I am a 17 year old protest medic for the on-going Hong Kong protests, I helped treat a lot of injured protesters while they were protesting. AMA.

Are you afraid that the police might attack or interrupt you or your fellow medics? Is it a dangerous job in terms of getting recognized and then detained by the police?

Oh yeah we definitely are, everytime we travel to protest areas we pray that we don't get searched or encounter roadblocks (if we go by car) because there have been a few incidences where people have been arrested just because they have a reflective vest. There was a more notable incident where a protest in Tuen Mun saw mass arrest of first aiders despite them only being there to treat the wounded regardless of their political affiliations.

As for being attacked or interrupted, there have been an incident where a first aider being arrested had his arm broken by the police while he was on the ground, and another incident where a volunteer first aider was denied access to an MTR station to treat an unconscious man despite begging and pleading and agreeing to be arrested just as long as he is allowed to treat the unconscious guy. It really sucks that we get treated like this.

Have you heard about incidents of Police using regular ammo and shooting protestors? I've seen something like that and it makes me very worried about you guys.

My friend actually treated the first 18 year old who was shot in the chest, so yes, I have heard about it

What's the most serious injury you've seen?

In terms of pain, it was this protester who scraped the back of his calves while building a roadblock and then proceeded to have that wound pepper-sprayed by the police while running away. In terms of severity it was when the police released tear gas near this semi open-air building that everyone ran into when escaping the police, a guy didn't have goggles nor respirator and lost consciousness after inhaling too much of it without being able to run away, he ended up regaining consciousness and carried away to safety by 2 other protesters

No question from me, just a lot of love and solidarity from a US paramedic. Keep alert and fight the good fight.

Just putting it out there, all of us EMS people in Hong Kong see US paramedics as straight badasses simply cause you guys usually deal with much nastier cases much more often than we do here in Hong Kong.

A little fun fact: tear gas(cs-gas) isn't dangerous. The effect is mostly psychological. When you pass out you start to breath normally

Another fun fact: The police have actually been using expired tear gas cannisters which have been measured to contain dangerously high concentrations of hydrogen cyanide

As someone actually there what is something that the media has not shown? Not meaning this to be a jab at the media but just in the sense that you are actually on the ground.

That they're not actually "city-wide protest" in the sense that the entire city has become a battlefield (hopefully we don't come to that). Even in the most severe protests, the clashes usually occur in a limited area, and is then moved depending on where the protesters decide to go or where the police is coming from. It's not really the city halting, everything destroying, mass disruptions everywhere as a lot of the media is making it out to be. I can go an entire day without realising protests are happening if I were at home and didn't check the news or social media. The impact I suppose comes from a massive decrease in tourism due to Mainland people being scared to come down.

What can we do for you?

I would say you can try to get in touch with local first aid teams or protester groups and donate to them directly, or you can donate money to volunteer legal aid groups like 星火聯盟. You can also try and raise awareness locally by setting up Lennon Walls or holding marches.

are you not afraid of showing what i assume is an id badge?

It's the backside of my first aid certificate and doesn't have any identifying information on it, thanks for the concern though.

Are there any sympathetic police officers/officials for these protests? People who you didn't expect to support your cause?

Yep, definitely there was an interview a while ago about from an anonymous police officer who supports the Hong Kong protest, dude couldn't leave his job because he feared humiliation and retribution from colleagues. Also there have been a few mainlanders who voiced their support for us anonymously

First, thank you. You're an inspiring young man and a hero for what you're doing.

And for the question. In your opinion, do you think there will be any long-term psychological harm for protestors in addition to their physical wounds? Most of the protestors look so young...

Anyway, keep on fighting the good fight and thanks again!

Thank you, I really appreciate it :)

As for long-term psychological harm. I've heard lots of reports of insomnia and anxiety amongst the protesters, but I think a bigger issue would be suicides (I'm referring to the suicides that occurred at the start of the movement, and not the suspicious as fuck suicides that cops keep ruling as no foul play) since for a lot of the protesters, especially the younger ones, they're fighting for the future, and seeing China encroach on their freedoms might not do too good for their mental health.

We've already seen a few suicides happen at the start of the movement that received a lot of attention and rendered them martyrs. This might be used as reasoning for a person who isn't in the best headspace to go ahead and end their lives. Just speculation though, I'm no psychiatrist.

