By Coconuts Hong Kong December 16, 2014 / 17:01 HKT
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Hong Kong’s pro-democracy civic groups and students have announced their next plans for civil disobedience now that Occupy Central is officially over.
The groups are encouraging the territory’s 2.3 million public housing residents to pay their rent at the end, rather than the beginning, of the month, and the 1.7 million taxpayers to submit payments in small, significantly chosen amounts.
“And what’s the point of that?” we hear you cry.
Well, according to the masterminds behind the scheme, the late rent payments will reduce the Housing Authority’s interest income and cause a general headache for staff who’ll have to chase payments all month.
The staggered tax payments, on the other hand, with the suggested amounts being HKD68.9, HKD689 or HKD6,890 (symbolising the measly 689 votes that elected CY Leung to the position of Hong Kong's chief executive in 2012), would probably just piss The Man off.
According to the groups and their associated lawyer friends, the actions do not break any laws and will allow even busy people with actual jobs to participate in the movement.
The latest suggestion has been described as just one in a “timetable” of pro-democracy stunts planned for the future.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong police have announced that they will assign resources to arresting the “principle instigators” of Occupy Central over the next few months.
They will also maintain "Solar Peak”, the completely non-related code name of their operation against Occupy Central, in the holidays to avoid sites being reoccupied.
Photo: Alexander Hotz/ Coconuts Media
http://hongkong.coconuts.co/2014/12/16/whats-next-democracy-activists-late-rent-amusing-tax-payments-and-arrest
