The venue is reserved, the wedding rings custom-made and the search for the dress has begun. But Hong Kong protester May’s nuptials are on hold because her friends oppose her marrying a policeman.
Six months of unprecedented protests in Hong Kong against eroding freedoms under Chinese rule have divided the city’s population.
Rifts in some cases have pitted relatives, friends and even lovers against each other. May, who asked to be identified by a pseudonym, is one of those who has seen the political become deeply personal, threatening to torpedo her February wedding. “One of my closest friends — my maid of honour — told me that she’s thinking about not attending my wedding,” May told AFP.
“I never thought about losing my friends... It makes me very, very sad,” the 28-year-old said. “It has made me realise how fractured the relationship between the police and residents has become.” Hong Kong’s police were once hailed as an example for other Asia forces, but they have become a target of intense hatred to many pro-democracy protesters who accuse them of excessive force.