When most of the audience began turning and walking away from an arts installation celebrating the annual Human Rights Day, the student artists put on a brave face and declared their efforts a success.
To commemorate the 56th anniversary of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 5, seven local non-governmental organisations staged a street carnival in Mongkok.
The event - with the theme of arbitrary detention - held forums, exhibitions and game stalls to foster social awareness of the human rights situation in mainland China and worldwide.
The only secondary school participants were an all-girl team from CCC Fung Leung Kit Memorial Secondary School. The nine A-level students from the Tai Po school put together an art installation from scratch.
'When we decided to join the competition, we had no clue about the theme. So we attended a seminar by the organisers to figure it out,' said Wong Mei-fong.
Her eight teammates from a liberal studies class included Au Yuen-kan, Tsui Wai-yu, Pun Ching-yan, Yun Yin-mei, Wong Tak-yi, Sun Wai-yin, Wu Ka-lai.
According to the UN, arbitrary detention roughly translates into thousands of confinements each year - sometimes this means being locked up for months, years or even indefinitely without an arrest warrant or any charges - because they have exercised one of their fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression, and they are unable to benefit from the right to a fair trial.