Wow, you seem to have a wisdom and awareness of someone older than 18. Also you're very brave. I hope your family is proud!

Heheheh, none of my family knows except for my dad and brother, really appreciate the compliment :)

If I may ask, what is the most common injury?

Probably scratches, bruises, and tear gas and pepper spray related injuries. Burns are also quite common

What are the forces that drive and motivate the protestors to continue such demonstrations, even if their safety is at stake, and even though the government has put in harsh laws? Do you think that the protests would start to die down eventually?

Their futures, many of the protesters will be middle aged when 2047 comes around, we're all worried about how we're going to be treated when China fully controls us. We see what they're doing to the Tibetans and Uyghurs and we fear that it might happen to us if we don't resist

I wonder how a 17-year old has gotten any medical or paramedical responsibilities. How does that work?

We're not official government medical or paramedical services, all first aid volunteers on the front lines are there on a voluntary basis. I decided to join the protests as a medic because of the knowledge that I've gained from taking trauma classes and also volunteering for an ambulance service. Many of the volunteer medics only have a first aid cert which I don't think is nearly enough training to be on the frontlines, but with everything that's going on, we'll take what we get.

On another note, there was a survey done by a protester organisation regarding first aiders in the protest, and they found that around 30% of respondents claimed that they were first aiders who were under the age of 18, which I think is pretty interesting if not worrying.

Do you think you'll go into a paramedic career after this?

That's a possible career path, it pays well and I'm quite interested in the field

Hopefully you can use this as an example of good work experience, and not have to fear that it was during a protest.

I assume most 17 year olds going into medicine cannot quote similar front line style experience.

I'd be hesitant mentioning my involvement in the movement hehehehehe

As a Paramedic I'd rather you specify that you are a first aid volunteer and not a Medic, theres a very big difference. Otherwise good for you, thanks for helping, and stay safe physically and mentally, feel free to reach out if you see something gnarly. Mental scars last longer.

Of course of course, I was only using the term paramedic because the original commenter used it hehehehe. The new velcro plates Im getting have the words First Aid Volunteer printed on them and not Paramedic or EMT or anything, dont worry :)

They have none outside of voluntary provision of first-aid, which is why the term medic is inaccurate. They are volunteer untrained rescue/volunteer first-aid.

The term medic means "person who gives medical aid" when used amongst Hong Kong people, not really a technical term to us, I apologize for the confusion

Who's been the most supportive of your cause and actions?

Probably my girlfriend or my dad, they're both lovely and wonderful people who worry about me constantly and are supportive of what I do

Is there some kind of central administration or organization for support staff like medics? How do you coordinate where medics are needed, supplies, etc?

Nope, no central administration whatsoever, that would just make it easier for the government latch onto us and take down our humanitarian operation. As far as how we coordinate who needs what supplies, we receive them and use them amongst our own team, and if we have spare, we hand them out at the frontlines to other teams, occasionally the team leaders of different teams would get together and discuss strategy and ask for supplies and such, but no significant coordination other than that.

How are the supplies funded?

Supplies are funded out of our own pockets or donations from people supporting our cause

Self, saving, friends, family (am HongKonger)

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How are things like over there right now ? Cause we can't really trust what we're reading nowadays, can we ?

Honestly we're all pretty scared right now, but I would say everyday life is pretty normal right now with the exception of shops, malls, and restaurants closing earlier during the past few days due to MTR disruption, and much less mainland tourists in usually touristy places.

Although life is normal with a few exceptions, we all know that this movement is going to do nothing but escalate until there is a concrete response by the government to our 5 demands. The Anti-Mask Law is possibly the most stupid thing a government has ever done in response to an already escalating social movement. Now it's obvious that Carrie Lam's withdrawal of the Extradition Law Amendment Bill, her promise of a dialogue on an open platform with the people, and her supposed desire to understand the plights of the citizens of Hong Kong were merely tactics to somehow quell the masses before the 70th Anniversary of the PRC on 1st of October.

We all know that everything is going to escalate, and hopefully then the government will understand that they serve us, and not the other way around.

Out of curiosity, what do you think about Carrie Lam saying that she wants to resign but she can’t because the CCP won’t let her? Also thank you so much for what you do, I can’t even imagine how difficult it is out there for you all right now. Stay safe!

