Hong Kong protest timeline

Photos

The fight for Queen's Pier

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uploaded by Steventhompson38

Hong Kong's citizens have a long and proud tradition of taking their grievences onto the streets. Unfortunately, they have been wasting their time. The latest in a series of protests over the years has been about losses from Lehman Brother mini-bonds. Protesters set up shop in front of the branches of the banks that sold them these so-called toxic assets and make a large amount of noise (particularly during lunch time). The idea is to draw attention to their plight and to disrupt the business of the branch during its peak hour. Unfortunately, these mostly old folk are only inconveniencing other old folk, because only por pors frequent bank branches nowadays. The protesters have noticed this, and, so, at some less popular branches, they resort to simply playing a recording of their protest. The first picture in the attached video montage is of the Cenotaph in Central, adorned with banners and floral tributes to the fallen after the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989. The event significantly changed the political landscape in Hong Kong, with greater calls for democracy – the echoes of which are beginning to slowly fade. The photograph was taken on June 8, 1989. The next photograph, taken in the mid-1980s, shows one of several pensioners setting up their bi-lingual banners outside the Legco Building in Central. I believe they are protesting about the loss of their land. The next shot, from the early 90s, is of a protest in Central, which was organized every year. The demonstrators are asking for donations to fund various causes. In this case, they were planning to go without food for 30 hours in the name of democracy. More recently, Falun Gong protesters have been quietly camped on Battery Path in Central for quite a while now. They have to protest there for fear of being beaten by the thousads of patriots that cross th border into Hong Kong. The final picture is of Lehman mini-bond protesters outside Citibank's Pedder Street branch getting dressed up at lunch time for their daily bout of protesting. Bless 'em. They won't get a cent, but they won't listen. In fact, for all the protests mentioned above, none have really succeeded - but you can't say they didn't try. The photograph of the Fight for Queen's Pier was taken with a tinge of sadness because my wife and I set off on our journey to our wedding reception in a British Army launch from Queen's Pier, so the demonstrations to preserve the pier in 2007 had some personal significance. Unfortunately, as with anything more than 20 years old, the pier was ripped down to make way for another highway that no one will use.