Police compliment Hong Kong protesters by calling them cockroaches.
Hong Kong protesters triggered
Hong Kong protesters were triggered by a statement coming from the Hong Kong police, calling them “cockroaches.”
A member of the Hong Kong police public relations office has confirmed that several police officers called out Hong Kong protesters during a rally as “cockroaches.” But, the officer was quick to defend the statement by saying,
The police meant it is a compliment rather than an insult.
The term cockroach was used to refer to protesters’ resiliency and vitality despite times of difficulties.
MONDAY – Appearing in the “Hong Kong Connection” segment of an RTHK news programme was Chief Inspector Tam Yu-hei. In his interview, Tam mentioned that everything was part of the trading of insults between police and protesters during rallies. The several months-long demonstrations in Hong Kong has caused physical and mental stress to both the police and demonstrators.
Verbal confrontation from both sides
Tam argued that protesters should take verbal confrontations lightly.
We refer to them as cockroaches since they are full of vitality and pesky survivors, even in different situations. They used to call us dogs, but we don’t take offence to that.
The officer pointed out that even protesters throw verbal insults against them, but, they take it lightly and look at it on a positive point of view.
When they call us dogs, we imagine ourselves as being loyal and obedient.
When they throw insults against us, we still maintain professionalism and do not offer hostile actions against them. How come when they get their fair share of verbal insults, they go to social media to gain sympathy?
Senior Officer apologizes
On the same day, Superintendent Kwok Ka-chuen of the Police Public Relations office apologizes during an abrupt press briefing.
In his statement,
It is not ideal for labelling a group of people like cockroaches. The extended demonstrations are causing tension between police and Hong Kong protesters. We hope that both sides can control their emotions in the field to avoid violence from escalating.
Featured image by NikkeiAsianReview
