Post-80s activists plan own stick-picking

A group of young activists opposing the construction of an express rail link to Guangzhou plans to strike again on the third day of the Lunar New Year, when government officials pray and pick fortune sticks at Che Kung Temple in Sha Tin.

Officials pick fortune sticks to find out what lies ahead for the people of Hong Kong as a New Year tradition, but the Post-80s Anti-Express Railway Group said they will pick their own sticks next Tuesday.

'We should no longer place our future in the government's hands,' a core member of the group, Chan King-fai, said. 'The Hong Kong people must fight for their own fortune.'

The action may add another embarrassment to the authorities after Saturday's posting on Facebook of a discussion about the group picking a good stick and officials a bad one. Last year, executive councillor Lau Wong-fat picked Hong Kong's second-worst fortune stick.

The Transport and Housing Bureau opened an account on the popular online social networking site on Saturday in an attempt to converse with young people. However, it was only open for three hours and Transport Secretary Eva Cheng's failure to respond immediately to more than 2,000 comments posted on the account drew criticism that the government has neither sincerity nor the skills to talk to youth.

Meanwhile, the alliance against the HK$66.9 billion railway project - making up the Post-80s Group, professionals and activists of Hong Kong's Catholic diocese - continue to seek ways to fight the project, though Legco has approved the funding.