Monday, July 02, 2007

July 1 March

I could not stay away. Democracy will not solve all our problems. But it is still better than having someone make all the decisions for us, without even some ways to tell them that we don’t like it.
So we were there, my wife, my two younger daughters and I, taking pictures on the foot bridge over Yee Wo Street (怡和街). This one was taken by my wife, the only one among us who spotted Bishop Zen, who has my great respect. Later we were driven off the bridge by the police. Then we joined the marching crowd.

As for my eldest daughter, she was too tired to join us after singing in the choir in the flag-raising and installation ceremony early in the morning and then attending church. Their choir had to get up at 5 AM twice and practiced for long hours. Afterwards, none of the Hong Kong government officials at the ceremony offered any word of appreciation. I suppose they all realized where their power was coming from, and it was certainly not from the people on the street, nor these youngsters. That, in a small way, is part of the reason so many of us are on the street.

Take a look at the faces in the crowd. We are real people with genuine concerns. We would not have been there if we do not love Hong Kong.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Talking about govt officials not giving appreciation, or saying even hi to the students afterwards, a few thoughts came to me:

1) young people (these are F.4 - F.6 students) observe, think, reflect, and form opinions. We, who think we are older and thus wiser, and therefore look down on them deserve no respect;

2) how many govt officials are "people's officials", or better yet , "people's servants"? I was in the "officiating party" in some school, corporate or community functions. I never failed to notice that other "officiating guests", before or after the ceremony, spent time socializing with their "peers", and enjoyed and expected to be waited upon. However, I preferred to stand in line for the food so I can personally congratulate the students or participants, listen to their feedback or grievances, and offer encouragement. Of course, there was usually not much time for such exchanges, but knowing concerns first-hand is paramount in designing effective and helpful policies. This is what I call "servant leadership";

3) we don't need more "leaders (bosses)"; we need to train young people to be "servant leaders".

StephenC said...

Yes, we often forget that young people today are adults of tomorrow. Some of them will go on to become scientists, engineers, medical doctors, managers, politicians, business owners, ...

寧欺白鬚公, 莫欺少年窮.

StephenC said...

Our Chinese officials like to say "愛民如子" - Love the citizens as our own children.

If you have children, and they are crying because they are suffering. Would you say to them: "Stop your crying, you are disturbing the harmonious atmosphere in the family"? Or would you try to relieve their suffering?

It seems many of our politicians and government officials belong to sub-species of the species "administrators". They behave differently from normal human beings.