‘Scorched-earth’ politics a real threat to every resident
Hong Kong residents got to celebrate Mother’s Day almost like they normally would this past Sunday, even though precautionary measures such as wearing face masks in public and social distancing remain in force and three more imported COVID-19 infections were reported on the same day. With recreational facilities such as mahjong parlors, cinemas and gyms reopening, shopping centers and restaurants received a lot more customers on Sunday than on weekdays for obvious reasons.
However, people were understandably worried and annoyed if not angry when noisy illegal protests by scores of misguided young people happened at several shopping malls across the city. Though significantly smaller than before the COVID-19 pandemic had the city shut down, the irresponsible behavior of those “protesters” managed to remind law-abiding local citizens that the “black revolution” is anything but over and so is their suffering at the hands of the opposition camp.
The latest display of criminal impulses and reckless abandon is proof that the anti-China forces overseas as well as here in Hong Kong have not given up their mission to obstruct China’s development by wrecking Hong Kong, although they have caused great harm to the local economy and livelihoods, inflicting suffering on many families, by indulging in months of violence and vandalism. The young participants in such abusive acts may believe they are risking their personal future, if not lives, for a “noble” cause, but they have no idea how easily expendable they are to the instigators who care only about their own interests and agendas.
That those agitators and vandals have not spared even the day specifically designated for saluting all mothers is sickening. For them, there is nothing more important than promoting their political agenda or objectives; they couldn’t even afford to allow families including their own to celebrate a special day without worrying any disruptions. Maybe those who joined illegal gatherings inside shopping centers on Sunday were paid in cash, as most rioters were before they had to stop during the COVID-19 lockdown, at least some of them would have done that without material incentives. It goes to show the lasting effect of long-term, radical brainwashing carried out in our schools and media in the name of democracy and freedom.
Hong Kong people have a strong reason to keep their guard up against the anti-government and anti-society campaign. That the agitators have wasted no time in relaunching their campaign of vandalism and violence immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic eased suggests they are so desperate to advance their objectives that they would stop at nothing and have no mercy at all on people who have been suffering from the months-long social unrest and the pandemic. Hong Kong people can no longer take the city’s prosperity for granted. “Scorchedearth” politics is a real threat to the city’s future, as well as every resident’s well-being.