Top News This Week

2 more days before the end of the top news this week... WTO.

I was in Causeway Bay yesterday, on the way home, when I saw a huge crowd standing on the pavement and heard loud drum beats and shouts.

As I walked closer, I saw lots of police standing around, whilst further ahead were the Korean demostrators in straight lines and walked with military precision. This looked interesting, I thought, given that such demostrations could turn ugly, but then again, it's not everyday I get to see a demostration.

Lots have been said about the Koreans demostrators, and I do admire their strength and beliefs. Although I don't quite agree with some of their more extreme actions (violence towards others or suicide) to state their case, still it takes lots of guts to fight for your livelihood.

That day, the demostration was a peaceful one which required each individual to walk 3 steps before kneeling and kowtow. A Buddhist ritual.

There has been a more visible police presence and lots of preparation has gone into securing the area where the WTO is held. Besides, HK has stipulated areas for such protests and demostrations, and generally been tolerant to the huge no. of protesters who have come from all over the world.

I can't imagine S'pore hosting the WTO and allow the possiblity of such protests, perhaps all the possible protesters would have been "blacklisted" and not allowed to enter S'pore. Safety first lah and can't look bad in front of the important people you know.