No remorse from police attacker
Ken Tsang Kin-chiu, who was found guilty of one count of assaulting police officers and two counts of resisting arrest during the “Occupy Central” disturbances in the fall of 2014, put on a show of defiance outside court on Tuesday.
He announced in front of TV cameras that he would not appeal the light prison sentence because it was not worth the trouble. Accompanied by a handful of fellow “occupiers” and supporters he made the announcement without any sign of remorse, which can only be understood that he has no intention of mending his ways or becoming a law-abiding citizen from now on.
Apparently his decision not to appeal does not mean he really understands he is guilty as charged but is likely to rest upon his belief that, given the recent heavy penalties imposed on three Mong Kok rioters, the higher court is likely to hand him a heavier sentence.
Tsang’s show of defiance gave people a good reason to expect to see him join illegal activities like “Occupy Central” when he is free again after completing his brief sentence. And his supporters made it quite clear they will protect him more next time. The performance outside the District Court qualifies as something of a warning to the public as well as the police that Tsang and his supporters did not learn a lesson from this runin with the law.
What is even more unsettling is we can almost count on Tsang’s supporters to follow his example. That would only pose a greater threat to society because they may very well “inspire” even more misguided young people to challenge the law and to assume it is no big deal.
Hong Kong is a free society where people enjoy freedom of expression and other kinds of personal freedoms. There are a wide variety of channels through which they could express their personal views on any current issues — you can write letters to newspapers, talk on phone-in radio programs and post articles on social networks. Anybody, regardless of their social status and wealth, is free to do so. There is just no excuse for anybody to break the law in order to make a statement.
In a pluralistic society like Hong Kong, there are always different views on any issue. Different sectors of society have different interests or beliefs to protect or uphold. For instance, workers would fight for standard working hours, and sexual minorities would strive for legal status. If every party occupies a moral high ground and refuses to budge, and even resorts to violence to advance their cause, there will never be peace in this city.