks and poles. More than 40 people were admitted to hospital. One unconfirmed report indicates a pregnant woman was beaten to the ground and one male passenger is still in a critical medical condition.

The mob, thought to have affiliation with organised crime (Triads) were targeting protestors against the controversial extradition bill but ended up randomly attacked any passengers wearing black (the traditional colour for protestors) and, apparently, anyone they didn’t like the look of.

Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Show all 16 1 /16 Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Inside-Hong-Kong-youth-housing-crisis.jpg Native Hong Kong resident Eunice Wai, 30, a primary school teacher, who lives with her parents and a brother, poses for a picture in her 7.4 sq metre bedroom of her family's apartment in Hong Kong, China, June 25, 2019. Wai explained how Hong Kong people felt stifled by Beijing: "They control people more and give us less freedom." But she said other problems made life increasingly difficult, in particular what she said was an unfair housing policy that only seemed to make the rich richer. "Housing is one of the most important ones. We have so little room in Hong Kong and people find it hard to buy a flat. The property companies control the market." REUTERS/Thomas Peter SEARCH "YOUNG HK" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. THOMAS PETER Reuters/Thomas Peter Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Inside-Hong-Kong-youth-housing-crisis-0.jpg Laundry hangs out to dry in a residential apartment complex in Hong Kong, China, June 27, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter SEARCH "YOUNG HK" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. THOMAS PETER Reuters/Thomas Peter Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Inside-Hong-Kong-youth-housing-crisis-1.jpg Native Hong Kong resident Fung Cheng, 25, a graphic designer, who lives in a flat with his parents and brother, poses for a picture in his five square metre bedroom of his family's apartment in Hong Kong, China June 27, 2019. Cheng vented his frustration at a system that he believes has robbed him of the chance to ever have his own home. He said Hong Kong's Beijing-backed governor Carrie Lam, who was chosen as leader in 2017 in a vote by an electoral college approved by Beijing, just didn't listen to the people. "It's the system's problem ... they don't need a vote to be the government, there is no democracy," he said. REUTERS/Thomas Peter SEARCH "YOUNG HK" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. THOMAS PETER Reuters/Thomas Peter Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Inside-Hong-Kong-youth-housing-crisis-2.jpg Native Hong Kong resident Ruby Leung, 22, a law student, who lives with her mother and domestic helper, poses for a picture in her 7 sq meter bedroom of her family's apartment in Hong Kong, China, June 29, 2019. They promised to have a one country, two systems for 50 years, so people panic about what will happen in 50 years. Will they continue this, or will they just assimilate us into part of China, like a district in Shenzhen? That's very scary," Leung said. "There was a hope that we could get universal suffrage. But then the situation got worse. Not only do we not have universal suffrage, but the Chinese government is even more influential in politics." REUTERS/Thomas Peter SEARCH "YOUNG HK" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. THOMAS PETER Reuters/Thomas Peter Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Inside-Hong-Kong-youth-housing-crisis-3.jpg A general view shows residential apartment blocks in Hong Kong, China, June 27, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter SEARCH "YOUNG HK" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. THOMAS PETER Reuters/Thomas Peter Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Inside-Hong-Kong-youth-housing-crisis-4.jpg Native Hong Kong resident Peter Chang, 23, a social entrepeneur who shares his room with his father, poses for a picture in his 5 sq metre bedroom of his family's apartment in Hong Kong, China, June 30, 2019. Venting his anger over the government's immigration scheme that settles mainland Chinese in Hong Kong, he said, "They are attempting to dilute our identity through the greater though the Great Bay area scheme which is a cultural infusion scheme. Also, the 150 immigrants every day. This tactic was seen in many other places in China as well, for example Tibet, Canton provinces and also Xinjiang. ... We need to have a chief executive elected by the people because this is promise that China made to the world before the handover. Without the leader elected by the people, our policy would be inclined towards the Chinese interests forever" REUTERS/Thomas Peter SEARCH "YOUNG HK" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. THOMAS PETER Reuters/Thomas Peter Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Inside-Hong-Kong-youth-housing-crisis-5.jpg Native Hong Kong resident Roy Lam, 23, who works in HR, and lives with his mother and four sisters, poses for a picture in his 7 sq metre bedroom of his family's apartment in Hong Kong, China, June 30, 2019. "We rather lose standing up than lose sitting down," Lam said. He added young people were determined to stand up for what they deserved but it was hard to stay positive. "We do also sometimes think 'let's just give up, let's just move to some place else'." REUTERS/Thomas Peter SEARCH "YOUNG HK" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. THOMAS PETER Reuters/Thomas Peter Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Inside-Hong-Kong-youth-housing-crisis-6.jpg A general view shows residential apartment blocks in Hong Kong, China, June 29, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter SEARCH "YOUNG HK" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. THOMAS PETER Reuters/Thomas Peter Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Inside-Hong-Kong-youth-housing-crisis-7.jpg Native Hong Kong resident Michael Ho, 24, a graduate of Government and International Studies at HKBU, who lives with his parents, poses for a picture in his bedroom of his family's apartment in Hong Kong, China, June 26, 2019. Ho inherited his sister's room, took down the wall separating them and now has a double room measuring 11 sq meters. He said the protests were about unjust circumstances that prevent them from living their dreams. "It's