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Opinion | Casting Hong Kong protesters and police as either angels or demons makes for an eternal stalemate
- The false dichotomies being applied to those on the front lines of the turmoil sparked by the extradition bill are preventing constructive dialogue and an end to the impasse
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Whichever side you support, the repeated clashes between protesters and police officers – most recently last weekend in Sha Tin – have been very hard to watch, and the animosity reflects not only the division in Hong Kong society, but also how our minds too often split the world into good versus bad.
First, let us acknowledge that the anti-extradition bill movement that has divided Hong Kong might be a misnomer. The opposition is not to the bill per se. What has moved many to action seems to be deeply entrenched fear and distrust of mainland China. The tension between opposing political ideologies has escalated into open warfare between different groups: protesters versus the police, “yellow” versus “blue ribbon” camps, pro-democracy versus pro-Beijing political parties, people sympathetic to and supportive of the movement versus those who condemn it.
The physical confrontations between adversaries on either side of the “Lennon Wall” are but one symptom of a city torn apart by differences. Hong Kong is deeply split.
Online discussions have become antagonistic. The content varies but the form persists: “If you are on my side, you are good; if you are not, you are on the side of the stupid or evil.” People often righteously go into attack mode, using threats and insults.
Considered discussions about politics and public welfare that one would expect from a sophisticated, intelligent and tolerant city like Hong Kong are at times reduced to dichotomies, shouting matches and personal attacks.
Psychoanalyst Melanie Klein coined the term the “paranoid-schizoid position” to denote a child’s state of mind that uses splitting as a coping mechanism, whereby the world is separated into neat categories of good and bad. This serves a protective function until the young mind matures enough to comprehend and interact with a world of greys, which requires a healthy dose of tolerance for ambivalence and conflict.
Dr Bertie Wai is a bilingual clinical psychologist at Beautiful Mind Therapy and Family Services in Central. She provides therapy to children, teens, adults and couples, as well as parenting consultation.
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