My Take | Don't rush into recognition for same-sex marriage in Hong Kong

Like son like father.

Roger Wong Wai-ming, the father of Scholarism convenor Joshua Wong Chi-fung, is leading a high-profile public campaign. His group - called the Family School Sexual Orientation Discrimination Ordinance Concern Group - is vehemently against a proposal by the Equal Opportunities Commission to introduce laws to protect unmarried couples from discrimination. The commission has just concluded a public consultation on the issue.

While Wong Senior has not managed to galvanise the public like his son, his group has the support of almost 100 primary and secondary school principals. The educators are worried the proposed change, if it becomes law, would legalise same-sex marriage, never mind that there was no mention of this in the consultation, which has just ended and attracted an unprecedented 90,000-plus submissions.

Wong's group warned any such legal changes would lead to a breakdown of traditional family values and encourage homosexuality, cohabitation and sex outside marriage. He said schools needed to conduct moral education including teaching that sex should be saved for marriage, or that cohabitation is not responsible behaviour.

Hmm, I wonder what Wong Senior thinks about the government's ill-fated national and moral education. I am all for equal legal status for same-sex marriage and laws against discrimination on the basis of sexuality. But it's clear Hong Kong is a predominantly conservative Chinese society and large swathes of the population may not accept these measures.

If we take a more charitable view of Wong's group, it is that legislating social change, as the EOC wants to do, by imposing a premature or false social consensus is bound to fail. Change in social attitude is more durable when it evolves naturally rather than being imposed.