just hopeless for young people to grow, to develop their career because of the pricing problem." REUTERS/Thomas Peter SEARCH "YOUNG HK" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. THOMAS PETER Reuters/Thomas Peter Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Inside-Hong-Kong-youth-housing-crisis-8.jpg Native Hong Kong resident Maisy Mok, 22, a student studying international journalism, poses for a picture in her 9 sq meter bedroom of her family's apartment in Hong Kong, China June 29, 2019. Mok lives with her dad who sleeps on a couch as the apartment is too small. Her parents are divorced. "Recently I came back to live with my dad. Sometimes I feel bad that my dad has to sleep on the couch, because everybody deserves their own privacy," Mok said. "Us, who are born around the 1997 handover, we know that we are Hong Kong people. We don't have the sense that we are Chinese citizens until we get to secondary school. We have our own unique language. It's harder for us to transition because people of my generation we have this thought that we are Hong Kongers, this identity, we hold it very strongly," she added. "I feel I could never let go of freedom of speech. I feel like the judiciary system in Hong Kong is pretty good. And I love political satire, these are the things that got me into journalism and politics. If these were taken away, even with the money and benefits that the mainland can bring, or bigger housing, I wouldn't feel happy about it. Sometimes it feels like you are trapped. So for us, who are used to this kind of freedom, we might not get used to it." REUTERS/Thomas Peter SEARCH "YOUNG HK" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. THOMAS PETER Reuters/Thomas Peter Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Inside-Hong-Kong-youth-housing-crisis-9.jpg Native Hong Kong resident Sonic Lee, 29, a musician and composer, who lives with his mother, poses for a picture in his 6 sq meter bedroom of his family's apartment in Hong Kong, China June 28, 2019. "For me, the Umbrella Revolution is like telling a story, it's Marvel [comic]. It's not going to happen in Hong Kong. There are no superheroes. Nothing will happen in one big movement. I don't believe it anymore. If anything will change in Hong Kong it will be many small people doing many small things and you add them together," Lee said. "Yes, I'm afraid about books that I cannot read or works we cannot write or songs we cannot sing. At the same time, it makes art and music more powerful. Especially Rock'n Roll music. If I use music to talk about what is happening and what we need to fight for, then music will become important in this city." REUTERS/Thomas Peter SEARCH "YOUNG HK" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. THOMAS PETER Reuters/Thomas Peter Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Inside-Hong-Kong-youth-housing-crisis-10.jpg A general view shows pipes on the outside wall of a residential apartment block in Hong Kong, China, June 29, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter SEARCH "YOUNG HK" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. THOMAS PETER Reuters/Thomas Peter Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Inside-Hong-Kong-youth-housing-crisis-11.jpg Native Hong Kong resident John Wai, 26, an engineer, who lives with his parents and a sister, poses for a picture in his 7 sq meter bedroom of his family's apartment in Hong Kong, China, June 25, 2019. "What makes me angry is that the government allows mainland people to buy those very limited resources of land. The property agencies drive the prices so high that we cannot afford them," Wai said. Two years into his career after graduating from a top Hong Kong university, he feels he doesn't get what he deserves. He puts money aside, pays back his parents and pays his student loan. This doesn't leave him with enough money to get his own apartment. "I'm really considering emigrating. To Singapore or Thailand. The reason is that I'm disappointed about the future of Hong Kong. I can see the Chinese government further suspending our rights." REUTERS/Thomas Peter SEARCH "YOUNG HK" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. THOMAS PETER Reuters/Thomas Peter Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Inside-Hong-Kong-youth-housing-crisis-12.jpg Native Hong Kong resident Zaleena Ho, 22, film studies graduate, who lives with her parents, poses for a picture in her 7 sq meter bedroom of her family's apartment in Hong Kong, China, June 29, 2019. "It's getting worse politically. Most of us are trying our best to maintain what we've earned. I have a US passport. I can just leave but I have hope that we can change something. If things turn really bad, I'll run away. But we are still here fighting," Ho said. REUTERS/Thomas Peter SEARCH "YOUNG HK" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. THOMAS PETER Reuters/Thomas Peter Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Inside-Hong-Kong-youth-housing-crisis-13.jpg Bin liners are stuck in the letterboxes of apartments of a residential apartment blocks in Hong Kong, China, June 28, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter SEARCH "YOUNG HK" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. THOMAS PETER Reuters/Thomas Peter Inside Hong Kong's youth housing crisis Inside-Hong-Kong-youth-housing-crisis-14.jpg Native Hong Kong resident William Lun, 22, majoring in economy, an aspiring lawyer, who lives with his father and brother, poses for a picture in his 6.5 square meter bedroom of his family's apartment in Hong Kong, China, June 27, 2019. "I think it's everybody's dream to get a house. It is a Chinese mentality that you have to have a house. It marks a stage in your life when you finally get settled. I want to buy a house in Hong Kong but it's mission impossible," Lun said. "Hong Kong should have its own identity along with Chinese identity. Hong Kong is very special; I was born in Hong Kong. I love this place. I cried in the past two weeks many times. Simply seeing what's been happening, my friends getting shot, teargassed," he added. "It's sad to see the government being indifferent. They seem to be not listening to the youngsters, they seem to be not caring enough. Two million came out and they are saying, 'Oh, we hear you. But we are still going to press on'." REUTERS/Thomas Peter SEARCH "YOUNG HK" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. THOMAS PETER Reuters/Thomas Peter

