Fight back against capital hegemony

This is the statement for “Occupy Central”,the global solidarity action held on 15th October 2011Thousands of grassroot people are occupying Wall Street, the centre of global capitalism. By camping out, protests, assemblies and protests, they show disgust at the 1% rich who dominates of the rest of 99%.

On the other hand, Hong Kong plays an important role in the global financial market. It became the largest listing market by fund-raising size in the world last year, with about $445 billion raised. The financial system of Hong Kong is simply where the residual capital of global investments goes. By coercing the public to invest through the MPF system and zero deposit interest rate regarless of high inflation, ordinary workers risk losing their earnings at any time. Since most of their income is transferred to the pockets of capitalists, they suffer from oppression in the playground of capitalists and opportunists.
Read More »

December 16, 2011 – 4:03 am Categories: Statement | Post a comment

Tagged , , |

Down with Corruption, Reclaim Our Land

In support of the people of Wukan’s struggle for democracy
“Down with Corruption, Reclaim Our Land” —Hong Kong
Calling for worldwide support for Wukan’s fight for democracy
On November 21st, 1927, under the leadership of Peng Pai, pioneer of the Chinese Communist revolution as well as committed socialist, the country’s first rural Soviet administration was established in area of Hailufeng, Guangdong province. Thus began the first chapter of the Communist movement in China.

On November 21st, 2011, less than a few kilometers away from the founding site, at Wukan village (part of Lufeng city in eastern Guangdong province), a few thousand villagers took to the street. Holding up signs that read ‘Down with dictatorship’, ‘Curb corruption’, ‘Down with government-business collusion’ and ‘Return land to the people’, villagers marched to the government headquarters at Lufeng city to protest against officials’ illegal land seizures and sales. Their demands were clear: to reclaim the land sold without the consent of the people, to release public accounts concerning the some 400 hectares of land seized and sold since 1978, to launch investigations into fraudulent elections and to enforce the Organic Law of Village Committees to hold fair and open elections. The demonstration ended peacefully after the acting mayor received the villagers’ petition.

Corrupt officials’ illegal land sales prompt villagers’ mobilization


Since the early 1990s, the villagers of Wukan had launched petitions at the local governments of Lufeng, Shanwei, and Guangdong province, yet only in vain. A proper reply from officials was never made. Without democratic elections, the secretary of the Communist Party’s local chapter , Xue Chang, has stayed in power for 41 years. Abusing its position as the so-called representative of Wukan, the village committee has sold and leased hundreds of hectare of land without consulting the villagers, and yet in the past few decades, villagers have only received less than 500 yuan in compensation.
The ongoing demonstrations were prompted by allegations that Hong Kong-based businessman Chen Wenqing, who is originally from Wukan, had colluded with the village committee to strike a private land sales deal with luxury home developer Country Garden, thereby gaining the 700 million yuan compensation which was supposed to be paid to the villagers. As the representative of Guangdong province and Shanwei city in the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the honorary president of the Confederacy of Hong Kong Shanwei Clansmen Ltd, as well as owner of various hotels and development companies in the mainland, Chen holds numerous official positions both in the mainland and Hong Kong. In recent months, as Country Garden began its construction work, villagers could no longer put up with the situation.
Read More »
December 17, 2011 – 1:45 am Categories: Activity, Statement | Post a comment

Charity events would not be out of place in a democratic socialist society

South China Morning Post
EDT16 | EDT 2011-11-03

Charity events would not be out of place in a democratic socialist society

During the Occupy Central protest last month, I gave my views on charity events like the Central Rat Race (Anti-Wall Street protest reaches Asia’s capitals, October 16).

The report prompted a critical response from Maggie W. C. Cheng (Restricted view of philanthropy, October 20).

I do appreciate people making the effort and contributing to charity events, including the Central Rat Race, which raises funds for a mental health charity.

However, instead of relying on personal goodwill through contributing to charity events, what we need are institutional mechanisms to ensure that disadvantaged people receive adequate assistance. Read More »

December 16, 2011 – 5:01 am Categories: Media Coverage | Post a comment

Tagged |

Reaching out to grass roots in society

South China Morning Post
EDT14 | EDT 2011-11-02

Reaching out to grass roots in society

I was disappointed by your (How We See it) editorial (“Protesters need to occupy their minds“, October 31).

I was a participant in the protest held on Sunday.

First of all, it was not an extension of Occupy Central to “Occupy Mong Kok”. There were no slogans that would have suggested this. In fact, it was a protest organised by Left 21 in support of, and in solidarity with, the Occupy Central movement.

Read More »

December 16, 2011 – 4:57 am Categories: Media Coverage | Post a comment

‘Occupiers’ on the march in Kowloon

South China Morning Post
CITY3 | CITY | By Jennifer Cheng and Ng Kang-chung 2011-10-31

‘Occupiers’ on the march in Kowloon

Occupy Central morphed into Occupy Mong Kok yesterday.

With the Occupy Central campaign on Hong Kong Island showing signs of fading to irrelevance, a group of young activists in colourful costumes tried to revive public interest in their cause with a Halloween parade on the Kowloon side.

The three-hour parade, organised by the self-proclaimed socialist group Left 21, saw about 100 activists wearing festive costumes and holding Halloween props. They marched through the heart of the Kowloon Peninsula, along Nathan Road from Mong Kok to Tsim Sha Tsui.

The protesters resembled a crowd at a carnival, singing and clapping as they marched. Sunday shoppers and onlookers were treated to satirical skits that, the activists claimed, were meant to expose the hardships faced by grass-roots people under what they called the property hegemony.

