Impact of Youth on Society Changes of Student Advocacy in Hong Kong

issue 03 2009-2010 Cover Story Changes of Student Advocacy in Hong Kong Over the Years: student movement in the past vs student advocacy at present Impact of Youth on Society page 2009-2010 02 In This Issue dialogue03 contents Cover Story 03 Changes of Student Advocacy in 14 - 15 Seeing and Reading the Differences Hong Kong Over the Years: University as a Key Base for Nurturing student movement in the past vs Students to Think and to Solve Problems student advocacy at present From Classroom to Community Impact of Youth on Society 04 Think Before You Act 05 Student Advocacy for a Better World: Students Can Benefit from Mutual Learning Fighting the Good Fight 16 Befriend HKU-CEDARS at facebook There is Hope for the City 06 - 07 Summer Programmes on Nurturing Know Before You Judge Students' Participation in Local and What Inspires Me – The Voice of Global Issues a Young Social Advocate 08 Be Prepared 09 What social issues are you most concerned Reach Up to the Stars about? 10 Should activities of social advocacy be 17 - 20 A Life-inspiring Competition credit-bearing in the formal curriculum? My Time with Windsurfing 11 A Kenyan Lesson in Charity My Dream of Chinese Music Our First Social Enterprise 12 A Mistaken Yet Heartening Volunteer Empowered to Go Beyond the Limit Service in Hubei “Enjoy, Care and Share” – Nurturing of Environmental Leaders 13 From Learners to Leaders: A Community Service Perspective Dialogue Published by Centre of Development and Resources for Students, The University of Hong Kong Address 3/F & 4/F, Meng Wah Complex Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong Website http://cedars.hku.hk Telephone (852)2857 8387 Email Address [email protected] Design Bingo Communication Co. Please circulate this publication when you finish reading Special thanks for provision of photos: Intensified Learning Opportunity Programme 2009-2010 Light for Children Cover Story page03 Changes of Student Advocacy in Hong Kong Over the Years: student movement in the past vs student advocacy at present Celeste Ho Ruru Jin Social Sciences, Year 2 Social Sciences, Year 2 “Student advocacy means that students see society in need of reform in areas they find unjust, unacceptable or unreasonable. They may then stage a fight, organise steps of action and advocate changes,” says Professor Lui Tai-lok from the Department of Sociology. There have been profound changes in student advocacy over the years. According to Professor Lui, back in the 1970s, Hong Kong people paid little attention to issues concerning environment, preservation and heritage, but were more interested in welfare issues of Hong Kong people such as the changes in ferry and bus fares. Students were the elite class of society and their voices were well listened to. Nowadays, students join advocacy for different causes, in particular political issues, following the increasing openness of society. As Professor Lui says, today’s society is more receptive to new voices but students are no longer the only group of advocates in the public domain. Other groups of people from all walks of life are also realising the importance of their own rights and are not afraid of putting forward their demands for change. “Almost everyone in society is ready to take the initiative to voice his or her own opinion,” Professor Lui says. “The role of students has been changed. As they are no longer the main voice for expressing social Professor Lui hopes that young people care for society based on their own values and act concerns in our society, they may have to work with other groups in our community for advocacy.” Only according to their own agendas. in this way can students better organise their activities and make their voices heard. Although there are now students who are active in social advocacy, Professor Lui cautions that students in general are becoming very reliant upon services provided by the University. “Students these days can enjoy the privilege of getting assistance from the University all the time. For example, when going on exchange, all they have to do is enroll in programmes which have been pre- arranged by the University,” he says. “Whereas back in my time of being a university student, student organisations had to make all the arrangements.” Professor Lui says that nowadays most students, instead of taking their own initiative to get what they desire, tend to sit back and wait to be served. As he says, the campus is a place that allows diversity and accommodates different opinions and voices. “The most important thing is when new generations try to put forward their own ideas and agendas, they realise that they must follow their own mind, but not their emotions,” he says. In our changing campus, students are expected to acquire knowledge and skills through experiential learning, overseas study, internship, and by taking common core courses in areas different from their major