In what could be a repeat of one of the odder protests in this season of non-stop demonstrations, an appeals board has given the go-ahead for a Saturday march aimed at the curious phenomenon of “dancing aunties.”
Police on Wednesday had initially issued a letter of objection to the “Reclaim Tuen Mun Park” rally, according to Ming Pao. Shortly thereafter, the organizers — the drily named Tuen Mun Park Health Concern Group — announced they would appeal.
According to RTHK, organizers took a simple argument before the Appeal Board on Public Meetings and Processions, namely, that this protest would have absolutely nothing to do with politics or police brutality.
Instead, they pledged, the sole target would be the singing middle-aged women — known as “damas” — whose blaring Mandarin-language tunes are considered a form of noise pollution/torture by many residents.
Some have even accused the damas of acting indecently, illegally accepting money, and prostitution. Those sentiments were likely not ameliorated by the viral photo below, in which one of the aunties is seen dancing erotically with an elderly man who is enjoying it way too much.
🎶I jeezed right in my pants every time you’re next to me🎶 A scene of Mainland Chinese dama (大媽) performing erotic singing and dancing at major parks like Tun Mun Park. #Hongkong pic.twitter.com/n9QgHd8tDz
— Badcanto (@Badcanto) June 7, 2019
At a hearing this afternoon, the appeals board overturned the police ban, but requested that the protest run from 2pm to 5pm instead of 7pm as organizers had originally planned. The organizers agreed, which means the march will go ahead tomorrow, starting at San Wo Lane playground and ending at the Tuen Mun government offices.
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, one of the rally organizers, Lam Yu-hun, played down the possibility of clashes, saying said the situation in Tuen Mun was “unsatisfactory” for people of any political affiliation.
“With such a core spectrum consensus, we don’t see that our protest would somehow see any kind of clashes at all,” he said.
He then goes on to say that police attempts to draw a parallel with their “dancing auntie” protest to recent anti-government marches was also “immature.”
That said, July’s rally against damas ended with police deploying pepper spray.
Although the protest against damas is more of a neighborhood cause, it still feeds into fears and anxieties many Hongkongers have that the city’s culture is gradually being eroded.
Reader Interactions