The Violence and Confrontations Continue

A big turnout for an illegal gathering at Tsim Sha Tsui this afternoon

Today has been another day of protests that started off peacefully in Tsim Sha Tsui with an estimated 350,000 people that soon escalated with tear gas and water cannons.

There was lots of criticism aimed at the police after they fired water mixed with blue dye and pepper spray at the steps of Kowloon Mosque in Tsim Sha Tsui when there were only a few people, none of them protesters on the sidewalk.

A water cannon fired blue dye at Kowloon Mosque

Earlier protesters were at pains to tell people not to attack the mosque, as a few days earlier Civil Human Rights Front convenor Jimmy Sham Tze-kit had been ambushed by South Asian men who are still at large.

But this time it was the police who created a mess, and some protesters along with some Muslims quickly went to work to clean off as much of the blue dye as possible, while others had to be treated for the effects of pepper spray on their faces and bodies.

There was a torrent of criticism against the police on social media, and several hours later, a group of police representatives, led by Yam Tsim District Commander Ho Yun-sing, went to Kowloon Mosque and had a 45-minute meeting with several Muslim community leaders.

Afterwards, the police group, that included Senior Superintendent Yolanda Yu Hoi-kwan from the Police Public Relations Branch, does not answer any questions from reporters on whether they had apologized for the incident.

Soon after protesters cleaned up the entrance to the mosque

One would hope that they did...

In the meantime tonight more shops have been vandalized or set on fire, including China Merchant's Bank, Tong Ren Tang, Xiaomi, Uniso, Best Mart 360, BEA, and Yoshinoya, and some MTR stations. The vandalism is hardly productive, and even attacking places like BEA that have no mainland Chinese links is ridiculous, while Best Mart 360 has strenuously denied any relationship with China but the protesters have ignored the company's statements.

Vandalizing these businesses is not doing anyone any good and is negatively affecting the anti-government movement. If anything shops and restaurants have to shut down because they are broken into, leading to people losing jobs in this already precarious economic environment we are in now.

A Xiaomi store was set on fire in Kowloon

Chefs who are also restaurateurs have told me how their business has plunged because of the protests. People have lost interest in going out for a nice meal (and spending the money to go with it), and would rather just eat in a neighbourhood restaurant to fill their stomachs. Others have to shut down their restaurants because they are located in shopping malls that close early.

One chef told us the restaurant staff have to leave early to be able to have enough time to get home on the MTR. For example, if they are riding the MTR just before it closes at 10pm, that does not mean they can arrive home in Yuen Long within an hour -- the station shuts down all the exits at 10pm and the passengers have to find another way home, which is bizarre.

Last night I managed to catch the MTR home from Wan Chai at 12 minutes to 10pm. We got out of the MTR train at 10.01pm and only one exit was open and all passengers had to get out this way, while the other ones had rolling shutters down. One lone person was manning the open exit to make sure no one tried to come in.

A Best Mart 360 was vandalized... but not looted

In this way the MTR is not being very helpful or flexible for people catching the last trains back home. Some people finish work late and they live far from their work place. This is just another way to put further pressure on Hong Kong's already fragile economy.

This is not the Lion Rock spirit. Or is this the government's way of killing Hong Kong?

We sincerely hope not. None of us want to see the city like this!