Defiant Hong Kong school pupils ignore education chief’s warning over national security law protests
- Dozens of students form human chains and sing protest anthem outside schools across the city
- Education minister Kevin Yeung had told pupils not to protest against the law and said schools should punish anyone who did
About 20 students from True Light Girls’ College and ELCHK Lutheran Secondary School in Yau Ma Tei, some wearing uniforms and others dressed in black, formed a human chain near their schools at 7.30am and chanted protest slogans including “Five demands, not one less” and “Hong Kong independence, the only way out”.
They also sang the popular protester anthem Glory to Hong Kong, which Yeung said was “clear propaganda” with a political message that should be banned at schools.
“I’m worried that the [national security law] will suppress our freedom of speech, especially when many details of the legislation are not clear yet,” the 17-year-old said. “Forming a human chain is a peaceful activity … I’m not afraid of follow-up actions being taken because many of us are taking part together.”
A Form Four student said she opposed the national security and national anthem laws as they could “impact on students’ freedoms”.
“When [Yeung] asked us not to join protests, should we simply stay silent? It doesn’t matter if it is the national security or national anthem law, they are both problematic legislation,” she said.
“Maybe what we do now will not change much, but if we don’t do anything, there will not even be any hope.”
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A student at ELCHK Lutheran Secondary School said Yeung’s warnings had not deterred him from taking part. “If everyone was afraid, then who would stand up and speak out?” he said. “I haven’t been on the protest front line, so forming a human chain is the least I can do.”
About 40 students from three secondary schools in Yuen Long, including CCC Kei Yuen College, CCC Kei Long College and SKH Bishop Baker Secondary School, chanted slogans including “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” while marching from a shopping centre close to their schools.
At Shek Lei Catholic Secondary School in Kwai Chung, about 10 students chanted protest slogans outside school before class to mark the one-year protest anniversary, according to its student concern group.
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Meanwhile, about 100 pupils at Heung To Middle School in Kowloon Tong and at least three nearby schools formed a human chain in the afternoon to protest against school management’s handling of a teacher who had departed over what they said were “political considerations”.
They chanted slogans and planned to march around nearby roads but roughly 30 police officers appeared and warned them about social-distancing regulations, leading the crowd to quickly disperse.
On Monday, the teacher claimed her contract was not renewed because she did not “share the same political views as the school”, and did not stop students from performing the protest anthem during music exams.
The school, which did not reply to a Post inquiry on Friday, said in an internal notice on Thursday only that one of the reasons for renewing a staff member’s contract was “whether the teacher can meet the school’s philosophy and visions”.
A Form Three student said she decided to join the human chain to show disappointment in school management.
“[Our teacher] did not talk about politics during class and she had also reminded us to carefully pick the performing songs [during music exams] … It is unreasonable to not renew her contract and it will be a loss to the school,” she said.
