Special day for Hong Kong yesterday as well as for China. Thousands of Honkers and "gwai lows" went out to watch the Olympic Torch parade which had its first stop in Chinese territory so far!
I have never seen Hong Kong so crowded...parents with their children, elders, students,bussinessmen...everyone was out!Additionally, 3000 police were on duty during the 8h parade and 120 runners carried the torch!
Locals and foreigners were cheering the torch relay! yes...cheering! HK torch relay was almost trouble free (with the exception of few incidents that did not cause any major problems due to the fast police intervention). That of course, dissappointed a lot of foreign journalists who desperately wanted to have their story afterwards. That is also a sign of the mentality of the HK people nowadays and how close they feel to the motherland! Everyone could feel the positive public sentiment about the Olympics in China yesterday because everything was covered in red! Red flags of China, Red HK flags, Red Coca Cola flags!hehe..yes...THE major sponsor la!
Personally, I believe that Tibet should be free, human rights in China should be respected and I totally understand that the fact that China hosts the Olympics gives to many people the opportunity to demonstrate and protest against the Central Government on such important issues.Yet, I am of the opinion that the Olympics is a major sports event and that it sould be seen as such! I strongly believe that it is not only the protestors' fault but the Chinese governement's as well. All I have to say is:
"The Olympics should not be politicized in any way!"
Greeko!
