Peter G. de Krassel

Opinion | As protests drag on, Hong Kong people keep calm and carry on

Hongkongers have come to accept that street clashes and tear gas are the new normal. Many believe the city will bounce back, as it has after the 1967 riots, the 1980s industrial crisis, the pre-1997 panic and Sars epidemic

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Why you can trust SCMP

A passer-by walks on as tear gas is fired around him by riot police at Causeway Bay MTR station on September 8. Photo: Sam Tsang

Peter G. de Krassel

Published: 5:00pm, 16 Nov 2019Updated: 5:17pm, 16 Nov 2019

Five months ago, people panicked when waves of protests washed from one neighbourhood to another across Hong Kong, and especially when the MTR and other public transport services stopped abruptly.

Today, clashes between protesters and police are a given. People check protest schedules, MTR and bus schedules, and plan their day accordingly. Protests are the new normal.

It was brought home to me on Halloween, a night of violent protests. At the nearby Mong Kok Pets Central Hospital at the corner of Soy and Shanghai streets, the hospital waiting room was busy, where during earlier protests in Mong Kok, it had been empty. At around 8pm, when I left the hospital, I smelled tear gas and saw a convoy of police vans, lights flashing, sirens wailing, hurrying to deal with protesters firebombing Mong Kok MTR station two blocks away and lighting fires on Nathan Road.

When protests began in Mong Kok a few months before, all the shops on Shanghai Street and nearby side streets were closed, the street deserted, and public transport impossible. Now, all the stores on Shanghai Street were open. People calmly came off Nathan Road and entered side-street restaurants, or bought from the food stalls, or headed to Yau Ma Tei MTR station. People around me were looking at their mobile phones, probably looking for public transport options. It was as if nothing was happening a couple of blocks away.

More recently, the city erupted in anger after a student died of injuries sustained during a police clear-up operation in Tseung Kwan O. A day after, some protesters set a man on fire for questioning them, and elsewhere, a policeman shot a protester.

That day, despite having to work around protesters and riot police, I made my lunch appointment in Central on time. People around me were either looking at their phones or stopping to take pictures of the demonstration.