There was human blood shed on the polished marble floor of a major public transport hub and it’s still hard for many locals to digest these events. This is the safest city in the world, or at least it was, and though no one in Hong Kong makes predictions anymore, many fear there is worse to come.

On Thursday, the police refused consent for the Reclaim Yuen Long march but no one thinks this will have much impact on the numbers of demonstrators attending. Since officers failed to turn up for more than 30 minutes and then seemed very reluctant to make arrests in Yuen Long last weekend, they are struggling to retain public trust.

They have been accused of colluding with the Triads and the force once dubbed “Asia’s finest” is now distrusted by most and hated by many. Instead of a demonstration, posters on social media are now promoting Yuen Long shopping trips and even Yuen Long mass-prayer meetings but everyone knows what they really mean.

I have only been to Yuen Long twice before, and on both occasions it was only because I caught a bus going in the wrong direction. It’s a tough and utilitarian new town of some 150,000 people in the northwest of Hong Kong’s New Territories which some locals refer to as the wild west. For several days this week, the town was in shutdown with mobs prowling the streets like a dystopian scene from 1970s Haiti.

Anger, confrontation and polarisation has been bubbling away for years but this latest bout of civil disobedience was triggered by the government’s attempt to introduce the extradition bill. This unpopular measure, since declared “dead” by the chief executive, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, offered the chilling prospect of political dissidents being extradited to face the arbitrary criminal justice system in mainland China.

The broader motivation behind this “hard hat revolution” (named after the headgear protestors have taken to wearing) can be traced back to the 2014 Umbrella Movement and beyond. There is bitter resentment of what many see as the erosion of Hong Kong’s much cherished liberal values, government collusion with big business and Beijing, as well as a more general anxiety that the city’s unique identity is under threat.

That resentment has left us locked in a battle of tear gas, rubber bullets, blood and random mob attacks with bamboo poles. It’s not civil war yet but it is spinning out of control at an alarming rate. There is open discussion about when Beijing might dispatch the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to restore order and send tanks to roll past the designer boutiques of the city. The government has been quick to deny this is an option.

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Carrie Lam’s political administration is running on empty in terms of credibility or legitimacy. Propped up by Beijing, by corporate elites and now it seems, by organised crime syndicates. They remain completely impervious to the demands of ordinary people. When police claimed to have found bomb-making equipment at premises rented to pro-independence political groups, the scepticism was immediate.

The young Hongkongers I talk to are not stereotypical hard-bitten agitators but they are determined, idealistic and desperate. Most seem highly vulnerable and any skills in the art of street protest were gained via their mobile phones in air-conditioned shopping malls, not paramilitary desert training camps.

One young local activist who will be reporting on the Yuen Long protests for her university magazine, lent me her spare hard hat for Saturday. This quiet 22-year-old student of diminutive build has been already been tear gassed twice. She insists on writing "press" in Chinese characters on the side of my hard hat and warns me to take care.