Picture Source: BBC News
Was it political unrest or no sense of humor?
During an event celebrating Songkran, two 20-year-old young men were arrested for shooting water guns at police. They were considered as attacking law enforcers in the cover of celebrating festivals. The celebration event was held in Kowloon City, a district where many Thais live. Songkran is the Thai New Year when people use water to drive away bad luck in the new year. However, this time, since the target was the police, traditions that represent blessing are considered disrespectful.
Because of Hong Kong’s special history, though it is one of the cities of China, it’s administered under the “one country, two systems” principle. Nevertheless, since 2020, Hong Kong’s autonomy has been decreasing after Beijing imposed a national security law. China has created a nervous atmosphere in Hong Kong that a small thing can be seen as pro-government. It is not the first time that the Hong Kong government exaggerated things; for example, last month, two men were arrested for possessing ‘seditious’ children’s books.
Since the 2019 and preceding protests, the government has become exceedingly sensitive about citizens’ behaviors; tiny things can be counted as seditious. However, the crackdowns only intensify the dissatisfaction of citizens and worsen the conflict. If we put ourselves in the shoes of the Chinese government, we understand that the government tries to quiet down the chaos and people’s dissent as soon as possible, but the approach they are implementing right now definitely deteriorates the scenario by increasing citizens’ sense of revolting. Every time such news appears on the internet, it will just deepen the disappointment of Hong Kong citizens because the freedom promised under the Sino-British Joint Declaration no longer exists anymore. If the government continues taking small things so seriously and overstating the meaning behind every behavior, there will be more people standing up to it.
We don’t really know the original intentions of these two young men; they could have lighthearted intentions or tacit protest, so we cannot conclude that they did not intend to offend the government. Thus, I think the citizens of Hong Kong also should be more careful about their behaviors and avoid such things to happen. When the policemen are working, it is inappropriate for people to disturb them, especially by splashing water on them. Nonetheless, citizens in Hong Kong should view this news calmly because we don’t know if the policemen warned these two men before arresting them, and we don’t know the whole story. We need a lot more details, which are currently unprovided, before we can appropriately judge this event.
Leave a Reply