July 1st protest: good and bad

On July 1st, a massive amount of people took to the streets to voice their thoughts towards HK government. Why were there so many people going on this particular protest, and on the particular day annually? It is because July 1st is a meaningful day for HK citizens and even foreigners. On July 1st 1997, HK was handed back over to China. Also, July 1st is a holiday for most HK residents, so this day is marked as the day for people from different groups could voice out their thoughts at the same time. However, what tremendous impacts would it bring to the society?

 

July 1st is a large-scale protest, so it attracts the international media's attention, hence creates international pressure for the HK government so as to make the HK government implement good measures to suit HK people. HK is a famous city, whenever large-scale protests broke out, it would be on TV worldwide; such massive amount of people express different groups' needs, so the HK government will surely implement good measures for different groups of HK citizens considering there are so many eyewitnesses, so as to boost Hong Kong's image. However, it is also said that these people cause annoyance and inconvenience to others. Sure, the transportation system is changed and drivers will have to use other roads, and the shops in CBD (especially those in Central) have to be closed. But these are just short term impacts. The economy and the transportation system are up and shops open as usual the next day. When comparing negative short term impacts to HK's future, which one do you think is more important?

 

For a better future of HK, the HK government should look at every citizen's political preference before implementing any measures which might conflict with their political preference. Many of HK citizens prefer the real democracy, which sometimes conflict with the Chinese government which is controlled by the communist party. In most cases, the HK government implements measures based on the Chinese government, and these measures are sometimes accessible in communists' view but not democrats'. As a resistance to the Chinese government, the relationship between some people and the Chinese government becomes tense. We can solve the problem slowly by the exchange of opinion between different political parties with both governments. When we all have a mutual goal and the same set of rules, conflicts will be solved easier. Then, both governments can implement measures that suit people's political preference, and hence avoid another uproar.

 

In a large-scale protest such as July 1st protest, protesters express their needs in terms of resources etc., so the HK government can use money in a better and wiser way to help different groups of people and also uses the money left to improve HK's economy. This reduces the expenses on non-essential resources, and thus save money for later financial crises such as financial tsunamis.

 

People always see large-scale protests as a nightmare to peace of a society. However, as long as the governments listens and makes wise moves to help the people, large scale protests like the July 1st protest are some of the best ways to remind our government what may be best for the people