Anthem protest at HK college draws rebuke
Educators in Hong Kong said on Monday it is the “right” and “appropriate” thing to do to stand firmly against behavior that is disrespectful to the national anthem.
They made the comments after the Hong Kong College of Technology asked two students to leave its graduation ceremony on Saturday as they refused to stand for the anthem.
The ceremony was hosted by Priscilla Lau Pui-king, chairwoman of the college’s management board. She described the scene to China Daily on Monday.
She said the two students sat silently with their arms crossed during the anthem, and the anthem was halted. The ceremony resumed in about 20 minutes after the two students were ordered to leave for disrespecting the anthem and violating school rules. Ten other students followed the duo while holding protest posters.
Lau said the school noticed during the ceremony that two reporters from ‘pan-democratic’ media were sitting among students’ family and friends. She said the school thinks the demonstration may have been planned.
In response to the students’ request for explanation, the college’s President and Principal Chan Cheuk-hay said that ever since the school was established in 1957 (as Mong Kok Workers’ Night School), it has been an institution that loves the country and Hong Kong.
“Since the first day, we have been raising the national flag and singing the national anthem,” Chan said after the event. He said the school never retreated even under colonial rule, when it was suppressed through funding cuts — and even the seizure of its campus.
“If you didn’t know about this before you were admitted, you picked the wrong school,” said Chan to the students.
Lau said Chan acted appropriately, as he had made clear the school’s position and bottom line.
She said the school wanted to provide a solemn ceremony for a good conclusion to their studies, but some students tried to ruin it.
The protest affected other students, Lau said.
Lau, who is also a Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress, said the protest showed some students’ lack of knowledge and understanding of the country’s history and current situation, and constituted a statement against national legislation adding the National Anthem Law to Hong Kong’s Basic Law on Nov 4.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has started the preparation for local legislation of the National Anthem Law.
Wong Kwan-yu, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, told China Daily that the students’ behavior was not acceptable, as standing for a national anthem is a universal value.
“With or without a national anthem law, one should respect the anthem unconditionally,” Wong said.
He strongly endorsed Chan’s handling of the students, saying it is not only “the right thing to do” but also showed an educator’s spirit in bringing positive energy to society.
Inside