Hong Kong's discontented youth need guiding, not scolding
Augustus Yeung says street protests have their roots in our school system
Travelling between Macau and Hong Kong on a ferry one day, I was bemused by the behaviour of a seaman on board. He was elated by a piece of news: "[Joshua] Wong Chi-fung has just been arrested!" He happily talked about meting out violence as punishment to the student protest leader and his fellow protesters in the Occupy movement.
This was not an isolated personal outburst; there has been widespread denunciation of the young protesters and their generation.
In Hong Kong, there is now more hate than love, and this should worry us. With so much hate around, what will happen to our youth and our society?
A society that hates its youth has no future. As we witness the incessant denunciations and accusations against our rebellious youth, we sense that the seeds for further discontent are now being sown, and we can expect more social clashes in the future.
Having taught in two Hong Kong secondary schools for two decades, I witnessed how discontent was created and spread. Underperforming students were often bullied or ignored. These students sometimes resorted to vandalism in their school. Now - two decades later - they openly took to the streets.
Our education officials have all along been oblivious to their grievances. They would rather look the other way.