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Carrie Lam
OpinionComment
Bernard Chan
Bernard Chan

Diverse and tolerant Hong Kong has always managed to unite to face challenges – and that’s what brings a weary city hope amid the continuing unrest

  • The past three months have been exhausting, physically and mentally, for MTR staff, police, reporters – and protesters
  • With the extradition bill withdrawn, now is the time to remember friends on the other side of the dispute and begin mending fences

Reading Time:3 minutes
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Hongkongers continue to eat as Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks during a pre-recorded message televised on September 4, as she announced the withdrawal of the extradition bill and an independent study to probe social ills. Photo: Robert Ng
Bernard Chan

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced the full withdrawal of the extradition bill last week. Many people in Hong Kong must now be hoping there is an end in sight to the conflict that has divided our city for three months.

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I do not want to sound too optimistic. As the chief executive herself said, the withdrawal of the bill is a technical issue – the measure was already “dead”. Some opponents of the bill are insisting that the government meets other demands. But, as Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said in a recent blog post, maybe it is a first step in resolving the crisis.

I think there are reasons to hope that we may be at a turning point. I know from my personal discussions with a range of people that just about everyone is exhausted – physically and mentally.

Workers cover up some of the damage done to the outside of an MTR station exit in Mong Kok. Photo: Tory Ho
Workers cover up some of the damage done to the outside of an MTR station exit in Mong Kok. Photo: Tory Ho
The police have been so stretched that they have consolidated some regular operating duties. The front-line police, and many support staff, have been under unimaginable stress. The same goes for many other workers – especially MTR staff.
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Demonstrators must also be feeling the strain. The large numbers who have attended big peaceful rallies must now know that their marching in the summer heat has made an impact. Radicals who confront the police are surely getting tired, especially now a new school year has begun and students need to get back to their studies.

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