HK residents demand apology, compensation for victims
HONG KONG - It was not a typical Sunday afternoon in Hong Kong.
Tens of thousands of residents gathered at Victoria Park for the climax of the outpouring of grief witnessed through all of last week.
And indeed, it's not everyday that members of pro-Beijing and pro-democracy political parties fight for the same cause, or walk as equals in this sea of sadness.
“I’m from Hong Kong and what happened not good,” says one protester.
Residents say they want an apology from the Philippine government, as well compensation for the families of 8 Hong Kong tourists who died in the bus tragedy in Manila.
Protestors marched all the way to Chater Garden where they tied yellow ribbons.
“[It’s] to show that we are sad and we care for the people who died in the Philippines,” says another Hong Kong participant in the rally.
Over at Chater Road, Filipino domestic workers gathered for prayer and venting.
They say it’s hard to be on the receiving end of criticism over the embarrassing state of law and order in their homeland.
“Hindi ako nahihiya, nagagalit ako because this should not have happened,” says Vicky Casia of Migrante-Hong Kong.
They gave residents white ribbons to say that they too are seeking answers from the Philippine government after it committed blunders in the attempt to rescue the tourists held hostage.
But some of them were turned away.
“Nung binigyan ko ng white ribbon, yung Chinese, ang sabi niya sa akin, ‘Why should you give this one to me. You are the cruel, you are killer!’” says a Filipino domestic worker.
Filipino migrant workers believe the emotional backlash that created these instances of racial tension in Hong Kong will go on if the Philippine officials fail to come up with credible results of its investigation.
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How many times to do we have
How many times to do we have apologize to the Chinese? Chinese should partly blame the Chinese who are funding and running the corrupt government. Don't they know that the current President is Filipino Chinese? The mayor of Manila is a Filipino-Chinese. Blame them! Don't be blame all Filipino. All these Chinese are now hacking Philippine govermnent websites.
WHERE IS OUR COMPENSATION AND APOLOGY FROM THE CHINESE?
Subject: Family of tourists killed by crazed man: A Filipino family, that is, in Beijing
Think about this.
Interesting contrast/parallels......
The known facts are these:
On August 19, 2005, Emmanuel "Bong" Madrigal, a Manila-based Filipino executive of the multinational Shell, was visiting Beijing on vacation with his wife Vivian, his daugher Regina Mia, and two younger daughters. That day, they rode a tourist bus to Tiananmen Square, the heart of the capitol.
Upon arriving at the square, Emmanuel Madrigal was the first to descend from the bus, followed by Vivian and Regina Mia. A Chinese man wielding a scythe--in some reports it was described as a sword--suddenly appeared out of nowhere and hacked Emmanuel across his torso. He died on the spot. The man also attacked and seriously wounded Vivian. He then slashed at and killed Regina Mia. By this time, bystanders were trying to subdue the man, and Vivian shouted to her two other daughters to get away and save themselves. Somehow the girls made their way back to the hotel. Vivian was brought to a Beijing hospital, where she died several days later of her injuries.
An Associated Press report still circulating on the internet states that the killer was Wang Gongzuo, 25, a farmer from eastern China's Jiangsu province. He was sentenced to death for the murder of the Madrigals and executed a few weeks later, in September. The AP report states: 'Wang's motive for killing the two is unclear. After the incident occurred the Beijing Morning Post reported that he had wanted to 'affect society using extreme actions,' but didn't elaborate."
Reflect on the parallels. A family of vacationers on a tourist bus: the Leungs and the Madrigals. A killer out to "affect society using extreme actions": Mendoza and Wang. A massacre in a public place of symbolic significance: The Quirino grandstand, where the presidential inauguration had been held just weeks before, and site of the civil society protests against the Marcos regime; and Tiananmen Square, since ancient times the symbol of the centralized power of the Chinese state, and site of the 1991 civil protests against the government.
In both incidents, the state failed miserably in protecting innocent tourists.
And there the parallels end.
President Aquino has apologized to the families of Mendoza’s victims and conveyed his sorrow to the people of Hongkong, Chief Executive Donald Tsang, and Ambassador Lin Jian Chao. The Philippine National Police acknowledge that they botched matters beyond comprehension. Philippine legislators, ahead of their Hongkong counterparts, called for a full investigation. Philippine media organizations are looking to their own culpability in the affair. And masses of ordinary Filipinos, on TV, radio, print, and the Internet, are expressing collective horror, remorse and pity over the terrible fate of the innocent tourists, and bow their heads in shame before the Hong Kong people's sorrow and anger.
