Education

A tale of two protest demonstrations

From Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989 to Amsterdam’s Museumplein last Saturday, the two protests were very different and somehow also the same: People fighting and protesting for what they believe is right. 

Whoa, so many people!” my friend exclaimed, as we fought our way through hundreds of thousands of protestors last Saturday in Amsterdam. I felt exactly the same as she did: all I could see before me was a giant dragon of swarming people approaching us along the street.

This day was certainly different from the day I first arrived in Delft from my hometown, Beijing. Walking Delft’s streets for the first time that Saturday morning, it was weird to see so few people in the streets. But on this protest day in Amsterdam, it seemed like all the Dutch people in Holland were there together.

“There are over 200,000 people at today’s demonstration, and it’s the largest protest in a decade,” a Amsterdam Public Transport security guard told me, when I stopped to ask him if he too was discontented with the government’s plans to cut public spending, which include reforming welfare support and health coverage, and freezing civil service salaries and the minimum wage. “The government’s doing what they promised not to do,” he said. “They’re cheating the public. They thought we Dutch people were sleeping, see, but now we wake up!”

Sleeping? I couldn’t really agree, as people who’ve just woken up from sleeping don’t usually have such angry and determined faces, like those of the protestors I saw streaming past me. On the way to the Museumplein, I stopped to talk to a Dutch family eating French fries on the sidewalk: ‘Excuse me,’ I said, ‘are you returning from the demonstration?’ They just looked at me without speaking, the angry looks on their faces remaining unchanged.

Once we reached Museumplein, the center of the demonstration, the atmosphere totally changed. On a huge stage a band was playing, the banner above the stage declaring, ‘The Netherlands deserves better!’ (Nederland verdient beter). People in front of the stage were drinking beers and waving all kinds of banners to the rhythm of the music. I felt as if I were at an outdoor concert! And I also thought that foreign tourists passing by would probably think the banner proclaiming, ‘Balkenende moet omver!’ (Balkenende must fall!) was some kind of praise for the singer rather than a condemnation of the Prime Minister.

The happy atmosphere at Museumplein really amazed me. It seemed that although the protestors were genuinely angered by the government’s budget-cutting plans, they still didn’t want to lose the chance to enjoy life. This sort of feeling for comfort and freedom seems to be deeply rooted in Dutch peoples’ nature, and I envy them for it.
Tiananmen Square

Amsterdam 2004 was my second protest demonstration, my first being a long time ago, the now infamous Tiananmen Square student protest of 1989. Although I was only eight-years-old at the time, I distinctly remember feeling the entire disorder of Beijing.

Because my cousin, a sophomore at university, was actively involved in the demonstration, I, together with my Mom, were among the Beijing citizens who attempted to blockade the city and keep the army out. I remember thinking that if the soldiers’ trucks got past us, they’d beat my cousin in Tiananmen Square. I, and some other naughty boys, even began throwing stones at the soldiers in their trucks, which were surrounded by enraged citizens. But the soldiers simply sat in their trucks silently, holding their guns, which I now think was really impressive and respectful of them.

What came next is, as they say, history: the hunger strike, the negotiations and sudden crackdown. After that, everything was silent; no one around me wanted to or dared to talk about it. When I asked my parents, they just said, “You kid, it’s none of your business.”

When I went to university, Tiananmen Square was but a faint memory. I therefore began reading and watching some underground videos about it. While watching the videos, I really thought the students were so patriotic and brave; yet, I also thought that what the student leaders did was immature and too radical.

I watched an old BBC video of Chai Ling, a female student leader. The government reform that Ling was demanding would have never happened in China at that time. And even if they’d gotten what they wanted, they would’ve messed up the entire country. Today, all my cousin who participated as a student protestor has to say about it is: “Fortunately, we failed”.

The Tiananmen Square student protestors chose the wrong path. What Chinese people needed then was not a hasty revolution; instead, the majority of people wanted gradual and peaceful change, with economic development, and higher living standards, the same as we want today. But that doesn’t stop me from being proud of the students’ actions: after all, how many people in this world dare to stand in front of a tank to make it stop?

Comparing the two demonstrations I’ve experienced, Amsterdam 2004 and Tiananmen 1989, the one was light-hearted, the other desperate; one ended in music, dance and beer, the other in a hunger-strike, crackdown and blood. The differences are huge, of course, but one thing is common to them both: peoples’ desire for a better life and their willingness to protest publicly for what they believe in. This deserves respect. Hopefully, one day there will no longer be a need for protests, because we’ll all live in a world of happiness and freedom.

