The Dreaded W-Word

Carrie Lam speaking to the media today, saying the extradition bill is "dead"

This morning all eyes were on Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor who held her first media briefing since the extraordinary 4am press conference on July 2 after a group of protesters had stormed the Legislative Council.

Lam acknowledged there was lingering fear that the government would restart the amendment process within Legco's current term, which ends in 2020. "There is no such plan, the plan is dead," she said.

Memes online

In addition, she would not entertain one of the protesters' demands that an independent inquiry be established to investigate the clashes between protesters and police.

So basically Lam did not budge at all.

One could hear the entire Hong Kong collectively say, "What?"

What was the point of this morning's press conference when she had nothing new to say?

And "dead"? What does "dead" mean? Can she not say the w-word -- withdraw?

If she did say the w-word, it would have meant that she caved into the protesters' demands, and she doesn't want to be seen as being weak, though these last few weeks have completely eroded any credibility and integrity she has left as a leader.

Even her biggest allies, the pro-Beijing camp are pointing fingers at each other over who supported the bill and that certain people failed in delivering the opinions of the public on the extradition bill to Lam.

All of that is way too late now. We're beyond the blame game and just want to move on -- ie. withdraw the bill. If today is any indication, it seems like saying the w-word is too difficult for her to mouth.

The Chinese media have had a field day, as "dead" in Chinese can have so many different kinds of meanings that immediately exploded on social media.

See Lam's face planted on top of Uma Thurman?

She used the word "壽終正寢", which means a natural death due to old age, but this extradition bill has not died of natural causes at all! 

On Twitter someone reminded Lam that as a Catholic she should remember that Jesus rose from the dead three days later...

Another image on the left shows Lam as The Bride in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill...

It looks like people are going to continue protesting in Sheung Shui on Saturday, Sha Tin on Sunday.

There's no stopping until the w-word is uttered. Hongkongers, add oil! 香港人加油！