Leading the parade was a replica hearse made from paper, symbolising the death of normal livelihoods if capitalism continued to develop in its current state. The protesters condemned corporate greed and financial inequality.

Despite the Halloween theme, though, not all onlookers found the parade amusing. A little girl yelled in fear upon seeing a “vampire” holding a “decapitated hand” that symbolised big corporations sucking people’s money out of the Mandatory Provident Fund.

A Left 21 spokesman, Kenneth Tong Yiu-keung, said: “Even the HK$6,000 cash giveaway by the government only offers short-term relief. The money will, at the end of the day, go back into the pockets of big business. It is not really helping the poor.

“We chose to start our march in Mong Kok because it is traditionally a more grass-roots district. We like to show that our campaign comes from ordinary people.”

The march was largely uneventful. The activists staged brief rallies outside shopping complex 1881 Heritage and the Star Ferry in Tsim Sha Tsui before taking the ferry to Central to join Occupy Central protesters at HSBC headquarters.

Activists in Hong Kong started the anti-capitalism Occupy Central movement on October 15, as a response to the Occupy Wall Street movement launched more than a month ago in New York.

A small group of protesters are still camping beneath the HSBC headquarters in Central. But mainstream media attention has been sparse, and fewer and fewer people seem to be paying attention to their activities.

December 16, 2011 – 4:52 am Categories: Media Coverage | Post a comment

Protesters need to occupy their minds

South China Morning Post
EDT2 | EDT | HOW WE SEE IT 2011-10-31

Protesters need to occupy their minds

The people behind Occupy Central, now apparently expanding to Mong Kok, are in danger of inadvertently mocking themselves. As diverse as the protesters behind the Occupy Wall Street movement in the US and the so-called post-80s phenomenon in Hong Kong are, they have more or less clear messages. One group is against crony capitalism and the massive bailouts of large banks in the financial crisis. The other is opposed to the dominance of the local economy by a handful of large property developers and a few large corporations.

Read More »

December 16, 2011 – 4:51 am Categories: Media Coverage | Post a comment

Tagged |

Class fight

The Standard
P26,P27 | Spree | By Bonnie Chen and Kelly Ip 2011-10-21

Class fight

Embers from the economic destruction caused by bankers three years back have triggered a new fire that has spread from Wall Street into Europe and Asia, finding its way to Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, a disparate group of about 30 young protesters in the Occupy Central movement is trying to focus attention on inequalities from a “camp” beneath the headquarters of HSBC.

It’s clear people at different levels of society are in sympathy with them, but there are also those who see idealists wasting their time.

Read More »

December 16, 2011 – 4:49 am Categories: Uncategorized | Post a comment

ANTI-WALL STREET PROTEST REACHES ASIA’S CAPITALS

South China Morning Post

EDT1 | EDT | headline | By Lana Lam 2011-10-16

ANTI-WALL STREET PROTEST REACHES ASIA’S CAPITALS

Hong Kong at the forefront in Asia-Pacific as anti-capitalist movement that began in New York’s financial district finds sympathisers and support around the world

From Wall Street to Exchange Square, the anti-capitalism movement that started a month ago in the US spread across the world yesterday and, compared with other Asian cities, the turnout in Hong Kong’s financial district was high.

Some 500 protesters demonstrated on a podium next to Exchange Square in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York on September 17 and has since spread to scores of North American cities. Police put the number of protesters in Hong Kong at 190. Organisers said there were 500.

Read More »

December 16, 2011 – 4:22 am Categories: Media Coverage | Post a comment

Tagged |

Occupy Central on 15th October 2011

The “OccupyWall Street” movement initiated by the American youth, and later joined by manytrade unionists and people from all walks of live, has gained increasingsocial concern and global support. On 15th October 2011, themovement is going to spread to hundreds of cities all over the world.

As an Asian financial center, Hong Kong is a key hubfor the accumulation of financial capital. Also, it serves as base for manytransnational financial institutes to carry out exploitation in the Asiancountries. The layoff of 3000 workers by the profitable HSBC is but oneexample.

The initiators of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement declare that it is a war betweenthe richest 1% and the other 99% of the people. To show our support and defendthe 99%, Left 21 hereby calls on everyone who belongs to the 99% to join the “OccupyCentral” action on 15th December. We understand that the “Occupy”movement in Hong Kong may not be on the same scale as that in the U.S., yet itserves as an important platform for social activists to explore the possibilitiesof further “Occupy” actions and anti-capitalism campaign in future.

Detailsof the “Occupy Central” Action

Date:15th October 2011
Time:2-5pm
Venue:Exchange Square.Central
Activities:a forum on why “Occupy” movement and why anti-capitalism?

Contact:
left21 (Napo, 66812269)

December 16, 2011 – 3:05 am Categories: Activity | Post a comment

‘Occupy Central’ rally may hit Rat Race

South China Morning Post
CITY3 | CITY | By Simpson Cheung 2011-10-13

‘Occupy Central’ rally may hit Rat Race

This weekend’s Occupy Central campaign, which echoes anti-Wall-Street demonstrations in the United States and elsewhere, may be heading for a clash with bankers and financiers running in Sunday’s annual Central Rat Race charity event.

The anti-capitalist protest is set for Saturday, from 2pm to 5pm, at a podium in Exchange Square.

But some participants are vowing to continue their demonstration until Monday’s opening of the stock exchange.

Napo Wong Weng-chi, a member of protest organiser Left21, said Saturday afternoon’s protest would be a forum for discussing how people were affected by the unequal distribution of wealth and high property prices – and whether to prolong the protest until Monday.

Read More »

December 16, 2011 – 1:10 am Categories: Media Coverage | Post a comment