Liberal studies subject moulds new generation of socially aware youth
In just five years, the tough liberal studies course has raised a crop of politically and socially aware youngsters, writes Linda Yeung
Tommy Cheung Sau-yin had been civic-minded in his teens, even doing volunteer work while in Form Two. But it was not until a massive rally in 2010, which he attended with thousands of others, that he truly began to participate in social movements.
During the rally outside the former Legislative Council building in Central, which took on a carnival atmosphere, Cheung and others clamoured against a government plan to build an express rail link to Guangzhou. (The project is still under way.)
And in January last year, Cheung became a member of action group Scholarism - he is now the spokesman - joining them in braving the heat and marching on the government headquarters in Admiralty to oppose the proposed national education curriculum, which was eventually scrapped.
Cheung says his stepped-up involvement in social causes was inspired by his liberal studies class, which became a compulsory subject in the New Senior Secondary (NSS) curriculum in 2009. He was at STFA Leung Kau Kui College when he took it.
"It gave us the knowledge base and was a kind of awakening for me. We had the room to study social issues and discuss views in class," says Cheung, now in his first year at Chinese University's department of government and public administration.
Liberal studies has six modules: personal development and interpersonal relationships; Hong Kong today; modern China; globalisation; public health; energy technology and the environment. It covers topics such as the rule of law and Hongkongers' identity.