Have you ever heard of roadside memorials? In Hong Kong, it maybe relatively less common. Roadside memorials denote where an individual experienced a car accident that resulted in death, whether immediately or later as a result of sustained injuries.
Time flies, by any chance a scene of what happened at Prince Edward station on 31st August 2019 flashed across your mind? You might have forgotten, let’s take a look at how The New York Times described the scenario:
Local news videos showed officers from the police Special Tactical Squad charging a train at the Prince Edward station in Kowloon and using batons to hit several people who were crouching on the floor of a car. After the beating the officers sprayed them with pepper spray and then left.
Sounds brutal, doesn’t it? Did anybody die? Well, any dumb head can tell. Let’s show our sympathy, what can we do? Maybe a bunch of flowers?
Hang on! A big NO NO!
Police warned that if you gather at Prince Edward Station or placing flowers there on 30th November 2020, they’ll arrest you at once – there’s no 31st in the eleventh month of the year.
Hmm…. So, is roadside memorial illegal then? Oh wait! I thought noone died at the Prince Edward Station incident? I am a true doofus, I just don’t see the logic here…. I am very confused….
I am puzzled: if someone died at the incident, why can’t we place flowers there? What’s the difference between roadside memorial and Prince Edward Station incident memorial? Why is it illegal? If noone died at the incident, why can’t we decorate the station with flowers? What exactly is popo’s concern?
My sense of logic is muddled, maybe I am getting old….. Just remember, roadside memorials, a big NO NO!
