Over 30 beer-swilling secondary school students were shooed off the golden SARS monument in Causeway Bay by police officers yesterday evening.
The group — many of whom were clutching onto beer bottles — was seen climbing the golden dragon statue at the junction of Morrison Hill Road and Leighton Road at around 10:30pm, SCMP reports. The statue was erected by Wan Chai District Council in 2003 to mark the end of the SARS pandemic, which took 299 lives in Hong Kong… although the message appeared to be lost on its young trespassers.
It seems like some of them were revelling in their first legal South Stand experiences, as the teens were reportedly heard singing Hey Baby, which is practically the unofficial anthem for the Rugby Sevens. (Other contenders: Sweet Caroline, Blitzkrieg Bop, and Chelsea Dagger.)
Unfortunately for the students, the people around Causeway Bay at half past ten on a weeknight were significantly less amused than fellow South Standers, and somebody reported the sozzled students to the police, who turned up at around 10:50, sirens ‘n’ all, to shoo them away. No arrests were reported.
Given the time of year — and the legal drinking age — the plastered partiers could be a class of graduating high school students. While we may raise an eyebrow at them, anyone who says they didn’t do anything stupid when they were cocky and 18 is lying, so we’re inclined (for now) to just be wryly amused at their alcohol-soaked antics.
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