Another historic day for HK – 20 Oct rally

This is yet another historic day for Hong Kong – 120,000 people turned up to protest the government’s decision not to issue the free-to-air TV license to Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV) last Sunday. 500,000 people gave “like” to a Facebook page calling for protest against the government’s decision and then this past Sunday, thousands of people, most of them wearing black in response to the organizer’s call, marched from Causeway Bay to the Government Headquarters in Admiralty.

When I approached Admiralty, I was both excited and surprised to see a sea of people converge on the government site to rally against CY Leung and his government’s decision. It evoked the day when thousands of people converged at the same place to protest the implementation of national education in school curricula. The sense of solidarity gripped the people attending the rally who clapped hands and waved at each other.People made speech, denouncing Leung and defending Hong Kong’s core value, bringing with them amplifier and microphone to make their voice heard.And all sorts of banners in the mockery of the government’s decision were exhibited during the march. CY Leung’s government is a joke in the minds of Hong Kong people – how much public outcry Leung has aroused since he was elected by a mere 689 votes in a Beijing-rigged election. While a reasonable person would think that HKTV deserves the license for its entrepreneurial spirit and efforts to revive Hong Kong’s TV golden era and creative industry, his government threw it out, saying that this is good for the health of the local TV industry. In other words, it wants to promote the health of the TV business by forestalling any disruptive forces that would change the established order, keeping HK people forever at the mercy of the monopoly of TVB, the current major player. ATV, kowtowing to Beijing and controlled by “red” capitalists, is another current player, whose TV programs are simply rubbish. The fact that ATV can still exist despite its very poor performance and reputation, is another joke.

Though Hong Kong people have long been deprived of quality TV programs, it took the government three years to finally make a decision regarding issuing new TV license, a decision that is so unreasonable and ridiculous that draws the ire of the public. People are angry that there is no justice but political motivation behind the decision. What is more, the government keeps saying that it is the collective decision of the cabinet (i.e. Executive Council) whose deliberations should be kept confidential. Who are these people on the cabinet btw? They include mostly Leung’s loyalists who Leung appointed to the cabinet so that he could return their favor of supporting his bid for Chief Executive. If the cabinet has no responsibility to explain their decisions which are of great public interest on the flimsy excuse of confidentiality, then Hong Kong affairs will be in the hands of a select few who are not held accountable for their decisions. Why should Hong Kong’s future be governed by them? They have no mandate from Hong Kong people to govern or make decisions on their behalf! That this happens in Hong Kong, the so called Asia’s world city, is another big joke.

Since Leung took power, Hong Kong people have taken to the streets a few times en masse. You only need to be in the march to feel how much people here despise him and want him out. I hope Beijing can see that we Hong Kong people want real democracy and to elect our leader, not one that implanted from above like Leung, an idiot and one with no integrity, not to mention leadership and vision. Forcing people to bow to the will of those with power can only backfire, one day.