What Kills Us This Week!

I know that when I began writing these "Chicken Little" posts all those years ago, I was laughing at HK's propensity to panic, but this week's Threatdown (the literal translation of Chinese word for panic) is over something that really needs vast amounts of agitation, alarm, cold feet, consternation, dismay, fear, hysteria, trepidation and every other synonym for panic you can drum up, so I'm only offering kudos:

 You can see for yourself that this is more 

than '8000' protesters as Beijing claims.

This parents, teachers and students sit-in started last Saturday when 40,000 took to the streets in protest against the Chinese Communist Party's Compulsory National Studies that were supposed to begin being taught in HK Primary Schools on Monday.

From everything I've read, I think it means HK schools are supposed to give up a 'real' subject each day so the children "learn Patriotism", wherein among other things they salute the Mainland Chinese flag and chant "We love China" for hours on end. Bizarre! And it just shows how little Mainland China understands HK that they didn't KNOW that our highly aspirational "Tiger Mothers" and "Wolf Fathers" would simply say "Hell no.  We ain't gonna."

And since Saturday the numbers have grown and yesterday The Goddess of Democracy (a copy of the one placed in Tienanmen Square up there in Beijing all those years ago) was delivered so she could stand in solidarity among the many tens of thousands of angry souls outside China's Tamar offices in Admiralty.

If you don't already know, The Goddess of Democracy is trundled out most every time HK stands firm-and-fiesty against Beijing Bullying ... and doesn't Beijing hate it.  I think youtube has some footage of the last time She was erected.  Let me check:



That's an old one, but it's such a great one I've chosen it from among many.  This one is taken from the news reports back in 2010 of the latest round of protests and I think it's from about 1.57 of the footage that you can see those fellows in the RED shirts take away The Goddess of Democracy statue and, yes, she was never to be seen again ... but not to worry because HK has many many more hidden away all over the place because we always knew we'd need multiples given the extent of Beijing Bullying.

However I think this latest outrage of forcing us to indoctrinate our children has genuinely crossed the line. It's not like we don't know what it's all really about since it's no secret that China hates the way we get firm-and-fiesty whenever the CCP tries to exert its will here and they actually said last time they tried it and we fought back "We will get HK's hearts and minds before we try again." and these Patriot Studies are clearly a clumsy and obvious attempt at doing so.

But what makes it so desperately ugly is that China can't see that we're not acting out of any lack of patriotism.  Every study done shows that 100% of HK Chinese LOVE being Chinese.  They also love China and its physical landscape and the culture and the material culture (don't we all!) but it's just that HK desperately hates the Mainland Chinese Government and really really hates that they're breaking their promise - their SIGNED promise - to leave us alone for 50 years and we still have 35 years of that to run and thus they really shouldn't be in here doing any of this to us.

That's what everyone here is currently talking about. And it isn't happy talk.  Yup, the word on the street these days - and the word is spat out with genuine hatred - "China can't be trusted to keep its word on ANYTHING!" so rather than Patriot Studies winning hearts and minds, all it's doing is making everyone very cross and even people who normally simply "go along" with things, are learning to be First Order Resisters!

Oh, and I really must tell you that a whole bunch of students and teachers have gone on starvation diets to protest this and the CCP is roaring with rage and ordering them to eat, which really isn't something a government should ever do (remember all those starvation-protesting Suffragettes having their teeth knocked out so the police could force-feed 'em, and how that's gone down in British history as a very great atrocity?) is just another thing that makes us go "Hell no. It ain't gonna happen."

So this week, I'm definitely not laughing because this sit-in has my 100% approval. Already CCP has said (and you can read this in the article above) that "between having National Education and not having National Education, there is room for a great deal of discussion." - before adding that they won't actually meet with the protesters in person - however there's something very illogical at the very heart of that argument because, well, HK is saying "Hell no. It ain't gonna happen." because ...

... well, look at this logically:  HK is a vastly aspirational place where everyone is hugely into education and every parent is absolutely determined to get their kiddies into one of the best universities on the planet, and there is no way on earth that they will surrender any academic subject for something that is not just dangerous and stupid but also downright FLUFFY!

And China, if it's to show the slightest sign of winning hearts and minds in HK, really really REALLY has to learn that about us: NO ONE MESSES WITH OUR EDUCATION!

So that's this week's panic:

 THREATDOWN:

Stopping my kiddies getting into Oxford or Cambridge, 

Stanford, Princeton, Harvard or Yale!