A new day of protest has arrived in Hong Kong. After the students, today, the teachers flock to the streets. They also demand democratic reforms. VRT journalist Veerle de Vos is witnessing the protest, already the eleventh weekend in a row.
With many thousands, they fill a square in the financial heart of Hong Kong. They are all dressed in black, the colour of the protest. They hide under colourful umbrellas because it is a rainy day.
After yesterday’s student demonstration, it is the teachers’ turn today. Veerle De Vos spoke with, among other things, an English teacher from elementary school.
More teachers of biology and mathematics from secondary school and also teachers from higher education: “They come on the street for the future of their students and children, so they say grow up in a free Hong Kong “, says De Vos.
“We must support our young people; we must not leave them to their own devices,” many protesters say. “I hope they will still have the right to express their opinion and to do whatever they want,” it also sounds.
Whether China will loosen its grip on Hong Kong is doubtful, but the protesters say they have no other choice: “We can only hope that we can secure our future.”
“The protest of today and yesterday is just a prelude to tomorrow,” concludes Veerle de Vos, “then hundreds of thousands of people are expected on the streets of Hong Kong.”