A signature campaign has been launched at the University of Hong Kong to push for a referendum to decide whether its student union should continue to be part of the Hong Kong Federation of Students.
The federation, of which the HKU Student Union has been a founding member since 1958, is the representative body for student unions at seven universities and colleges in Hong Kong.
Chan Chi-kin, the HKU Student Union president in 2004 and one of four former and current students initiating the campaign, said the federation had been having problems for years and the university had been discussing parting from it since 2001.
He said the federation, which gets about HK$1 million each year from student unions, lacked a system of checks and balances, with the audit committee being combined with the financial committee.
'No one is monitoring the budget,' he said, adding that about half the funds usually went to the Social Movement Resource Centre, which provides resources to organise social activities.
Mr Chan said there had always been differences of opinions among representatives from various institutions.