Hong Kong has been in a state of protest.

Two massive demonstrations involving up to two million people demanding to get rid of an extradition bill have given way to a number of smaller guerrilla standoffs and counter-protests.

On Tuesday, June 25, one such sporadic counter-protest led by a small group of protesters gathered outside a Hong Kong government building was to apologise for the actions of other protesters who were occupying the building and disrupting government services.

Government building occupied by protesters

This latest turn towards saying sorry was sparked by an incident on June 24, where around 200 protesters occupied the lobby of Revenue Tower in Wan Chai.

This was after online members of LIHKG, a Reddit-like online forum in Hong Kong, put out a call for a non-cooperation movement.

While protesters congregated with the intention to "pick office workers from work", they ended up blocking two main entrances during lunch hour and allowing workers and citizens to leave the building, but prevented anyone from entering.

Other protesters were seen queuing up for visas and repeatedly asking questions in a bid to disrupt services.

This resulted in preventing those who genuinely were seeking assistance from sorting out their matters.

Some citizens quarrelled with the protesters and complained about the actions as it disrupted ordinary citizens' everyday life.

Childish pranks by protesters

In a video uploaded to Facebook, two protesters in masks were seen standing outside a lift, with one young man in glasses preventing the elevator door from closing.

He did this repeatedly.

He also argued with an elderly man, who called him out for his nuisance actions and criticised the non-cooperation movement at government building.

Slight altercation

Another bespectacled young man in a navy blue polo shirt subsequently came out of the elevator and grabbed the protester's arm to prevent him from causing further disruption.

The protester reached out for the elevator door again, but was immediately pushed back by the young man.

The confrontation continued as bystanders denounced the bespectacled man for assaulting the protester, who then fell on the ground after the clash.

The young man appeared to be walking away from the scene, but the protesters quickly stopped him and called him out.

"Sorry, I don't understand Cantonese.", he replied.

The video ended halfway through the quarrel.

Protesters apologised: Sorry for the inconvenience caused

A group of protesters returned to Revenue Tower the next day, on June 25, bowing and apologising to office workers and citizens for blocking their way.

Two protesters held signs that said, "Sorry for blocking you", as well as "People rebel as they have been oppressed by the government".

Others were seen handing out flyers explaining their non-cooperation movement in light of the extradition bill.

“Hong Kong is under urgent maintenance,” as stated in a flyer protesters give away to the public affected by their non-cooperative campaign to press for the HK govt to retract the extradition bill. #antiELAB PIC: SCMP’s Rachel Yeo. pic.twitter.com/c6byOM3mv6

— Denise Tsang (@denise_tsang) June 24, 2019

Protesters' demands were also listed on the flyer, together with the words, "Hong Kong is under urgent maintenance. Sorry for the convenience caused".

A commonly seen image of a construction worker in helmet, which resembles the image of protesters in the recent demonstrations, was also used.

In an interview with HK01, some protesters expressed concerns over the recent non-cooperation movements, as citizens may not understand the purpose or agree with their actions.

The protesters engaging in non-cooperation methods were hoping to gain citizens' support with their sincerity.

Some citizens appear to be supportive of the protest, as one said:

These young people are not doing this for themselves, but for everyone in Hong Kong. Hopefully we can all do whatever we can.

It's good to see protesters expressing their concerns through different means.

Others have said that apologies are meaningless as protesters are still disrupting people's lives.

As there might not be another massive protest with two million citizens going out onto the streets, those remaining to protests are trying to show that they are serious and are ready to take the protests in new directions.