By Zuraidah Ibrahim From South China Morning Post

Halloween celebrations in Hong Kong took a dark turn last week as its entertainment district of Lan Kwai Fong became the site of tense standoffs between police and protesters testing the reviled anti-mask law.

The mood was anything but festive as tear gas was fired nearby and pepper spray used at close range against bystanders. In the opposition camp, gloom had already set in as activist Joshua Wong became the only hopeful banned from contesting the November 24 district council elections.

He accused the election officer of political persecution.

But as the city marked its 22nd weekend of protests under a pall of a technical recession, a new low was reached when a man bit off the ear of a district councillor in an attack sparked ostensibly by differing political views.

Ironically, the government had just won a court order to ban the spread of online material inciting violence.

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