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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- With the extradition bill withdrawn, now is the time to remember friends on the other side of the dispute and begin mending fences
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Why you can trust SCMP
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.
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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