What’s the crime in fish balls?

Late in the evening of February 8, the first day of the Year of the Monkey, violent clashes broke out between the police and civilians in the Mong Kok area of Hong Kong, which some Western media outlets labeled as the “fish-ball revolution”; though there were indeed riots, labeling it a “revolution” seemed to be rather excessive.

Known as “fish eggs” in Hong Kong and “fish balls” in Taiwan and elsewhere, this is a very traditional food in Hong Kong, which is mostly sold by small stores or street vendors. Considered a very special part of Hong Kong’s culinary culture, customers usually stand in the street holding Styrofoam bowls and bamboo skewers to pierce the fish balls.

In standoffs between the government and public, the unfair distribution of strength means that members of the public always seem as fragile as chicken eggs or fish balls. The clashes with police in Mong Kok had little to do with the hawkers selling fish balls, and even less to do with the fish balls.

Over the past few years, the conduct of The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, especially with regard to political reform, social measures, and the interaction between the police and community, has given rise to tensions between the two sides. With such problems, in addition to the huge discrepancy between pubic expectations and the reality on the ground, the emergence of street protests and demonstrations should come as no surprise.

What’s the crime in fish balls?

URL：https://www.peopo.org/news/299727

(以下是中文對照)

魚蛋何辜

在猴年初一2月8日深夜，香港旺角發生嚴重的警民暴力衝突。一些西方新聞媒體認爲這是「魚蛋革命」，街頭暴亂確是事實，但是以「革命」定位，未免太沉重。魚蛋就是台灣的魚丸，在香港是很傳統的食物，賣魚蛋的大多是小店面或攤販，顧客往往站在街道旁，拿著保麗龍碗，以竹籤戳著魚蛋吃，這是香港飲食文化的一個特殊景觀。

在官民對立中，因爲力量不均等，人民總是像鷄蛋或魚蛋脆弱。旺角的警民衝突其實未必跟賣魚蛋小販有關，問題更不在魚蛋。過去幾年，香港特區政府的作爲，尤其是政治改革、社會措施和警民互動，與民間的期待及觀感相差很大，雙方的緊張關係難免帶來摩擦，甚至導致街頭抗議或示威。