Hong Kong lawmaker: umbrellas are more aggressive than tear gas

If you’ve been feeling sorry for Hong Kong protesters it’s time to stop, as compared to the police, they’ve definitely got more sophisticated weapons. At least, that’s what a pro-government lawmaker thinks.

According to the SCMP, Leung Che-cheung suggested in a LegCo debate today that the umbrella is actually way more aggressive and much more useful in a fight than tear gas. WTF? We wonder if he’d like to test that theory against a gang of Hong Kong police himself?

His evidence for this comes in the form of the classic Wong Fei-hung kung fu movies, which show the protagonist fighting his rival with an umbrella. “It is basic common sense that an umbrella can be an aggressive weapon, but many lawmakers are just completely ignorant about history,” Leung reportedly said.

If fictional fight scenes – sorry – “history”, aren’t enough proof for you, rest assured that Leung backed up his point with the following bulletproof logic:

“The umbrella can be used as shelter from the rain and the sun, as a walking stick, or as a stick to [protect yourself] from stray dogs … It’s aggressive. But tear gas and pepper spray are useless weapons … because they cannot make protesters fall. They just come back time after time, and the police only defended their cordon after firing tear gas.”

Maybe police and protesters should do a swap and see what happens. Just a suggestion. 

Photo: Laurel Chor, Coconuts Media



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