A senior Hong Kong policewoman made waves on Friday by sporting British colonial police insignia at a press conference – an embarrassing gaffe in the former British colony, which does not wear its history lightly.
Senior Supt Catherine Kwan Chui-ching wore a hat bearing the insignia – two laurels framing the city’s Victoria Harbour, beneath a bejewelled crown – while briefing reporters about a police raid on a pro-democracy protest site in the bustling commercial area Mong Kok.
After photographs showing Kwan’s choice of apparel began circulating on social media, the superintendent switched hats, appearing at a later press conference wearing the police department’s current emblem, which features a bauhinia flower in place of the crown.
“I’m very impressed with how perceptive you all are,” Kwan told reporters, according to the South China Morning Post. “I did indeed wear the wrong hat this morning, and that has now been rectified.”
She added: “I think this is a slip-up on my part and has nothing to do with the image of the police force.”
Hong Kong was a British colony for 150 years, and although Beijing regained control of the territory in 1997 its colonial legacy remains clear. English is considered an official language, and the city’s courts abide by a UK-inspired justice system.
Many pro-democracy activists, enraged by what they perceive as encroaching influence by Beijing, have appropriated colonial symbols including the union jack as an emblem of resistance.
Viral videos, political cartoons and calls to arms have come to shape the contours of the “umbrella movement”, which has paralysed large swaths of Hong Kong since late last month.
Popular posts on Facebook take sharp jabs at the city government, the police and violent pro-Beijing counter-protesters.
One widely shared image shows local “triad” gang members Photoshopped on to a police recruitment poster. Another shows an umbrella revolution-themed Monopoly board, playing on widespread concerns about the city’s income inequality.
Police spokesman Hui Chun-tak, known for giving televised press conferences about the movement each day at 4pm, has become an unlikely internet sensation. A Facebook fan page for “Four o’clock Hui Sir” has garnered more than 56,000 likes.
Followers post close-ups of Hui’s face and plays on his most commonly used expressions, such as “I appeal” and “let me recap in English”. One post shows a watercolour painting of Hui taped to a wall. Another says simply: “Keep calm and recap in English.”
A fan with the username JFung cut video clips of Hui’s press conferences together and set them to a techno soundtrack. The white and blue wall behind him is emblazoned with the police force’s insignia, and beneath that its motto: “We serve with pride and care.”
