If riot-torn Hong Kong were the fallen Humpty Dumpty immortalised in the English nursery rhyme, then the question that begs itself is whether it really cannot be put together again.

Alas, on present reckoning, it is hard to see how Hong Kong can pick itself up and cement over the deep cracks in its society that have opened up in the past three months of street protests. Still, the city's embattled government and its people have little choice but to try.