That is how it should be, that is only right. But.
To this day, five years after it happened, there is no public record of any Chinese official acknowledging the tourist killings in Tiananmen Square and apologizing to the Madrigals, much less the Filipino people, for the murder of Emmanuel, Regina Mia and Vivian. Not a single expression of regret that the Chinese police failed in their duty to protect the lives of innocent tourists in the very heart of Beijing, in the symbolic center of a state that prides itself most of all for its ability to control and contain disorder. There was a total blackout on the part of the Chinese press, and, according to another news report, government censors quickly blocked many internet sites where Chinese users had begun to post comments about the killing. So we will likely never know what ordinary Chinese citizens had to say about about the incident. Maybe some of them were actually sorry for what happened.
The closest thing to expressed regret was in fact the final reported action of the killer Wang, who waived his right to appeal the sentence of execution, and got a bullet in the back of his head.
To add to the horror, it would appear that the Arroyo administration was complicit in the silence. No public statement was ever made by the Philippine government regarding the incident. Unlike in Hongkong, no flags were flown at half-mast in Manila, and no three-minute silence was observed to mark the deaths of the innocent Filipino tourists. No demand has ever been made by any Filipino official for an apology, and for an accounting.
A full investigation of the Quirino Grandstand killing is ongoing. But what of that other killing, also in August, five years ago in Tiananmen Square?
Julian P. Aguila
@little stone if you feel
@little stone
if you feel that the apology was feeble and for damage control only, there is nothing much we can do about this.
only remember, it's so easy for you to adopt a holier than thou attitude when you yourselves have been responsible for the deaths and abuses to tourists and filipino workers in hk and china.
maybe if you step back and be less vindictive, you will be able to sleep well at night
@ little stone
IF YOU CANNOT SLEEP BECAUSE OF THIS TRAGEDY, PLEASE KNOW THAT WE HAVE NOT HAD A GOOD SLEEP SINCE OUR RELATIVES AND FELLOW FILIPINOS WERE KILLED IN TIAMEN SQUARE.
I ASK THAT YOU HELP YOUR FELLOW HONGKONGER TO UNDERSTAND AND EXPLAIN THE SITUATION THAT THIS TRAGEDY IS BEYOND OUR CONTROL. THIS TRAGEDY IS NOT WELL PLAN LIKE THE 911 AND THAT COMPENSATION YOUR COUNTRYMEN DEMANDED IS UNREASONABLE. THE ACCUSED WAS DEAD AND HE PAID HIS THE LIFE HE TOOK ALREADY. OUR GOVERNMENT IS NOT RESPONSIBLE. OUR GOVERNMENT DID NOT DEMAND COMPENSATION WHEN OUR RELATIVES DIED IN TIAMEN SQUARE. WE DID NOT DEMAND COMPENSATION BECAUSE WE KNOW THE NATURE OF THE TRAGEDY.
I HOPE YOUR PEOPLE WILL SEE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN UNEXPECTED TRAGEDY AND WELL-PLAN ATTACK!
An Unfortunate Tragedy
What happened in Quirino Grandstand is very unfortunate. Nobody in his right mind wanted that to happen. And yes, the government and the police forces failed in their job and we could only pray and hope that something positive and fruitful will come out from this unfortunate tragedy.
It is everyone's right to express their anger, their frustrations and their concern. However, it is also our right to let the Chinese people know that we too condemn what happened. In fact, we condemn anyhting that go against the humanity.
But, if they decided to make the occassion to express their racism against the Filipinos, then it is our duty to stand up against them and remind our government to express displeasure to the Chinese government for allowing the incident to go overboard.
This is not the time for counting the dead. If it is, we have more countrymen that died unjustly in the hands of the Chinese than we are to them.
WE ARE A SOVEREIGN NATION. THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT KNOWS THAT AND THEY NEED TO RESPECT US AS A SOVEREIGN NATION.
The only thing we can do is to move forward in the hope that what happened in Quirino Grandstand is the first and the last.
I am from Hong Kong. I have
I am from Hong Kong.
