All the demonstrations in Hong Kong are rather peaceful. People don't shatter the glass, don't burn the tyres and cars, don't smash the shops and authorities' buildings, they even take their garbage with them. They just go out and wait peacefully until the government talks to them. Also they sing. The symbols of the protest are the yellow ribbon, yellow umbrella, digit codes, the song of cult band Beyond "海闊天空" (can be translated as "wide sea and sky") and the song from "Les Miserables" – "Do you hear the people sing".
Umbrella Revolution
One of the most vivid symbols of the movement in Hong Kong is an umbrella. The thing is, the citizens use them for protection from tear gas and pepper sprays, which are used by the police. The protestors sleep under the umbrellas and right slogans on them. Umbrellas have already become the symbols of passive resistance for Hong Kong citizens – nobody is using force against the police, the umbrellas are just a protection from the illegal actions of the law guardians.
Yellow ribbon
Another symbol is a yellow ribbon. It is especially interesting to note for Russians, as they have already been assosiating the protests with the same ribbon, only a white one. We can't say for sure, why a yellow color was chosen. Some say that it's the symbol of universal suffrage and democracy, some say this is due to Joshua Wong, the leader of the protests, whose surname can be translated as "yellow". Some say that in Chinese tradition yellow means welfare. Anyway, the yellow ribbon has become one of the main symbols of the Hong Kong protests, which lets us use the name "colored revolution". The ribbon helps the participants of the protests in recognising others, and helps people from other countries to support the movement. Lately a lot of people changed their userpics in social networks which now display a yellow ribbon on the black background.
The anthems
Demonstrators use the song of a band called Beyond as an unofficial anthem as everyone knows it, "it is able to inspire and unite" – that's what the protestors say about it. Beyond is Hong Kong's The Beatles – a cult band everyone knows about. One of the demonstrators said that "海闊天空" is "The song is about chasing dreams. No matter how people laugh at us, or we are the only one leave alone, we should never give up our hopes. There is a line in the lyrics particularly says about freedom. This song is a classic, everyone knows how to sing and it is encouraging and spirited".
Another anthem of the protest is a song from "Les Miserables" musical – "Do you hear the people sing?"
Oxford students from Hong Kong perform "Do you hear the people sing" in Cantonese to support the people of their hometown.
Digit codes
On the posters of the protestors and in social networks you can see the following numbers: 926, 929, 8964, and 689. This is the tribute to the political culture of Main Land. The opposition there often communicates using such codes due to the strict supervision and censorship. There's no such strict measures in Hong Kong, but the participants of the movement still use the digit codes. 926 and 929 mean September, 26 and 29 respectively, 8964 is the date of the dispersal of the meeting on the Tiananmen Square, while 689 refers to the current Executive Chief of Hong Kong Leung Chun-ying. The thing is, the number of the member of special committee who have voted for him was 689 out of 1200. So the demonstrators use this number to remind him: only 689 citizens of approximately 7 million were supporting him.
Alexandra Urman
Picture sources:
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