School as usual for HK pupils on International Children's Day
Mainland youngsters celebrated International Children's Day with no school and no homework, but for young Hongkongers yesterday was just another day in the classroom.
Hong Kong celebrated its own Children's Day nearly two months ago. The April 4 holiday coincided with Women and Children's Day in Taiwan.
In the past, Hong Kong has issued postage stamps to mark its Children's Day. In April 2005, for example, stamps based on 'Andersen's Fairy Tales' were issued.
Next year, Children's Day in Hong Kong will coincide with the Ching Ming Festival on April 4, when locals will honour both their children and ancestors.
The international community will celebrate youth around the globe on November 20 - the UN's Universal Children's Day, which was established in 1954 and also marks the adoption of both the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and, 30 years later, the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Yesterday's holiday on the mainland and elsewhere was initiated more than 80 years ago when Geneva hosted the World Conference for the Wellbeing of Children. It was then that a number of countries agreed to name June 1 'International Children's Day'. Nevertheless, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other places have not adopted the date.
The children of South Korea are honoured on May 5. Australia marks August 4 as National Aboriginal and Islander Children's Day.
Yet as Hong Kong celebrates 10 years since the handover, locals have not forgotten International Children's Day elsewhere. Yau Oi Estate in Tuen Mun will hold a carnival to mark both occasions tomorrow.
