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Oliver Chou

The mass singing of a patriotic song at the University of Hong Kong has sparked heated discussions on the city’s tradition of patriotism.
The song, My Motherland, one of the most beloved melodies in China since its debut in the 1956 film Shangganling Battle, got a surprise rendition on the Pok Fu Lam campus during a talk by renowned Taiwanese writer Lung Yingtai last October.
Speaking on the theme One Song One Era, the former cultural minister and now visiting scholar at HKU invited the audience to name the most inspiring song in their memory.
“I think it would be My Motherland which we were led to sing by our senior schoolmates,” said Dr Albert Chau Wai-lap, vice president of Hong Kong Baptist University and an HKU graduate, after former legislator Alan Leong Ka-kit named Frank Sinatra’s My Way.


Lung was evidently surprised by Chau’s choice and asked him to sing the opening lines, a request that was answered by about 1,000 teachers and students at the Grand Hall, who sang not just the first lines, but the entire song.
“I was surprised by his honesty and courage to say it in front of 1,000 audience members that he was inspired by a so-called ‘red song’,” Lung told the Post, adding her view about Hong Kong was not affected by the event.
A commentary in the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party expressed otherwise.
“There’s nothing surprising in the mass singing during Lung Yingtai’s speech at HKU, what’s surprising is the opinionated mentality of some people [towards China’s culture],” said the People’s Daily on Monday.
The scene was featured on an RTHK television programme which was aired last Wednesday. It went viral online on the mainland when Lung posted her article last Sunday reflecting on the song.
“Half mainlanders and half Hongkongers under one roof with different political beliefs and standpoints singing a song which I have never heard of, isn’t that the best way to listen to each other?” she wrote.


Veteran journalist Ching Cheong, a graduate of HKU in 1974, remembers those days, and the song, well.
“Almost every freshman sang My Motherland at HKU because those were very special years marked by ice-breaking events such as Diao Yu Islands, Kissinger’s visit to China and China’s entry to the United Nations,” the 68-year old alumnus said.
He recalled the song was sung on campus without any harassment from the colonial government.
“There was true freedom on campus in those days. You can’t blame the young ones nowadays for missing the colonial era,” he added.
Historian Elizabeth Sinn, who was singing in the audience, said the melody of the song was attractive.
“I sang that song as much as I enjoy other genres like Canto-pops and even Cantonese operas,” she said.
“Cultural diversity is the most important asset for HKU and we should treasure it,” she added. (END)


Spontaneous rendition of ‘red song’ at HKU talk prompts debate on patriotism

Renowned Taiwanese writer Lung Yingtai. Photo: Nora Tam

News

Hong Kong

Education

Video of 1,000 teachers and students giving a spontaneous rendition of My Motherland during a talk in October has gone viral on the mainland
