For the moment, it looks like Chow's camp has won. Support for the protests is fast waning among the city's residents, who turned out en masse to oppose Beijing's restrictions on nominees for the first-ever direct elections for Hong Kong's leader, promised in 2017. The numbers thronging the streets swelled to tens of thousands after police on Sept. 28 fired tear gas and pepper spray on unarmed and mostly peaceful students, and the crowds occupying the streets paralyzed three areas in the city center for days.But as the week wore on, grumbles about the protests ruining businesses grew louder, and blue-collar workers — shopkeepers, cab drivers and delivery men — joined with those in the finance and tourism industries to condemn the movement.
Analysts say political participation is not a priority for those at the bottom of the economic ladder because they are struggling just to pay the bills. Official figures show that average wages for people with lower skill sets was HK$10,000 (US$1,290) a month last year — and 13 percent of residents earned less than half that."The great majority of ordinary people have tremendous pressure in their daily lives. Those people ... have to spend more than 10 hours just to earn an income to support their families," said Ding Xueliang, a social sciences professor at the city's University of Science and Technology. Agitating for political reform "would be a big luxury for them."
There's also a strong generational divide. Those in their 40s and above vividly recall life before the economy took off in the 1980s, when most people still worked in factories and when parents struggled to feed their children. Many feel they have built up Hong Kong with their hard work, and are loath to have their now comfortable lifestyles threatened by political chaos.