Imagine yourself in the middle of the streets and highways with an umbrella on a sunny day; people would think something is wrong with you. However, that’s exactly what teenagers and college students are doing in order to protest against the current system of Hong Kong. If you have not been informed, currently there is a massive protest, Occupy Central, imitating the 2011 Occupy Wall Street in the United States, started by Professor Ben Tai Yiu-Ting, who is currently the Associate Professor of Law at University of Hong Kong and main leader of the Occupy Central with Love and Peace campaign.

This has become a worldly debate that has drawn spectators on whether or not to help the cause of the civil disobedience and pro-democracy protest. Occupy Central is deemed to rally Hong Kong citizens to aid in an unofficial referendum on political reform which is geared towards the 2017 election. Students have been demanding the Hong Kong Chief Executive, who is equivalent to a governor, Chun-ying Leung to step down from his position in order to renegotiate the election rules with the Beijing government.

We seem to have a calming environment; every day we wake up to the heat and clear skies, while these high schoolers spend their afternoon and night on the streets doing their homework rotating shifts to get rest after the grueling hours. Consequently, it may be exhausting for a couple days, but they have been resilient and protesting since late September. Just think of yourself in their footsteps holding an umbrella to block the overwhelming, attack of pepper spray. We ourselves go to school, scroll through Instagram, condition after school for sports, watch YouTube videos, do couple hours of homework, and go to sleep. This is our daily routine. However, at seventeen years old, Joshua Wong has had an extraordinary life due to his activism. He is a founder of the student protest group, Scholarism, and is the head of the student protests currently for Occupy Central. The fighting spirit within him is incomparable as we, normal high school students, usually in support of a cause would volunteer at a local event to support a group like the American Red Cross instead of organizing a public protest. James Kim (12) thinks “it’s incredible that a student my age could accomplish such a feat and be on Time magazine”.

So, you may say that these professors and kids are brilliant for wanting to part from the influence of China, the ghastly “communist” rule; however, economically, these protests have caused much trouble for businesses in the nearby Occupy Central area. People cannot safely go to work and do their daily routine such as buying groceries, because all the ruckus has caused the neighboring streets to be closed. If democracy was a step towards improvement, there would not be other groups, Caring Hong Kong Power and Silent Majority for Hong Kong, emerging trying to stop the activists from endangering the city.

In addition, there has never been democracy within Hong Kong even under the British rule that was adjourned on July 1, 1997, and Hong Kong has been functioning well since under the two political systems. Ironically, Occupy Central is an imitation to the 2011 Occupy Wall Street which was rallying to desist jobs being shipped overseas. And yet, while Hong Kong thrives from the global trade, Occupy Central logistically is hurting the economy. During these days, the police have been constraining the possible forces against the protestors and persisting to control the violence between the protestors and upset citizens.

These protests need to be reconsidered as the activists have been harming local citizens that would prefer halcyon days than chaotic riots.