The dancer with three left feet: police eye Pomeranian as Mong Kok riot street returns to party

Mong Kok riot

Daniel Moss

Published: 8:53pm, 14 Feb 2016

Why you can trust SCMP

Six days earlier this street was a battleground.

But on Saturday night, despite intense interest from police on street corners in squads of 20 – helmets and batons dangling from their belts – it hosted a jubilant scene of dancing. De rigueur, but so different from Monday morning.

Sai Yeung Choi Street South was one scene of a riot the like of which Hong Kong had not seen for decades. The police were taking precautions to avert any flare-ups or injuries and save embarrassment, some of which has been aired in the past week.

But now, in an absurd twist, officers stood by as middle-aged men and women danced to Sugar, Sugar by The Archies.

And another man was so moved by a crooning busker – nicknamed ‘aunties’, they’ve become a more common sight on streets since the 2014 Occupy protests – that he danced with a fluffy white Pomeranian on his shoulders.

He’s been spotted before, and a search of social media shows dogs perch on shoulders a lot.

But under the gaze of uniformed and plainclothes police officers, on streets that bore charred marks, it felt like a scene of subtle defiance.

The singers, some of whom harbour mainland sympathies, have clashed with localists like Hong Kong Indigenous over the past year, as they have been seen to be crowding out genuinely local performers like other aunties who are pro-democracy and change lyrics of well-known tunes to suit their cause.

The Umbrella Movement was represented too, their stall distinguished from buskers, broadband touts and knick-knack vendors by their bright splashes of yellow.

Amid their wares – including signature yellow ribbons and services like screen-printing items with their slogans – was an array of street sign-like banners with disparaging remarks aimed at Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.

An Umbrella Movement supporter showing his support. Photo: Daniel Moss

Fishballs

While the six-hour Mong Kok riot began after diners defended unlicensed snack hawkers from food hygiene officers, the trade was in full swing on Saturday.

The street food shops were doing a brisk trade, their stinky tofu and, yes, fishballs were raced out in hot armfuls, as diners strained to finish their treats before the paper bags disintegrated into a soggy mess.

Meanwhile, the street which has been the site of many tense standoffs carries on as a battleground, where pro- and anti-mainland sentiment are concentrated.

From bright neon outside massage parlours to electronics shops to Sugar, Sugar, Sai Yeung Choi Street South carries on.

WATCH: The Archies’ Sugar Sugar

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