There were protests yesterday. Is it something surprising? It is at least not to me. Many media had reported the possible protests in advance. I was well informed of that.
However, the focus of the protests was not on the content of the protests per se. Most of the discussions fell on the topic of how the protesters were treated. This is also quite reasonable since freedom of speech and demonstration become two critical indices of democracy of society.
This short essay is not trying to comment on particular events happened these days, but is trying to illustrate the acceptance of protests in my ideas.
Anyone with a little knowledge of liberalism or democracy may not easily deny the basic rights of freedom of speech and demonstration. However, the problem is how to protests? Are there any restrictions on protests?
The democratic society in my heart is a society properly protecting the fundamental freedom while reconciling conflicts in some ways. On one hand, protecting the fundamental freedom is important since this is what makes a civilized society differ from an uncivilized one. However, reconciling conflicts is also important. To make sure that the interest of the majority population is protected, the certain actions from the minorities or individuals should be advised to be conducted according to certain rules and regulations. That is the basic spirit of the law. The law by nature is not restricting people’s rights, but to guide a proper behavior of individuals to enjoy their own rights without interfering in the rights of other people.
As a result, the right of protests should be respected under the conditions of proper time and proper manners. However, the interpretation of proper time and proper manners differs at least at three aspects.
For the protesters, the effect of the protests is usually upheld firmly. How to get the attention and how to achieve their aim of propaganda is what they concern most.
For the people who might be interfered by the protesters (if the protests interrupt their work, influence their ordinary life or so), the biggest wish might be getting rid of the disturbance. They might have expectations on the government.
For the government, a proper attitude should be a check on the manner of the protesters and the protest, rather than the context of the protest. The reason behind is that the government probably may not be able to deter a protest due to the principle of respecting the freedom of speech and demonstration. However, to protect both parties, the protesters and the other people influenced, the government has the responsibility to make sure the protests are well organized and minimize the impact of influencing the public interest.
Up to now, the discussion hasn’t touched a very important word: tolerance. That is the key element that influences the degree of the definition of “proper manner”. If the other people who have been influenced by the protesters have sufficient tolerance, then there is still possibility for the protesters to test their “riskier” manners. If the public does not have a high level of tolerance, the most possible result is the conflict from the two groups and the government has to interfere to bear the public governance. To some extent, at least in the short run, it should be regarded as the endowment. But in the long run, the tolerance of society may change.
Tolerance per se is an abstract concept which may be quite difficult to measure. The way to illustrate the tolerance may also need to be discussed more carefully. However, when discussing a certain issue, the rights of different groups of people should be well protected. However, if some people try to make use of chances to express other issues, the rights of them may be sometimes judged by the tolerance level of others. The reason is directly related to the influence of the public life. When different groups of people are having different opinions on the same issue, the rights of freedom of speech justify the actions adopted by all parties. When a group of people are taking advantage of some public events to gain the attraction of a not direct relevant topic, they interfere in the public events first and thus their fate might only depend on the public tolerance finally.
In my opinion, there are rules for the protests. The protesters might acquire the arts of protests to enjoy their rights better in any kinds of society.
03 May, 2008
The Torch Relay (Update 1)
After weeks of tour, the Olympic torch finally reached Hong Kong. I hesitated a little bit whether to go or not since I have final examinations next week. However, the continuous protests from westerners, Tibetans, and even some Chinese stimulated my interest to have a look at the reaction of the people in Hong Kong towards the Olympic Games and to seek the meaning of the torch relay myself.
I arrived at Admiralty at about 14:45. There were already groups of people. Some were in red and were distributing national flags, SAR flags, labels… anything related to Olympics. “Add oil, China!” – Several mainlanders holding high a piece of national flag yelled with excitement. Policemen were quite alert on the surroundings and tried to direct people into designated spectators’ area.
The waiting people were increasing tens and hundreds. I could already move in no way. Hundreds of people were waiting along the street and even on the over-bridge and towers. Each time a police-motorcycle passed, there were cheers from the crowds, “ka-ka”s from the shutters and waving of the flags.
Finally, the roads were nearly clear with few cars passing by. We knew that the torch was approaching. Advertisement cars, police-motorcycles, buses with bearers of the torch relay for other streets and finally, finally, the torch! The torch was coming!
Cheers, “ka-ka”s from the shutters and waving of the flags were everywhere. The bearer smiled and waved to everyone along the street. And a few seconds later, there were only the shadows of the police-motorcycle again.
Children were still waiting for something curious and funny. Parents and adults knew that what they wanted to see finished already. But maybe they could go to someplace else to see more. The crowds began to disperse. Most people entered the metro and got on the underground train to Wanchai – the destination of the torch relay.
