Argyle Street, the site of the Occupy Mongkok, was cleared today. This is how it began.
Read More"Plutocrats Against Democracy" (Krugman): My thoughts
Paul Krugman's Plutocrats Against Democracy column yesterday is a great read. I don't agree with Krugman all that often, but this piece is clear, well-reasoned, backed up with solid data even if he can't help himself from taking some partisan swipes while he's at it. Also, he uses Hong Kong as an example for a macro-generalization about what is happening in the world, so if you're glued to the #umhk definitely check it out.
What get's me thinking is Krugman's spectre of polarity. He frames it as Plutocrat vs. Democrat, and everyone has her or his preferred words- I call it Local vs. Cosmopolitan.
Read More5min to Understand Occupy Central's Theme Song
Reporting on the ground in Hong Kong, various media have written about protesters singing the “Do you Hear the People Sing” tune from Les Misérables (see here, here, and here). I’m sure that is the case that it was sung, and sung in various places in and around town at the protests sites around the city (including the latest one to sprout up, in Tsim Tsa Tsui) in the #occupycentral civil disobedience movement.
But I’m not sure that song is the anthem of the protest. There’s another tune that is a much likelier contender.
Read More4pm Sept 29th #OccupyCentral Causeway Bay SOGO
Scenes from earlier this afternoon Sept 29th #OccupyHK @ Causeway Bay
Read More12:30am Sept 29 #OccupyCentral Causeway Bay SOGO
The SOGO protest
Traffic was backed up a long, long way
5pm Sept 28th 2014 @ #OccupyCentral #OccupyAdmiralty
One of the side crowds, West of the main protest area
These were the everyday police units. No real special gear here. None was apparent at 5pm.
A lot of regular folks out
Mood was relatively calm at 5:20pm
Then there was this massing of people, and at approx. 5:30pm the crowd was still steadily growing. There were plenty of people to the North, on the sidelines too (this view is looking East)
Designer Fans? The Piaget Ad got a lot of play too :)