At Barricaded BU, An Air Of Nervous Anticipation

Barricades are still up around the campus of Baptist University in Kowloon Tong, blocking Junction Road from Waterloo Road almost all the way to Lung Cheung Road, cutting off Broadcast Drive from traffic.

Inside the campus, a sense of nervous anticipation of a coming battle hung in the air. Protest materials exhorting people to brace for struggle were plastered around.

Protesters, who said they expected the police to start a clearance operation at some point, were getting prepared. First-aid kits and food stations had been set up along the main road into the university and inside the Shaw Tower building.

Some of the protesters were sleeping on yoga mats, thin blankets and large pieces of tin foil that had been spread out on the ground overnight. A few of them had wheeled out chairs, believed to be from classrooms, to the entrance of the campus for people to sleep on – some still wearing masks.

A protester, who gave his name as X, said the students were trying to stop police storming into the campus after seeing the clashes at Chinese University two days ago.

Hundreds of protesters had been occupying Junction Road since Wednesday morning. Chairs and tables from the coffee shop inside the campus form part of the barricades set up.

“What happened at the CUHK made us feel scared," said X, referring to the fierce clashes between police and students on Tuesday. "So I want to protect my university.”

X was responsible for running a security post, keeping an eye on people coming in and out of the campus.

The roads outside were strewn with bricks and had been fortified with a two-metre tall yellow barrier.

X admitted that blocking roads caused an inconvenience to those who needed to pass by. But the move is necessary to avoid trouble, he reasoned.

A university worker, named Kiki, who turned up to collect something, was asked by protesters about the purpose of her visit. After she explained, some guided her along the barricade-strewn paths.

The protesters were quite helpful, Kiki later said.

Veeti Aramo, an exchange student from Finland studying business at Baptist University for a semester, said he would leave Hong Kong in a few days' time because of the unrest. He said officers from both Baptist university and his home uni in Finland had advised him to get out of the SAR.

But Aramo said he hadn't had any bad experiences with either the protesters or the police.

About 200 metres of Junction Road were filled with bricks that had been dig up and arranged in the “stonehenge” fashion that started appearing lately.

Some residents who live nearby were not happy with the inconvenience and came out to argue with protesters.

But a woman surnamed Yip who was walking by the blockade with her child, said she was more worried about the well-being of the students than the inconvenience caused to residents.