I think Carrie Lamb is a CCP puppet, and she's only putting on the facade of autonomy to save face

Has your role as a protest medic changed how you view the protests?

I guess it made me a lot more of aware of the way that Hong Kong Police can infringe upon basic human rights. They not only deny treatment of severely injured protesters by protest medics, but arrest them en masse and justify themselves by saying that we're just protesters pretending to be medics (to somehow get preferential treatment from the Police)

Are you planning to go to university after secondary school?

Yep, planning on applying to medicine or biomedical sciences

What do you think needs to be done for china to finally back off?

Does China have anymore “ military parades” lined up across the bridge.

I don't really know if China would ever back off, and a lot of us still go in and support the protest despite knowing that we probably don't stand a chance. We would rather die free than live life as a slave

First of all, keep up the good work. You are a hero.

In one of the responses you mentioned parents cutting off money to their children due to their involvement in the protests. And you have already mentioned in your post that you are yourself still in secondary school. Do you have dependency on parents/guardians for things like money and shelter, and if yes, how has their attitude been towards your involvement?

Thanks for the compliment man, I really appreciate it, but we're all just doing what we can to help :)

I don't have a job, so yes, I still depend on my parent for living allowance. She doesn't know about my involvement, but she's heavily pro-government so I'm planning to keep her ignorance that way. If my mom knew that I was participating then I'd probably get kicked out of the house, but my dad knows and I think he's pretty cool with it, just worried about my safety.

Are protest medics targeted if seen by going Kong police? Why dont you think the police are participating if they are also affected by what you're fighting for?

Yes, there was a case a while back where a first aider was going to a protest and was arrested because he had a hi-vis first aid vest.

I don't think they are participating because

1) They need the job and can't leave because of their family

2) They would get targeted and shamed by their friends, families, and colleagues if they left their jobs, people in police jobs tend to be from police families

3) It's been too long since the protests have started, many of them have developed an Us vs Them attitude towards the protesters (same for us with the police) and can't see that the real villain here is the government

Keep on doing the good work. My good friend and her husband have been driving people/supplies around and she's been helping in the "medical centres" because she's a vet.

Have you been mostly on the frontlines or do you also help out in the centres too?

I've actually taken the cars a few times to get home, so thanks a lot to your friend and her husband.

I'm usually a bit behind the frontlines, never been to a centre to help

What do you hope will happen to resolve the protests?

Honestly, I dont know. Hopefully not something violent

can protestors go to the hospital? or would the police be waiting there to arrest them?

We have telegram groups that give us bidaily updates on which ERs are safe to go to and which are staffed by pro gov teams

Be safe. You're a good person.

My question is: From what you seen and what has happened thus far, do you see all this ending any time soon? And what about the people who aren't protesting or against the protest? What is their stance? Do you see more support from them or the opposite?

I dont think this will be ending anytime soon, I think anyone who is still neutral at this stage are probably privately on one side but scared to voice their opinions out because of their situation. I think most people who aren't protesting or against us are restricted by their family situation, HK parents are crazy

First of all, i'm amazed by the courage you guys have!

Second of all, at the start of my citizenship and philosophy class we take 5-10 minutes to discuss world events. What should i actually bring to the subject? What's the most important things that have happened? And thridly, what did you have for breakfast?

Thanks for doing this AMA, good luck!

Maybe you should talk about the abuse of power by the police: overuse of force, arbitrary arrests, and negligence of human rights. Do some research on that and maybe you'll find something to talk about r/FuckHKPopo is a good place to start

You have my respect. The Chinese communist party must end. I sincerely wish you and the movement success. Could this be the start of something wonderful?

Hopefully even if we dont get what we want we will inspire others to continue what we have started.

Hi kind sir. Hats off to you and your passion and bravery.

I will be having a planned visit there in HK. It was booked a year ago and I am not planning to cancel it. Are the popular tourist spots affected? ie Disneyland, Oceanpark? how about the mode of transportation there?

Respectfully asking also if you have points for a would-be tourist like me? I read that we should avoid wearing a plain white shirt? how true is that?

thank you bery much and stay safe!

Popular tourist spots should actually be more enjoyable now that literally 90% of mainland tourists are gone, as for transport options theyre probably going to be affected the most during protest times that are mostly during the weekend. The MTR would probably be the most affected, but still plenty of other ways to get around in Hong Kong. Wearing white shouldn't be a problem and if you look foreign and wear white that should be even less of a problem.

