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

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Pupils form a human chain at ELCHK Lutheran Secondary School and True Light Girls College. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 12:04pm, 12 Jun 2020Updated: 10:03pm, 12 Jun 2020

Dozens of pupils from at least six schools marked the one-year anniversary of the anti-government movement by protesting against the Hong Kong national security law on Friday, despite warnings from the education minister to not do so.

Students who spoke to the Post said they had not been deterred by Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung’s letter to schools on Wednesday, telling them to not chant slogans, form human chains or sing songs containing political messages, and asking principals or teachers to take action if pupils did not stop when told.

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.

ELCHK Lutheran Secondary School and True Light Girls College pupils form a human chain in protest against the national security law. Photo: Sam Tsang

A Form Five student at True Light Girls’ College said she hoped to oppose the national security law as well as mark the one-year anniversary of anti-government protests, which erupted last June.