An Interesting Place and Time

Tonight, I took off from work earlier than I had planned to. That's because my coworkers checked out traffic conditions and told me things looked scary due to the WTO. The Webcams showed HK streets and highways that were empty. HK is a city that really never sleeps. There's always traffic of some sort, so it was a surreal image to see. It was something out of a sci-fi/horror day after type of movie. So I took off 'early' (7:30pm) to allow for traffic time.

It wasn't very bad at all. I got home in the usual time. But when I got home, I saw many police officers in the street right by my apartment. I didn't see any protesters and the streets were pretty empty. I thought that perhaps HK might be overreacting. Afterall, don't protesters go home late at night too?

After dinner, I grabbed my camera and headed to the park to see what 'award-winning shots' I could snap up of the anti-WTO activities. Then I saw the real reason why the cops were blocking the street. This next picture pretty much says it all. I guess someone was about to jump or perhaps this was some WTO protest stunt? I don't know, but I thought to myself: "Self, you really live in an intersting place at an interesting time."

I mean, just last week I witnessed the pro-democracy march going through my neighborhood. This week I'm seeing the parts of the anti-WTO movement. Then I see this image tonight on the street I walk on everyday! What's next? Well, keep reading...

Quite a crowd had gathered to look up at what that giant cushion was setup for. But unlike Hollywood movies, there was no dramatic spotlight on any jumper. A crowd had gathered (of which I was now a member of) on th street and foot bridge where I took the shot of the firetrucks and giant cushion thingy (i don't know what the official name of that is).
Everyone was looking up and focused on the top of the building by this cushion thingy. No one could really see anything and there was a lot of speculation going on. So being the artsy-fartsy person that I am, I thought it would be intersting to snap a few shots of the people looking and taking pictures of the spectacle. The results includes this next shot which is my absolute favorite shot that I've taken since coming to Asia. I love the colors and composition. If only I had a SLR camera w/ fishbowl or wide angle lens and a tripod. But it ain't half bad for a point and shoot with a few manual settings; if I say so myself.

So enough self lauding. This all happened on my way to the park. The park by contrast seemed anti-climactic. But was nontheless quite interesting. The WTO talks start tomorrow, so it looks like people are still setting up here. Tonight, there were many colorful tents setup all over the park, which gave the park a very carnival-like appearance. It's too bad I have to go to work tomorrow. It looks like a very festive environment. That is other than the increased security. Last night police were walking around in groups of three. Tonight, I saw them patrolling in groups of four. And I just heard on BBC World that 1/3 of the HK police force is dedicated to WTO related activities.

Tonight, I also saw what those emaciated statues I saw last will be used for. They're part of a sculpture series that makes a point about the unfairness of farm subsides. At least one group of them will be used in a large scale with a cow on one side outweighing 6 starving human beings on the other side of the scale. While not obvious by what I saw, I received a pamphlet with a picture of the sculpture in it's final form. For this piece, they adapt a quote from George Orwell's "Animal Farm" in the pamphlet:

All people are equal but some people are more equal than others.

I was going to end this entry with that quote, but then I just saw these sculptures on BBC World. Is it synchronicity, coincidence, and/or surreal? I don't know. It's late, I'm tired and I'm heading to bed now. An interesting time and place, indeed.