Protests are inconveniences to any government.

They would have to deploy staff to contain dissenters, look bad in international reports, pick up the tab, and later, clean up the mess.

Which is why protests don't occur in some parts of the world, and are almost certainly a measure of last resort action in others when all goes south.

What is the Hong Kong protest really about

Essentially, one million Hongkongers taking to the streets on June 9, 2019 is really about how Hongkongers -- who don't really have the chance or right to vote -- are not going down without a fight against Beijing.

And if they are going down, they are going to make a scene, loudly, for the entire world to see, hear and acknowledge.

If there is one way people around the world are going to remember Hong Kong and its people, it will be how they thumb their noses in 2019 at whatever they think is not right -- even though what is not right will likely still come to pass -- be it extradition laws or eventual absorption into Greater China.

Iconic scenes

Rightly so too, because this most recent street demonstrations in Hong Kong have already produced many iconic scenes.

Protestors fight tear gas

And here's another: Protestors on Hong Kong streets working together in small teams to douse heated canisters of tear gas fired into the crowd to disperse them.

It has been reported that many of the protestors are young, some not even out of their teens.

But they are in a constant co-evolutionary arms race with the authorities, as riot police appear more than prepared this time round than in 2014 when the Umbrella Movement was in full swing.

Almost metaphorical

The piecemeal dousing of tear gas canisters is allegorical: Whatever Beijing lobs Hong Kong's way will be put out bit by bit, but this is only the start.

The avalanche is yet to be unleashed and small water bottles will be futile when the time comes.

Footage of Hong Kong protestors using their water bottles on gas canisters was shared to Reddit, where their actions and ingenuity were praised.

Some advice included cautioning against picking up the canisters as they are super heated and can cause nasty burns to human skin.

Other advice mentioned avoiding being too brave and picking up these crowd dispersal tools as exploding tear gas canisters were used by the French police during the Yellow Vests protests.

The Hong Kong protestors win this round.

But maybe this could be the last round.