LettersHong Kong universities must learn the right lessons from protest chaos

University heads’ reluctance to allow the police on campus to deal with protesters led to increased violence and destruction

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Protesters set up roadblocks with bricks and other materials outside Chinese University in Sha Tin in preparation for clashes with riot police on November 14. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 7:15am, 2 Jan 2020Updated: 7:15am, 2 Jan 2020

It is common for people to reflect on the past year before they plan for the next. I believe people and organisations alike in Hong Kong, especially universities, should undertake a serious review of the social unrest in 2019 before charting their way forward.

The protesters’ illegal occupation of university campuses was not just confined to Polytechnic University, where their actions made Hong Kong infamous as a city of chaos.

Just a few days before the PolyU saga, Chinese University was occupied by protesters who also destroyed University MTR station, the main public transport node for students, staff and the general public travelling to CUHK. Non-local students fled the university hostels as access was controlled by protesters who had stockpiled petrol bombs on campus. There was a similar exodus of mainland students from other universities.

A university president, as the head of the institution, is responsible for maintaining a safe working and learning environment for the university community. But some of these leaders failed miserably to discharge this fundamental responsibility, showing little aptitude for crisis management.

In some cases, university management allowed their staff to be harassed by protesters. For example, a lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, a self-financed extension of Polytechnic University, was “detained” for several hours by students because he had expressed views opposing the protests.

Some universities were against the police entering their campuses to stop protesters’ vandalism. Thus, protesters roamed freely on campuses, damaging university property and stealing chemicals from labs. The destruction was so pervasive that the universities had to shut down their operations as it was no longer safe for students and staff to study and work there.

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} University heads’ reluctance to allow the police on campus to deal with protesters led to increased violence and destruction

University heads’ reluctance to allow the police on campus to deal with protesters led to increased violence and destruction