Ask me if you've got any more questions, I recommend anyone who wants updated english language information about the protests to download Telegram (a chat app) and join the Guardians of HK group chat through this link: https://t.me/swhkdemocracy

If he doesn’t have a chance to answer this, most of the tourist attractions are on Lantau island, and since the airport protests that area is kept pretty locked down.

When it gets closer to your trip ask over in /r/HongKong and people will help you out.

Yep r/HongKong is also a really good resource

Watching the many videos I see posted online, the police seem to be half terrified and half not knowing what they are doing with a few exceptions. From your experience, are the police at all organized or being led? Or, are they just handed batons and told to go swing them at random? I look at their body language and movement and it really looks like they are untrained thugs in uniforms.

It just looks like they’re out there going after anything that moves rather than the claim that they’re trying to keep control.

Organized? No. I think a lot of the time they're lashing out emotionally due to the amount of crap they get everyday. Some people speculate that some of the officers are really mainland officers sent down to Hong Kong so they have more man power. So yeah, I really do agree with what you're saying.

What do you carry in your first aid kit?

Not a comprehensive list but:

- Gauze pad, varying sizes

- Roller bandages, varying sizes

- Medical tape

- Triangular bandage

- Sam splint

- Lots and lots of normal saline

- Burn dressing

- NPAs

- Pressure bandages

- CAT tourniquet

- Combat gauze

- Hyfin vented chest seal

- spo2 monitor

- portable bp cuff

- Bandages

- Dextrose tablets

- Mylar blanket

- Lollipop for kids who get scared

- Instant cold packs, sports spray

Theres more but right now we severely lack trauma supplies

Wow, a 17 year old voluntary medic for the HK protests? You are a the epitome of a true hero and you deserve so much respect.

The true heroes are those who stand in the frontlines, I just stand behind them to support them

Have you treated any of the police?

I can't imagine other officers would let them.

Yep, theyd give us shit for even going near them

I have seen some non-police medic personnel helping a police office who was fainted. It was at the early stage of the protest, no tear gas at that moment, just peaceful marching (iirc that day is the 2 million people march).

Those are rare occurrences, nowadays they won't let us anywhere near them and they'd call us fake medics

Do visiting mainlanders get alot of (for lack of a better word) flak?

Yep, they do. But the violent scenes that you see on videos are USUALLY a result of physical or verbal provocation.

Have you ever been injured by the police?

Not directly, I'm pretty sensitive to tear gas so there was this one time where it lead to a continuous burning feeling on my arms for a few days after the exposure

Thank you for your continued fight for democracy and freedom. My only question is what was the most inspirational moment you've seen during the protest?

Probably this guy getting arrested by 2 officers and a bunch of other protesters came back for him and forced the officers off of him and saved him

Is there anything we should know that media hasn't covered? Also, stay safe, stay strong and thank you!

I think I've answered this in another comment, but just that the violence is overexaggerated, city is pretty fine imo

How have your days been? I'm sure it must be more than stressful.

Stressful more because of school than the protests heh

I posted this link https://www.reddit.com/r/HongKong/comments/dbqx9e/police_snaps_first_aiders_arm/

to /r/Sino and got this response.

​

subreddit message via /r/Sino[M] sent 3 minutes ago

You have been permanently banned from participating in r/Sino. You can still view and subscribe to r/Sino, but you won't be able to post or comment.

Note from the moderators:

Are you trying to do something? All your posts are automatically removed LOL. It's surprising how utterly inept you are at impacting the sub. Tiananmen Square is vindicated by China's development. Anti terrorist system in Xinjiang is working. End result for HK is the same since 1997, regardless of rioters. Don't react emotionally, really think about it. You know it's true even if you don't like it. There's nothing you can do about any of this. Go to r/Westerner. Bye

If you have a question regarding your ban, you can contact the moderator team for r/Sino by replying to this message.

Reminder from the Reddit staff: If you use another account to circumvent this subreddit ban, that will be considered a violation of the Content Policy and can result in your account being suspended from the site as a whole.

