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Occupy protesters in Admiralty observe an 87-second silence to mark a month since police fired 87 volleys of tear gas. Photo: Felix Wong

Resolute Occupy protesters raise umbrellas to commemorate firing of tear gas

A month after humble item became their shield and symbol, protesters hold them up for 87 seconds to mark firing of 87 rounds of tear gas

A sea of umbrellas covered all three Occupy Central protest sites yesterday as thousands observed an 87-second silence to mark one month since police fired 87 rounds of tear gas to disperse crowds at the start of the pro-democracy rallies.

Protest leaders hope the ceremonies will inject fresh momentum into their civil disobedience campaign and reverse its loss of direction and leadership. Protesters on the ground are also contemplating what to do, with most determined to stay put.

Watch: Hong Kong protesters mark one month of Umbrella Movement

Yesterday, silence descended on the sites in Admiralty, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok at 5.57pm - the time when riot police fired the first canisters of tear gas in Admiralty on September 28 after extensive use of pepper spray failed to bring protesters under control.

At the time, protesters used umbrellas to shield themselves, turning the humble item into the symbol of Occupy Central and prompting overseas media to dub it the "umbrella movement".

READ MORE: To view all the latest Occupy Central stories click here

Hundreds gathered on Harcourt Road at 6pm. Photo: Felix Wong
At the spot near government headquarters where the first canisters were fired, thousands of protesters and their supporters held up umbrellas for 87 seconds.

Then they broke their silence by chanting: "Democracy fears no tear gas. Hong Kong will not be the same again."

After the umbrellas, those gathered waved lights and held up a banner reading "I want real universal suffrage". Photo: Felix Wong

The atmosphere was more festive at the other two sites. About 80 protesters sang and danced around the occupied section of Yee Wo Street, Causeway Bay, while onlookers in Nathan Road, Mong Kok, were treated to an umbrella dance choreographed by Mui Cheuk-yin.

But differences in opinion continued to divide protest leaders and demonstrators.

On Sunday, an electronic ballot on the way forward was abruptly cancelled after the protest leaders could not agree on the issues to be voted on.

About 80 protesters took part in an event at Causeway Bay, including lawmakers Fernando Cheung and Albert Cheng. Photo: Nora Tam

Some protesters hinted at a shifting of goals.

In Admiralty, Open University lecturer Dan Yip said more protesters were now asking to scrap the Legislative Council's functional constituency seats first, before moving on to the longer-term goal of seeking public nomination of chief executive candidates - one of Occupy's original demands.

Half of the legislature's 70 seats are returned by functional constituencies, mostly based on trades and professional sectors.

To pass, any motion initiated by lawmakers must receive majority support from both geographical constituency and functional constituency legislators.

Speaking last night in Admiralty, Occupy co-founder Benny Tai Yiu-ting urged supporters to think how to bring the movement forward.

"First, we have to think how to gain support from people outside the protest sites. Second, we have to think how to consolidate what we have already achieved and push forward Hong Kong's democratic movement."

Also yesterday, a 50-year-old man turned himself in to police and was arrested over an assault in Tsim Sha Tsui on Saturday. Four journalists were attacked while covering an anti-Occupy rally. The man, suspected to have pulled the tie of a TVB reporter, was in custody last night. Two other men arrested in connection with the case have been released on police bail.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Umbrella moment
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