Pro-democracy protesters hauled a four-metre statue known as “Lady Liberty” to the top of "Lion Rock Mountain", a famous Hong Kong mountain, on Sunday.  The statue depicts a female protester in a gas mask, protective goggles and helmet, an umbrella in one hand and a black flag in the other, proclaiming the protest slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times".  There were 16 climbing professionals carrying "Lady Liberty" in two main pieces all the way to the summit while another 16 members carried equipment and supplies.

Alex, Lady Liberty’s creator, said it was inspired by the "Goddess of Democracy" statue that pro-democracy protesters erected in 1989 inside Tiananmen Square before China crushed the movement.  Goddess of Democracy is a feature of the annual 4 June Tiananmen vigils in Hong Kong, the only place in China where commemorations of the crackdown can still be held.

Much like the protests themselves — which are leaderless and organised online — the design for Lady Liberty was crowd-sourced.

"Lion Rock Spirit" is used by Hong Kongers to summarise the city’s can-do attitude — as well as its reputation for liberty compared to the authoritarian mainland. The mountain overlooks the dense working-class districts in Kowloon where many of them escaped from communist China during the Mao-era.

During 2014's large pro-democracy protests, demonstrators unfurled a huge yellow banner down one of the rock’s cliff faces, linking the mountainside to modern-day acts of civil disobedience.  In September, during a mid-Autumn festival, hundreds of protesters gathered on Lion Rock and other peaks surrounding the city shining laser pens and lanterns.

But with the international finance hub rocked by its own unprecedented protests aimed at halting sliding freedoms under Beijing’s rule, activists wanted to create a Hong Kong version of the Goddess of Democracy.  The organisers said, the mountain and the statue represent "the fundamental values and beliefs" of the protest movement.

(Source: Hong Kong Free Press)

(Source: lihkg.com)

God bless Hong Kong !