Dare to Demonstrate - For Fun!

Hong Kong really is a remarkable place.

How many other cities in the world can "host" a civil demonstration year after year which is - in every sense - civil? Although protests on 1 July have been a feature of Hong Kong since the 1997 return of Hong Kong to China, the first serious march took place in 2003 amidst widespread discontent in Hong Kong. It has now become an annual event; attracting numbers up towards the 500,000 level on occasion although recent marches have seen smaller, but still significant, numbers. And the crowd trouble which normally accompany such marches? - Nowhere to be seen. Peaceful demonstrations of purpose. Marching for a cause.

I support and admire people who are willing to give up their time to express their views with such solidarity, and without violence. But what I found interesting last year and even more so this year was the diversity of causes that brought people out. It was not so much an outpouring of focused purpose, a march only seeking more democracy or complaining about a piece of Government legislation (Article 23 issues in 2003) or leadership, but various groups of marchers with a variety of themes suggesting perhaps that this was not so much a march of unified disgruntlement, but a number of splinter groups wanting to highlight their specific issues and demands.

And it seemed, as usual, to be relatively good natured, embracing family units from the very young to the elderly, which led me to thinking about where these marches go from here. July the first in Hong Kong should be, for many, a celebration, so why can we not celebrate and at the same time use the day to highlight our particular burning issues?

The parallels might not be glaringly obvious but the Notting Hill Carnival, held annually in London each August had its awakening in the mid 1970's on the back of some rather ugly race riots. It is now an annual event, the second largest street festival in the world after Mardi Gras in Rio. It regularly attracts anywhere between 750,000 to 2 million people over a two day weekend, with many people coming from very far afield to participate.

It seems that there are some possibilities for Hong Kong here. I am sure that, as with Notting Hill, the police would have extra work - but then they have that anyway with the march. I am sure, too, that the legislators and pro-democracy supporters would have some concerns that their "demonstration" was being taken lightly - but it seems to me that there are so many splinter groups now entering the scene that the impact of the march is changing in form.

Why not turn this into something positive? Allow the marches. Let the people who wish to be heard provide details of their issues to a wider audience through stalls and information booths, but let it be a family day too. Music and entertainment. A resurrection of a Harbour Fest look-alike (the concept was brilliant, even if the execution could have been better; we learn from mistakes). Close the streets and keep some of the polluting traffic off the roads for 48 hours. Give more people some exercise by encouraging them to walk. Use Victoria Park (pity we can no longer use the Tamar site!). Maybe we can set a record for the biggest street party in Asia!

Let's demonstrate, remonstrate as necessary...and have some fun too!