Olympics - Tibet: The actions of two young people in Hong Kong

On the one hand, a young man is so concerned about possible disturbances to the Torch Procession, that he is organizing a team of volunteers to try to protect the torch bearers. The last time I heard, he was negotiating with the police to try to find a role for his team to play. The police was polite, but they were essentially saying thanks, but no thanks. He was also checking out the route to find appropriate spots to place his team. He is not getting a lot of attention, perhaps because there are actually a lot of people on his side. There are few, if any, complaints against them either.

On the other hand, a lady university student 陳巧文 is organizing a protest in support of the Tibetans seeking more autonomy. She claims she does not support Tibetan independence but she is waving the 雪山獅子旗, which is used by people seeking Tibetan independence. So far, she has been advocating peaceful demonstrations as far as I can tell. But she is facing tremendous opposition, some of them rational, but more are not. She has been called traitor, running dog, whore, ignorant, naive, and worse. Plastic bottles have been thrown at her. I sincerely hope that people stop at that. Excrement have already been mentioned.

The actions of both of these young people should make us proud of Hong Kong. We do not necessarily agree with either of their views. but we should admire their courage to speak their minds, and the determination to act on their beliefs rationally and peacefully. They should be able to speak and present their arguments. Other people should also be able to voice their disagreement. Rationally and peacefully.

It is the crass, vulgar irrationality of much of the criticism that is shameful.