​

Re: You've Been Permanently Banned From Participating In r/Sino

to /r/Sino sent just now

Yup, you are a bunch of cowards. Sick, disgusting, boot licking cowards.

pro-China echobox :)

Since you made your account just for this AMA I'm guessing you're (understandably) worried about getting this traced back to you. Any other steps you took to make sure any Chinese governmental instance can't trace this back?

Mainly asking out of concern, as making a new account will probably not be enough.

Ignore this if you already have something protecting your IP, but I'd recommend only using a public machine on a public connection or using a VPN.

I have a VPN!!! :)

I can’t thank you guys enough for being there knowing you might be shot anytime. It’s the 5th day since the Anti Mask Law, do you see the difference among the front line protesters (especially the aggressive ones) in terms of tactics and emotions? Did you ever suspect those most violent ones are not real protesters?

Edit: grammars

Nah no change in strategy whatsoever in terms of mask wearing, no one gives a shit about it, it's a useless law. They have gotten a bit more aggressive though, since the government had pushed out another bill isntead of fixing the fall out from the last bill. And yes, I do suspect that the most violent ones are undercover cops

Wow OP. I'm 20, I feel like I should also get a first aid certificate and other emergency medic stuff since I like to help others too. It feels like life is going to get rockier all over the world soon.

Since you're 17 and you said your mom wanted you to be a doc, are you interested in wanting to be a doctor or do you want to be something else? Also, favourite food?

Stay safe and keep on being an awesome helper medic

Yeah getting a first aid cert is definitely the place to start if you want to get involved in emergency med, it's never bad to be prepared.

I mostly want to be a doctor as well but I've recently been more seriously considering a career as an ambulance officer, pays well and I think I'd like it too.

Favourite food is probably pan friend dumplings

A few things, in regards to rioting and demands and stuff. Forgive me if I sound overly critical. I am permanently banned on r/sino if it alleviates any apprehension you may have answering these questions.

1: How do you feel about those that have taken a more extreme approach to the situation? Why do you think they've turned to violence? There are a fair number of videos going around showing violent actions.

2: If you could give an estimate to the number of people still protesting(no doubt it's declined significantly since the first few demands were met), how many would you estimate there to be?

3: Of those protesting, how many(percentage, numbers, whatever you like) do you believe are rioting?

4: Do you think that a compromise can be made on some of the demands if the government isn't fully prepared to agree to everything? What would be a satisfying outcome for you, personally, in that case?

5: What kinds of treatment do you trust yourself to perform, and have you had to use it a lot? If something out of your capability occurs, what happens then? Additionally(and you don't need to answer this if it's embarrassing), how do you manage around blood, vomit etc.? Personally I'm very squeamish with that stuff and can't imagine doing first aid like that.

Stay safe out there.

1. If you keep marching peacefully and the government keeps ignoring and oppresing you, would you march on peacefully? No, you'd escalate shit until they notice you. If it weren't for the storming of LegCo, the extradition bill would've passed.
2. Actually, the government has only responded to 1 of the demands and that was seen as a diversionary tactic to cool things down before PRC birthday, the number of protesters has actually not declined significantly but instead rised quite a bit since a lot more people think the government is incompetent and the recent Anti-Mask Law just shows how far their heads are up their own asses
3. Rioting? I would say those who are using more violent means would be around 20% and rising
4. People wouldn't stop unless all 5 demands are met but I think the most important of the 5 demands are the guarantee of dual suffrage and the investigation into police brutality.
5. Treatments? Basic bandaging, good eye irrigation technique, and haemorrhage control is essential to being a protest medic. Used them quite a lot. If I see a case that is out of my ability, I'd probably ask some other FA near me to see if they can help. with blood and vomit theyre just things that you ust have to get used to.

You mentioned your concern regarding the mental health of Hong Kong protesters. How are you doing mentally? Thanks for your time!

Mentally I'm doing alright, more stressed about school than I am about the protests right now hehehehehe

Would you like Hong Kong to be independent, mabye part of UK again, or part of PRChina but with autonomy so shit like this doesn't happen?

Hmmm I think most people in the movement just want Hong Kong to be back to normal again, I guess a large degree of autonomy but still a part of the PRC would be the best outcome

How do you think things will turn out versus how you hope they turn out? Do you feel the people of Hong Kong are ultimately fighting a lost cause in the face of the Chinese state?

Keep fighting the good fight, though. There's not much in the world more important than fighting for one's freedom.

I think itll escalate, and things will end violently, not sure by which side though.

