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PART VI CONCLUSIONS
incident in Jordan Road led to a crowd advancing on the Yau Ma Tei Police Station apparently with the intention of attacking it, when they were dispersed by a baton charge, whilst the other movement up Nathan Road seems to have led on to the more serious clashes at Public Square Street.
432. To sum up, the direct causes seem to lie in the escalation of events from the much publicized opposition and petitions concerning the Star Ferry fare increase (Sept. 1965-April 4th 1966), to the 'hunger strike' by one man (April 4th), to his defiance of authority (April 5th), to the organized march ending in more serious defiance and clashes with authority (April 5/6th), to the further demonstrations merging into riots (April 6/7th). This is not to deny that other factors, such as a degree of organization or the action of the police in the line of their duty or the activities of criminals, may have precipitated these events: our intention is merely to indicate and highlight what appears to be the main stream as opposed to the tributaries of causation.
The Time
433. Under this heading, three factors should be mentioned, the absence of all or any of which might have led to a different pattern of events.
(a) On the evening of Monday, 4th April, more than seven inches of rain were recorded between 6 p.m. and midnight. This would have ruled out the possibility of any activities outdoors on that night. However, on the following evenings the weather was generally fair with only traces of rain recorded.
(b) Tuesday, 5th April was a public holiday for the Ching Ming festival and most schools and factories were closed. This released on to the streets of the twin cities young people who, under the circumstances, had nothing in particular to do.
(c) The demonstrations which attracted the most attention-and the evidence points to the conclusion that they were deliberately staged with the in- tention of so doing took place in the evening. It is significant in this analysis, that the demonstration should have been moved over to Kowloon on the evening of the 5th in order to attract greater attention and that marches at other times of the day on Hong Kong Island and in the early evening of the next day in Kowloon did not attract any public interest. The significant factor here is that it is in the evenings that most people in Hong Kong and Kowloon are free and, after finishing the evening meal, are accustomed to move out of their crowded homes on to the streets in search of entertainment or relaxation.
434. To sum up these factors, it is apparent that in this instance the weather, the holiday period, and the time of day chosen for the demonstrations combined