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So I have a few things to say about Hong Kong and it may take some time 1/
I arrived at Hang Hau at 12.25am by bus on my way home. The MTR was shuttered and there was a crowd outside shouting angrily at a line of police vans, 走啊！屌你老母！and reclaim Hong Kong, 时代革命
I’m not a frontline reporter. I generally see the protests only when they come to me. I’ve seen the videos of Wong Tai Sin, Sham Shui Po, Sha Tin and others. Still, it’s quite something when you see it with your own eyes 3/
These people didn’t look like protesters. None were wearing hard hats or other protective gear. A couple had masks on when I got round the other side of the MTR station 4/
Where I come from, and in the social strata where I grew up (the UK in the 70s), the police were generally regarded with a mild fear. They were to be avoided, while being grudgingly accepted as necessary. Who else would you go to if you got mugged or burgled? 4/
Having spent most of the past 27 years in Hong Kong, the difference was striking. The police were trusted, regarded warmly. To see this attitude replaced so suddenly with a visceral hatred is quite something. 5/
The first requirement of being in the police, like the army, is to do what you’re told. That’s what a HK police inspector told me in the 1990s. The trouble with the HK police is that they’ve been told to do things they never should have been told to do. 6/
I got to Tiu Keng Leng, near where I live, at 1am. There were crowds on each corner of the intersection outside the MTR station. 香港人！one side would shout. 加油！the other would reply 7/
Then I felt teary-eyed. /ends