And yeah I think we're fighting a losing war but I hope someone sees what we're doing and finishes what we started

[deleted]

Bro I'm in Hong Kong, and the whole essence of the protest is that we wish to retain our different way of life to China. We don't have blocked internet, we don't have press censorship, we have basic human rights (that we are currently fighting for to keep) and we have generally much more liberal values than the mainland.

Why does your vest say "EMS", shouldn't the letters be written in Chinese?

It's actually a new vest that I ordered recently, my team has velcro plates that have Chinese words on them that I can switch out the EMS ones for the next time I see them :)

How do most people go to riots almost everyday without going to work? How do they support themselves?

Bless you for helping people in need.

Personally I would prefer using the term protest, but to each their own.

Usually the larger protests occur over the weekend along with most of the action, but occasionally there would be large and major events held during usually weekday evenings like the night following Carrie Lam's announcement of the Anti-Mask Law which saw people come out and protest in basically all districts right after work or school.

With regards to how we support ourselves most of protester gear and medic gear are purchased out of our own pockets, and as such it becomes sort of a large financial burden on us, but there are lots of older citizens who are kind enough to donate large sums of money to different groups for purchase of equipment and medical supplies.

Other groups also exist such as a few that provide meal vouchers or transport money for students whose parents have cut off their allowance due to their participation in the protests.

You guys are protesting and it is one of the best organized and civil protests that I've seen, you guys are amazing, but Police actions make it look like a riot sometimes.

Yeah, a lot of residents of different neighbourhoods would make it a point to go downstairs and heckle the shit out of police if they ever come to their part of the city, quite entertaining actually

Are you qualified to be a medic. How many years have you studied medicine?

The term medic in Hong Kong is used loosely to just mean a person who is provided medical assistance.

An overwhelming majority of the protest medics I know are not doctors, and are mostly registered nurses, trained first aiders, people who work for the fire department ambulance service, or the volunteer ambulance services (St Johns, Red Cross, Auxilliary Medical Services) Very rarely do doctors show up at the frontlines.

In terms of qualifications, I've volunteered for an ambulance service for a few years and took a few trauma related courses. I may not be the most qualified person on the field, but I'm just doing what I can to help treat the injured.

The normal HK citizens want the protest to end because its disrupting their lives. Most of them are afraid of the protesters dressed in black with body armor and weapons. The protesters block public roads, vandalize public infrastructure and leave the mess for others to deal with.

This video brought tears to my eyes. A 70 y/o retired granny clearing debris and blockage on public roads alone while getting lasers shined in her eyes by protesters:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=ZPYuGYLesx0&app=desktop

My questions:

1. How do you expect the protest to gain broader support in HK if the local citizens are tired of the protests?
2. What do the normal citizens of HK think?
3. How much support does the protest really have out of the 7m + population of China?
4. What are the protesters really fighting for?

For your statement at the start, I would beg to differ, I think the people are much more scared of the police than they are the protesters. I've seen a lot more people publically giving shit to the cops than people giving shit to the protesters, in fact, there have been many many instances where masked protesters have entered malls and people just started cheering for them. On the other hand, there are also instances where police have entered the mall and people started booing and telling them to go fuck themselves and such. As far as I, as a local in Hong Kong knows, the public perception of the cops is much worse than the public perception of protesters.

1. I am willing to go out on a limb here and say that a vast majority of people who are against the protesters are those who wont be alive when 2047 comes, and a vast majority of protesters are those who are young and will be affected by the abolishment of 1 country 2 systems. The government has already shown that they will basically turn a blind eye to peaceful protests of more than 2 million people, so what is the point of protesting if nothing will get accomplished from it? The protesters know that if they want the government to take notice on what they want, they will have to hit them where it hurts. And as far as I know, they know that this is their futures that they're fighting for, and those who are complaining will probably not live long enough to see how China decides to treat us.
2. Sort of answered above
3. China's population is 1.4 billion, Hong Kong's population however, is 7m+, which is what Im assuming you to be asking. I think half are supporting the protests, and a 1-2m are on the fence. The rest are probably pro-government. But these are probably inaccurate figures, take them with a grain of salt
4. The 5 demands are our flagship demands, there are other things that wish to see changed as well (Housing issue, wealth divide... etc) but the 5 demands are the principle driving force