discipline. Changes in the curriculum are intended to assist students in better equipping themselves to become well-rounded individuals for the betterment of society. “I hope that my students will have the heart to care for society, to think about their own values and to act according to their own agenda, instead of following the social norms or merely their parents’ expectations,” Professor Lui says. page 2009-2010 04 Cover Story dialogue03 Impact of Youth on Society Alda Tsang Postgraduate Certificate in Laws, Year 1 Recent protests and arrests involving the “post-80s generation” have fuelled public discussion and interest over university students’ role and duty in advocacy for social causes. One of HKU’s very own veteran student activists, Mr Benny Tai, now Associate Professor of the Faculty of Law, shares with us his experiences with student-led social movements in the 1980s. When he was still a student at HKU, Mr Tai was the External Secretary of the Students’ Union, Executive Committee member of the Law Association, a member of the Consultative Committee for the Basic Law of the HKSAR and student representative of the tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. The frustration Youths often lack a platform to be heard and to be taken seriously – a fact that is not new to Hong Kong and many Asian societies, now and back in the 1980s. “We understood that we might not be heard, at all,” Mr Tai says. “But all we had in mind was that we would try our best to get our messages through.” This is especially so now in Hong Kong, now that Mr Tai’s generation has secured dominant positions in society – politically, socially and economically. The public duty Mr Tai sheds light on how the young people Although challenging, Mr Tai believes that university students have a public duty to care about and can impact society. show concern for social issues because they are heavily subsidised and received a lot of support from the community. “While the older, more experienced generation may be more strategic, students always retain a pure voice in leading social movement,” he says. “Their voices and force have not been distorted due to any other motives but virtue and truth.” With reforms needed in many areas including education, health and the political arena, Mr Tai is eager to see new young leaders achieve some breakthroughs. The means “Back in the 1980s, we wrote press releases, held public gatherings, took matters to the street with processions, and even published comic books,” he says. “Today, students enjoy the privilege of having an expanded variety of media to express themselves, the best example being the internet. Students ought to be more creative to express themselves.” The "radicals" While the radical acts of the post-80s generation may be perceived as detrimental and undesirable by certain sections of the public, Mr Tai takes a different view. “Being radical is only a means to capture the impression of the people, which creates an impact on society,” he says. “Being radical may impose a shock on people and cause them to reflect on the issues, hence leading to social changes.” Violent acts are one form of radicalism that easily attract attention. However, radicalism involving violence is to be abhorred by society, and authorities are then bound by law to intervene. The effectiveness of a protest message can be achieved much more successfully via other more peaceful means – the sheer number of participants, the duration of the action, or even the originality of the act. For example, the approach by Korean farmers against the World Trade Organisation was eye-opening for many Hong Kongers and other people around the world. They dressed in costumes, they danced, they took deep bows as they marched, they jumped into the cold water to try to reach the Convention Centre. They successfully captured the world’s attention with their creative radical actions without violence. “Whether the radical acts are welcomed depends on its context. University students ought to select the proper, intelligent, radical ways to achieve their aims,” says Mr Tai. Cover Story Student Advocacy for a Better World: Fighting the Good Fight Professor Cecilia L.W. Chan Si Yuan Professor in Health and Social Work Director, Centre on Behavioural Health Professor, Department of Social Work and Social Administration As a HKU student in the 1970s, we started a project to advocate for housing needs for people who were homeless. About 250 HKU students from all Faculty Societies and Hall Societies participated in a territory-wide search for people whom we named “Street Sleepers”, from quite a Chinish word directly translating as “people residing on street sidewalks” into this new term. Subsequently, university students participated in housing and resettlement issues for people in caged bedspace accommodation, whom we called “cage men”, as well as the floating populations who lived in typhoon shelters.

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