By Jill Slater

Saskatchewan businessman watching office in Hong Kong

Oct 1, 2014 | 7:28 AM

One Saskatchewan businessman is keeping a close eye on the political protests in Hong Kong. 

Grant Kook has an investment office in the city where hundreds of thousands of young people are protesting to demand greater electoral reforms.  

“The first thing I did was phone and check that our staff were still working, so I’m pleased to know that they’re not on the street but they’re actually being very productive,” explained Kook.

He notes that Hong Kong is a very entrepreneurial city and he wasn’t surprised that it was business as usual for his employees.

The Saskatchewan businessman says he thinks the Chinese government has been quite tempered in its reaction so far. 

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“I think that their response is very much ‘we understand freedom of speech, and we recognize it’ and they’re actually acknowledging it,” Kook commented.

He is watching the situation closely.
The movement is being called the ‘Umbrella Revolution,’ named after the parasols people are using to protect themselves from tear gas. 

On Wednesday, student leaders called for the resignation of Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, saying their next step would be to take over buildings.

Canadian reporter describes scene

Cam McMurchy is a freelance reporter from Canada who has been with the crowd of protesters in Hong Kong for the last few days. He spoke to News Talk Radio by phone on Tuesday from Hong Kong, describing the scene.

“We walked for a good half an hour, 45 minutes and it is wall to wall people right across those major neighbourhoods on Hong Kong Island,” he said.

The pro-democracy movement wants to be able to choose candidates for the upcoming 2017 elections. The Chinese government in Beijing will only allow people in Hong Kong to vote for a pre-approved slate of candidates.

McMurchy explains that the issue dates back to the hand-over of Hong Kong to China and a perceived promise of free elections.

“At that time there was a phrase ‘Hong Kong people are ruling Hong Kong’ the people here took to heart,” he said. “The Chinese government feels a little bit differently about that, not surprisingly.”

The government promised the elections on the condition that the candidates are pre-vetted by a nominating committee to ensure that no anti-Beijing or anti-China candidate gets on the ballot.

Police used tear gas to try and disperse the crowd earlier in the week, but have remained in the back ground since.  Since then the protest has been noisy, but peaceful.

-With files from Andrew Dawson.

news@panow.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow