Dogs Versus Cockroaches

Protesters call the police "dogs", while the police call protesters "cockroaches"

During the protests in Hong Kong that are sliding into the seventh month, the police and protesters have called each other names.

Right from the start when police were being heavy handed, protesters began calling them 狗 "dogs", a derogatory way of calling them not human. Police cars are called "dog cars" and police stations are "dog houses".

Some graffiti at the police station or "dog house"

Protesters have even thrown dog food at police.

Meanwhile a few months ago some police officers began calling protesters, volunteer medics and the media 蟑螂 or 甴曱 "cockroaches" which is hardly complimentary.

While it's also dehumanizing, it's several levels below a dog...

It may have started in a letter in August written by the chair of the Junior Police Officers Association, which denounced protesters as "no different from cockroaches".

For history buffs, this is similar to World War II, when Nazis called Jews rats, and Hutus involved in the Rwandan genocide called the Tutsi minority cockroaches.

 Chief inspector Tam Yu-hei says "cockroach" is a compliment

Earlier this week, on the RTHK program Hong Kong Connection, chief inspector Tam Yu-hei referred to the insults traded between protesters and police in these past seven months.

"Aren't cockroaches full of vitality and can survive in times of difficulties?" he argued.

When it comes to protesters using the word "dog", Tam says they police would rather see it as meaning loyal and obedient, adding his colleagues in the force were very professional and vowed not to be hostile towards anyone.

Uh-huh.

However in a regular press briefing, Tam's superior Superintendent Kwok Ka-chuen conceded: "It is not ideal to label a group of people as cockroaches. Tensions have risen between police and protesters, in the last few months... We hope members of the force can control their emotions in the field," he said.

In July, the Junior Police Officers Association started referring to protesters in its official statements as "cockroaches".

Cockroaches are known to be resilient in the face of adversity

When Superintendent Kong Wing-cheung from the Police Public Relations Branch was asked about this in August, he said the language was "not ideal", but added that all parties were "under a lot of stress".

That same month, Tsuen Wan district assistant commander Simon Southgate had to issue a reminder to his colleagues not to call protesters "cockroaches".

While the term "cockroach" is not an endearing one, maybe one could look at it as a sign of what's to come -- because regardless of what happens, cockroaches seem to survive just about anything.

Maybe protesters will be called yellow cockroaches?

Or would people just rather get the bug spray out?