Read on Twitter
Thread: This is a thread about “laam caau” 攬炒, a popular term originally adopted by some protestors but which is now also frequently used by the pro-govt camp to frame the current movement in a negative way. 1/n
Recently, the pro-govt camp uploaded a song calling out laam caau on YouTube. Laam caau has been one of the most popular slogans used by some protestors in the current movement. A popular translation is “if we burn, you burn with us”. 2/n
Laam caau was originally a slang referring to a tactic in the HK card game "big two". When players know they're going to lose in big two, they can laam caau—meaning to play so they bring down other players with them, spreading the pain out among multiple parties. 3/n
Laam caau was first used on the LIHKG forum last year advocating intl’ support, such as getting principal officials sanctioned. The idea was the govt was harming the ppl by suppressing democracy, so in return the ppl should do sth to increase the cost of the govt’s actions. 4/n
Under the ideology of laam caau, actions such as establishing a pro-movement economy, asking the US to sanction certain CCP and HK govt politicians and to cancel HK’s “special status” have been undertaken to put pressure on authorities—to spread the pain around. 5/n
The main purpose of laam caau as an ideology is to bring changes to the status quo in HK where other courses of action have failed. Protests don’t work; elections don’t work; negotiation doesn’t work. What’s left? This is when and why laam caau came into being. 6/n
Laam caau is only one of the many concepts pan-democrats in HK have adopted. One wouldn’t even say it’s the central concept of the movement. Yet the CCP and pro-govt camp often over-simplify, eg by saying legislators who aren’t pro-govt are all the “gang of laam caau”. 7/n
In the recent music video from the pro-govt camp decrying laam caau, the phrase is linked to words like “destroy”, “broken” and “loss”, all set to footage of broken shops and protestors setting fires. They assert that the right way to repair HK is “to be united”. 8/n
By defining laam caau as “making everyone in HK suffer” or “fighting for democracy at any cost”, the pro-govt camp is challenging the legitimacy of the pro-democracy movement by creating a false dichotomy of peace and violence. 9/n
With the national security law coming to HK, laam caau is likely to become an umbrella term for anything that isn’t pro-govt and used to justify crackdowns, erasing the term’s original meaning in the process. 10/n
Pan-democrats in HK have begun pushing back against the pro-govt camp to emphasize they are the real cause of destruction in HK. One example is to call Carrie Lam “the mother of laam caau”. But this misses the point. 11/n
First, the person who uses laam caau is the person whose interests are being compromised in the first place, and laam caau is used to spread the pain. This isn’t what the govt and the pro-govt camp have been doing. 12/n
Second, laam caau,as used by HK’s democratic movement, carries the meaning of “being willing to suffer for a greater good”- specifically, for the sake of democracy. Again, this isn’t what the govt and the pro-govt camp have been doing. 13/n
Instead of branding the pro-govt camp with laam caau, pan-democrats should embrace the concept themselves, clarify what it means and explain what they are fighting for. 14/n
This thread isn’t aimed at supporting laam caau but to point out its origins and meanings. I personally do question the term’s usage but still can’t stand how the pro govt camp has ignored its intended meaning completely. 15/15
