HKU council meeting chaos reflects a worrying mob mentality among Hong Kong youth

I am writing this article not because Ayesha, my wife, who is a member of the council of the University of Hong Kong, was pushed around, confined, taunted and sworn at by a mob at a meeting of the council on Tuesday night. (I hope these were not students from one of our best institutions of higher learning. They certainly fall short of the expected standard of an educated person.)

I am also not writing to comment on the appropriateness of the decision to delay the appointment of a pro-vice-chancellor at the university. That is something that should be left to the university to decide in accordance with its established process and procedures. As a society that prides itself on its commitment to the rule of law, Hong Kong can and should do no less. However, I am profoundly disappointed by the behaviour of some of our young people on that night, and I despair over their future as well as the future of Hong Kong.

Incidents such as the one on Tuesday should never occur in any civilised society, let alone at an institution for higher education. A university is a place of research, teaching and learning, and a platform for the open exchange of ideas and rational discourse. Young people can and should be idealistic, and free to embrace their beliefs strongly and enthusiastically, but they should always maintain open minds to different ideas. Otherwise, why attend a university?

One of the important things that young people should learn is to be tolerant of ideas that may be different from theirs and to be humble enough to try to learn from them. Just because the ideas are different does not necessarily mean they are wrong.

The mob behaviour exhibited on Tuesday night raised the question of whether these young people are ready to assume the responsibilities of adulthood. It raised doubts about whether they had been raised and educated properly. It also raised doubts about the motives of "adults" who used them and egged them on. Ultimately, it would raise doubts about whether Hong Kong taxpayers' money should continue to be used to coddle these self-centred "spoiled brats" who have no respect and consideration for other people's freedom and rights.

Those who participated in Tuesday night's mob should be taught that there are costs to such unacceptable and unlawful behaviour. Some penalty, such as one day in jail or 100 hours of supervised community service, would do these young people a great deal of good. If these people really and truly believe in their own righteousness, they should be willing to go to jail for their beliefs, as Kim Dae-jung, Nelson Mandela and our own Tsang Tak-sing did at one time. Moreover, if this mob is once again allowed to go scot-free, it will encourage similar mobs elsewhere, demanding different things, and then Hong Kong will become truly ungovernable.

I am also very sorry to have to conclude that the incident of Tuesday night indicates to me that not all the people of Hong Kong are ready for true democracy. Democracy is not about who can shout the loudest or who can cause the most disruption to other people's lives. One prerequisite for the success of a democratic system of government is the full acceptance, and not the selective acceptance, of the rule of law. Selective acceptance of the rule of law can degenerate quickly into rule by mob.