The journal / Visions of Asia

Category: The World

Grandma Wong and her British flag

Grandma wong : from the pan into the fire?

Grandma Wong is a well-known figure of the Hong Kong protests. With her full name Alexandra Wong, she has often been seen in 2019 at the forefront of protests with a British flag. Born in 1956, and aged 64, the lady (who does not have children and is thus not a grandmother) moved to Shenzhen […]

A deserted battlefield strewn with umbrellas

Death by a thousand cuts for hong kong

After passing the National Security Law, on July 1st, China set out to radically transform the political landscape of Hong Kong. Although many hailed the law as the death knell for Hong Kong, it appears today that it was only the prelude and the mechanism by which to inflict “death by a thousand cuts” for […]

A young man holds a flickering light

A flickering light

Hong Kong had a tradition of commemorating the Tienanmen massacre every year on 4th June. This year, the Hong Kong government refused a letter of no objection to hold the protest in Victoria Park. Despite this, hundreds of protesters flooded the park, entering to hold their traditional vigil, hence keeping a flickering light alive for […]

Journalists during a stop and search

Hong Kong protests resume… and freedom of speech suffers further

After a long lull for cause of coronavirus fears, last week-end the Hong Kong protests resumed, albeit in a very subdued form. Triggered by a coup de force in the Legco on Friday, protesters responded somewhat timidly to the call to action. While protesters played rather the role of the small nuisance in Mongkok, the […]

A protester poses before a makeshift memorial at Prince Edward station.

The “8 31 attacks” and the culture of outrage

Since the beginning of 2020, the Hong Kong protests have focused on the “8 31 attacks” and the culture of outrage that is becoming a focal point of protesters. It did not help that police always reacts with overwhelming force and irritation to these “commemorations”. What are the “8 31 attacks”? On August 31, 2019, […]

A policemen trains his gun on protesters as he flees

Context is king: when guns come out in Hong Kong

Since the start of the protests in Hong Kong, policemen have been seen on several occasions taking out their guns and in at least two occasions, shooting protesters. The actions which lead to impressive footage or action scenes must not lead us to forget that “context is king” when guns come out in Hong Kong. […]

Elderlies sit down as they wait in queue to buy masks

Coronavirus: the HK panic

The Wuhan Coronavirus epidemic in Hong Kong has quickly pushed the organized and indifferent hongkongese society to its brinks. As the extreme contagiousness of the disease caused fear of an extension to Hong Kong, people started panicking. Within a few days, not a single person took the MTR or walked on the street without a […]

Tourists ride in a rickshaw

The Asakusa vibe

Asakusa, its market and the Senso-ji shrine are all important parts of any visit to Tokyo. But more than elsewhere, there is a special vibe, the Asakusa vibe which is present in that area and makes so lovable, despite the huge number of tourists. The senso-ji market The first thing tourists encounter when exiting the […]

On Takao-san

Barefooting in Japan: barefoot hike on Mount Takao

As I returned to Japan, almost two years after my first trip, my priority for this solo trip was to connect with Japanese nature and tradition. I definitely wanted to do a hike in Japan, and the closest place to Tokyo to do so was Mount Takao. But if you follow this blog, you know […]

Protesters neutralize tear gas canisters in Mongkok

Hong Kong Protests: in the war zone

It was a couple of weeks ago that we found ourselves in one of the most intense fights of the time between protesters and police in Hong Kong (where even Wanchai looked tame). For six to seven hours, I was literally in the war zone, between relentless assaults by protesters equipped with molotov cocktails and […]