(Illustration: Yang Yang)

Whoa, so many people!” my friend exclaimed, as we fought our way through hundreds of thousands of protestors last Saturday in Amsterdam. I felt exactly the same as she did: all I could see before me was a giant dragon of swarming people approaching us along the street.

This day was certainly different from the day I first arrived in Delft from my hometown, Beijing. Walking Delft’s streets for the first time that Saturday morning, it was weird to see so few people in the streets. But on this protest day in Amsterdam, it seemed like all the Dutch people in Holland were there together.

“There are over 200,000 people at today’s demonstration, and it’s the largest protest in a decade,” a Amsterdam Public Transport security guard told me, when I stopped to ask him if he too was discontented with the government’s plans to cut public spending, which include reforming welfare support and health coverage, and freezing civil service salaries and the minimum wage. “The government’s doing what they promised not to do,” he said. “They’re cheating the public. They thought we Dutch people were sleeping, see, but now we wake up!”

Sleeping? I couldn’t really agree, as people who’ve just woken up from sleeping don’t usually have such angry and determined faces, like those of the protestors I saw streaming past me. On the way to the Museumplein, I stopped to talk to a Dutch family eating French fries on the sidewalk: ‘Excuse me,’ I said, ‘are you returning from the demonstration?’ They just looked at me without speaking, the angry looks on their faces remaining unchanged.

Once we reached Museumplein, the center of the demonstration, the atmosphere totally changed. On a huge stage a band was playing, the banner above the stage declaring, ‘The Netherlands deserves better!’ (Nederland verdient beter). People in front of the stage were drinking beers and waving all kinds of banners to the rhythm of the music. I felt as if I were at an outdoor concert! And I also thought that foreign tourists passing by would probably think the banner proclaiming, ‘Balkenende moet omver!’ (Balkenende must fall!) was some kind of praise for the singer rather than a condemnation of the Prime Minister.

The happy atmosphere at Museumplein really amazed me. It seemed that although the protestors were genuinely angered by the government’s budget-cutting plans, they still didn’t want to lose the chance to enjoy life. This sort of feeling for comfort and freedom seems to be deeply rooted in Dutch peoples’ nature, and I envy them for it.
Tiananmen Square

Amsterdam 2004 was my second protest demonstration, my first being a long time ago, the now infamous Tiananmen Square student protest of 1989. Although I was only eight-years-old at the time, I distinctly remember feeling the entire disorder of Beijing.

Because my cousin, a sophomore at university, was actively involved in the demonstration, I, together with my Mom, were among the Beijing citizens who attempted to blockade the city and keep the army out. I remember thinking that if the soldiers’ trucks got past us, they’d beat my cousin in Tiananmen Square. I, and some other naughty boys, even began throwing stones at the soldiers in their trucks, which were surrounded by enraged citizens. But the soldiers simply sat in their trucks silently, holding their guns, which I now think was really impressive and respectful of them.

What came next is, as they say, history: the hunger strike, the negotiations and sudden crackdown. After that, everything was silent; no one around me wanted to or dared to talk about it. When I asked my parents, they just said, “You kid, it’s none of your business.”

When I went to university, Tiananmen Square was but a faint memory. I therefore began reading and watching some underground videos about it. While watching the videos, I really thought the students were so patriotic and brave; yet, I also thought that what the student leaders did was immature and too radical.

I watched an old BBC video of Chai Ling, a female student leader. The government reform that Ling was demanding would have never happened in China at that time. And even if they’d gotten what they wanted, they would’ve messed up the entire country. Today, all my cousin who participated as a student protestor has to say about it is: “Fortunately, we failed”.

The Tiananmen Square student protestors chose the wrong path. What Chinese people needed then was not a hasty revolution; instead, the majority of people wanted gradual and peaceful change, with economic development, and higher living standards, the same as we want today. But that doesn’t stop me from being proud of the students’ actions: after all, how many people in this world dare to stand in front of a tank to make it stop?

Comparing the two demonstrations I’ve experienced, Amsterdam 2004 and Tiananmen 1989, the one was light-hearted, the other desperate; one ended in music, dance and beer, the other in a hunger-strike, crackdown and blood. The differences are huge, of course, but one thing is common to them both: peoples’ desire for a better life and their willingness to protest publicly for what they believe in. This deserves respect. Hopefully, one day there will no longer be a need for protests, because we’ll all live in a world of happiness and freedom.

(Illustration: Yang Yang)

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