Recent developments in local universities have cast a shadow over the education sector. I am of course alluding to the increasing involvement of Hong Kong students in social and political movements. While such activities may not necessarily be seen as harmful for some, nonetheless it is such a worrisome phenomenon that I believe it is time to rectify some misguided perceptions about students’ roles in social or political movements.

University students are supposed to be the cream of our budding youth, and expected to become the intelligentsia and backbone of our society. The good knowledge base that they obtain during their university studies will become desperately needed not just by employers, but by the society as a whole.

Universities in Hong Kong have done a good job of providing their students with a horizontal global perspective. But in an age of information, a vertical historical perspective may be more necessary. It can enable students to analyze and draw lessons from yesterday to prevent mistakes happening tomorrow.

A historical perspective argues against students constantly participating in political events. A historical perspective cannot be formed in one day or two. It requires a long time, reading historical documents, distinguishing various schools of interpretation of historical events, forming independent thoughts, and applying lessons from history to the present.

Without a dedicated time of study, students cannot achieve a deep, perspicacious historical view. Especially for students who do not take history as their major, there will be rare occasions in the future for them to spend time brewing this historical view.

The acquisition of such a rich foundation of knowledge is more crucial today than ever before. Sweeping changes have transformed the world into a global village. Every aspect of our lives, particularly from technology to politics, is hastening us pell mell along the problematical path of progress. The economies of some countries are in collapse, while those of a rare one or two others continue to boom. On top of all this, our much-abused Mother Earth keeps sending out distress signals such as tsunamis and freak floods, which we acknowledge but then ignore.

These are the problems that the university students of today will inherit tomorrow when they become the leaders of the world. Their vision, wisdom and knowledge will be desperately needed not just in their workplaces, but by society as a whole.

Regretfully, what we now are actually witnessing in local universities are students being misguided by one social movement or political event after another. They boycott classes and spend too much time attending protests and demonstrations. Tempted by local party statements about the necessity to take political action to protect Hong Kong, many students place what they think are their “social duties” over studies. Excessive exposure to distracting politics inevitably takes away a lot of time from studying and thinking. Such lack of objective thinking actually makes it easier for students to be prompted into espousing political movements that may not be good for them in the long term. Should not the students’ over-exposure to politics and popular culture be accounted as one of the major reasons for the decline in graduates’ communication skills and low adversity quotient that employers complain about?

While I argue for less involvement of students in protests and demonstrations, I do not want them to be disenfranchised from politics. They should continue their normal political lives by voting in elections, serving the community, and discussing national and international issues in their classes. On occasions when their historical study shows that they need to have their voices heard on current political issues, they should, of course, make use of what they know in a civilized manner. But for their long-term development, they should maintain a healthy balance between academic study of political history and immediate political involvement.

University administrators should be providing better guidance to students to help them realize their life-long goals, rather than ignoring the politicization of campuses. Spending more time on study today promises a greater contribution to the society tomorrow.



Published 21.09.2012
China Daily

The author is former secretary for home affairs of the Hong Kong SAR government.