I joined them, reviewing my feeling in the past several hours. I was excited for hours and then suddenly became very calm during that several seconds. To be frank, I could even feel a little bit disappointed since I was suddenly aware that the several seconds might not leave anything but just several photos.
Along my way to Wanchai, my passion returned and took photos of those red seas, the old, the young, the students, the workers, the posters and the advertisements. When I passed the Hennessy Road and saw the banner with four big Chinese characters, “ADD OIL, CHINA” (加油中國), my tears were lingering on my eyes!
The following several hours were occupied by crowds in my eyesight. Everywhere was red. Everywhere was excited. Why those people were so excited? Why those people were so exciting?
“Exciting”? Right! Now I came to understand. The torch relay per se may not be that exciting. Just a bearer with a nice torch, that’s it. How can it inspire such strong feeling and emotion? The people are exciting because of you. You are exciting because of others. This reciprocal procedure starts from just a slight push, a symbolic meaning of the secrete flame!
No matter how disturbing the protesters are, at least most people will be happy and excited. They are not excited about the ceremonies and relays per se. They are not excited about seeing the “famous” bearers as well. They are excited on the intrinsic nature of holding of the Olympic: a recognized rising motherland. As a result, that is also why those protesters are disturbing. They are spoiling the extrinsic appearance of the activities with no added value on the intrinsic nature. Thus they are doing something at least at the wrong time and in the wrong manner. (I should write another article to have a deeper check at it.)
There may be criticism that the atmosphere was maneuvered by the commercialized advertisements, posters and promotions. However, most people are always clever. They are enjoying their own excitement. The atmosphere won’t control them. It is just a brush of paint from some other people.
I arrived at Admiralty at about 14:45. There were already groups of people. Some were in red and were distributing national flags, SAR flags, labels… anything related to Olympics. “Add oil, China!” – Several mainlanders holding high a piece of national flag yelled with excitement. Policemen were quite alert on the surroundings and tried to direct people into designated spectators’ area.
The waiting people were increasing tens and hundreds. I could already move in no way. Hundreds of people were waiting along the street and even on the over-bridge and towers. Each time a police-motorcycle passed, there were cheers from the crowds, “ka-ka”s from the shutters and waving of the flags.
Finally, the roads were nearly clear with few cars passing by. We knew that the torch was approaching. Advertisement cars, police-motorcycles, buses with bearers of the torch relay for other streets and finally, finally, the torch! The torch was coming!
Cheers, “ka-ka”s from the shutters and waving of the flags were everywhere. The bearer smiled and waved to everyone along the street. And a few seconds later, there were only the shadows of the police-motorcycle again.
Children were still waiting for something curious and funny. Parents and adults knew that what they wanted to see finished already. But maybe they could go to someplace else to see more. The crowds began to disperse. Most people entered the metro and got on the underground train to Wanchai – the destination of the torch relay.
I joined them, reviewing my feeling in the past several hours. I was excited for hours and then suddenly became very calm during that several seconds. To be frank, I could even feel a little bit disappointed since I was suddenly aware that the several seconds might not leave anything but just several photos.
Along my way to Wanchai, my passion returned and took photos of those red seas, the old, the young, the students, the workers, the posters and the advertisements. When I passed the Hennessy Road and saw the banner with four big Chinese characters, “ADD OIL, CHINA” (加油中國), my tears were lingering on my eyes!
The following several hours were occupied by crowds in my eyesight. Everywhere was red. Everywhere was excited. Why those people were so excited? Why those people were so exciting?
“Exciting”? Right! Now I came to understand. The torch relay per se may not be that exciting. Just a bearer with a nice torch, that’s it. How can it inspire such strong feeling and emotion? The people are exciting because of you. You are exciting because of others. This reciprocal procedure starts from just a slight push, a symbolic meaning of the secrete flame!
No matter how disturbing the protesters are, at least most people will be happy and excited. They are not excited about the ceremonies and relays per se. They are not excited about seeing the “famous” bearers as well. They are excited on the intrinsic nature of holding of the Olympic: a recognized rising motherland. As a result, that is also why those protesters are disturbing. They are spoiling the extrinsic appearance of the activities with no added value on the intrinsic nature. Thus they are doing something at least at the wrong time and in the wrong manner. (I should write another article to have a deeper check at it.)
There may be criticism that the atmosphere was maneuvered by the commercialized advertisements, posters and promotions. However, most people are always clever. They are enjoying their own excitement. The atmosphere won’t control them. It is just a brush of paint from some other people.
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