When the request for a column about what is now happening in Hong Kong came in, I was honestly stumped about what to write.

Should I write about the issue, or issues, the protesters are carrying? For indeed, while many may think that life is bliss in Hong Kong, the people here have legitimate issues that have remained unaddressed through the years.

As what everyone following the news knows by now, the major call of the protesters is for full universal suffrage especially for choosing the city’s Chief Executive.

But beneath the political reforms called for are also the concerns on the eroding economic condition of many resulting from a system that prioritizes big businesses over the people’s welfare especially during periods of crisis. Privatization, austerity, widening gap between the haves and have-nots, and the dwindling capacity of the large middle class population – all of these and more have contributed to the drive to see changes in the city’s governance.

Of course, after that most condemnable display of police brutality, the already boiling contempt for the government is probably reaching its tipping point.

Maybe, I should just write about how it feels to be part of the protesters? For indeed, it is an amazing experience.

Thousands of people you do not know surround you but are very much ready to explain what is being chanted to one who doesn’t know their language. Walking quickly but failing to get out of range of the choking smoke of the teargas that burns your eyes; while those you’ve never met in your life give you a bottle of water and a wad of wet tissue to take the discomfort away.

Some may say that it is a sea of black and yellow. But it really is a kaleidoscope of experience: from forcing the police to back away with just their bodies and voices, to listening to an old woman scold poker-faced police officers for their violence; from getting offered with food and drinks to watching how they learned to work collectively to distribute what are needed by their fellow protesters; from getting hugs and firm handshakes for showing up, to listening to migrant leaders express support for the democratic rights of the Hong Kong people.

But maybe I should just write about how this relates to us Filipinos? For indeed, like our own people, the dream of social change is also present amongst many Hongkongers.

Like us, they too experience hardships in a system that serves only a few. They too face seemingly insurmountable tasks for meaningful reforms. Yes, as what we have all seen, they too have to confront brutish state forces that preserve the status quo.

For our families back home worried of the condition of their loved ones here, I will not say don’t be. But based on how warmly the protesters respond to the support of non-locals, I will say that solidarity lives in this beautiful movement for the people’s democratic rights.

So what is really happening in Hong Kong? In a nutshell, I guess, history is.