I have been following the news closely, trying to figure out what happened, why a seemingly "peaceful" hostage taking could have ended in such terrible blood shed, what drove an once outstanding police officer to resort to such violence to appeal his case. I have also tried to learn more about your country and your people.
I have read a lot of comments on discussion forums. I have to say some of them, both Filipinos and Chinese, are really irresponsible, extreme and spiteful. It makes me even more depressed.
Believe me, despite all the angry words and protests, most HK people are sensible and understand that Filipinos are also victims of the tragedy.
In the end, what we want is JUSTICE, JUSTICE and JUSTICE.
JUSTICE in the sense that there will be an impartial and thorough investigation, no apportioning of blame, act and speak responsibly, honourably, respectfully.
I have heard your apology. But it was so feeble against everything else you said. You pointed the finger on the media. You drew comparison with the Russian terrorists. Such that your apology was overwhelmed by these innuendos.
To you it was just damage control and politics, wasn't it? If you genuinely cared about those human lives, I expect you to speak and act in a more responsible and honourable manner with all the solemnity as befitting the situation.
You would not let us forget the tragedy either. While we are mourning our tragic loss you kept making things worse by finding excuses, taking photos in front of the bus, by opening the coffin of the deseased, by covering the coffin of the killer with your national flag and by calling us murderers.
Congratulations to your handling of not only the hostage crisis but also the aftermath. You did a great job in alienating us.
I hope you sleep tight at night. Because many of us don't.
i will just repost what i
i will just repost what i posted on the other article:
people from hk act as if this incident only happened to them and that no amount of apology or ammends will ever make it up to people of hk. why dont they try to google the filipinos who were killed in tianenmen square 5 years ago as they alighted from their tour bus. they were attacked by a chinese national with a knife without any provocation.
did people from hk hear any insults from us here in the philippines? did we hack their websites? did we hurl derogatory racial insults at them? did we take it out on the fil-chinese community living here? NO WE DID NOT!
before they judge us that we do not understand. why don't they inform themselves first.
IF THEY DEMAND COMPENSATION, THEN WE SHOULD EQUALLY DEMAND COMPENSATION FROM THEM FROM PAST ABUSES AND KILLINGS DONE TO THE FILIPINOS IN HK AND CHINA.
bakit???
bakit mga chinese liit mata pero laki kita? bwahahahaha....
on a more serious note, sobra na sobra na kayo mga chinese ha. patay na yung perpetrator. like you, nobody else in the philippines wanted this to happen. isn't enough that you have issued a black travel alert against going to the philippines?
honestly, we filipinos, would also be better off without you around here. tell your chinese friends here --- including the shabu cooks whom you sent here --- to go back to your land ASAP.
you want compensation? collect it from the family of rolando garcia!
HONGKONG GET OVER IT!
THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR CLAIM IS DEAD. IF YOU NEED COMPENSATION THEN STOP TRAVELING TO OUR COUNTRY. THAT WILL BE YOUR COMPENSATION.
OUR GOVERNMENT IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INSANITY OF ONE PERSON. IT IS BEYOND OUR CONTROL THIS TRAGEDY IS HAPPENING. IT'S LIKE THE MASSACRE OF THE UNIVERSITIES IN THE US AND OUR COUNTRY. WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING IF THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE IS DEAD. IF CRIMINAL WHO COMMIT THE KILLING IS ALIVE WE CAN GUARANTEE YOU THAT JUSTICE WILL BE BROUGHT RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU.
MOVE ON AND GET OVER IT. SOLVE YOUR DIFFERENCES WITH THE TIBETIANS AND THE DALAI LAMA. TREAT YOUR ETHNIC GROUP WITH RESPECT AND FAIRNESS. STOP BULLYING POOR COUNTRIES AND IF YOU WANT FAIRNESS THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISH IF YOU START IT AT YOUR OWN DOOR.
too much
if this thing happened in USA do you think that HK will issue a travel ban in America? i think no because they benefiting from them. if this thing happened in HK with our fellow Filipinos do you think that our government will issue a travel ban in HK? again my answer is no because we are benefiting from HK. That is our problem we should now be united as Filipinos and start rebuilding our nation, clean our government and stand without the shadows of this bully nation at the same time we should help the nation who are like us that is treated like a rats by this bully nations... well tibet can be a start :P