Outgoing president of Open University of Hong Kong tells students to be engaged and express themselves, but don’t cross the line
- Wong Yuk-shan, who is retiring at the end of the month, says Hong Kong’s youth should be social-minded and care about current affairs, but they should not should not breach the law or resort to violence
- Wong, who became president of Open University in 2014, will take up the position of chairman of the Research Grants Council when he departs, and will be succeeded by Paul Lam
The outgoing president of the Open University of Hong Kong has a message for students: be engaged and feel free to discuss current affairs, but don’t cross the line.
Wong Yuk-shan, who is slated to retire at the end of the month, told reporters at a gathering on Monday that Hong Kong’s youth should be social-minded, care about national affairs and express their opinions, but they should not breach the law or resort to violence.
“The most important line is not to violate the law or breach public peace,” said Wong, who is also a Hong Kong deputy for the National People’s Congress. “The line is whether it is violent or not. If it’s not, I think that any opinion could be raised.”
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Wong, who became the president of Open University in April of 2014, will take up the position of chairman of the Research Grants Council when he departs at the end of March. Paul Lam Kwan-sing, who is currently the executive director of special projects at City University, will succeed Wong from April.
Wong, whose seven-year term was marked by the 2014 Occupy Central and the 2019 anti-government protest movements, said education promoting national security and development was lacking in the city.
“As a student, they should have a good understanding of the history, current situation and development of the country,’ he said. “Some people may say that national education is too political, but as part of the country, it is something that is unquestionable in Hong Kong, unless someone talks about independence.”
He declined to make concrete suggestions on how the curriculum should be amended, including as to whether national education should become a credit-bearing course in universities, saying no government officials had approached him to discuss the issue.
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While Wong reiterated the importance of caring for students as a university president, he also declined to say how he felt about the remand of Open University alumni Joshua Wong Chi-fung and student Owen Chow Ka Shing.
The two are among the 47 activists charged with conspiring to subvert state power under the national security law over an unofficial opposition primary run-off last year for the now-postponed Legislative Council elections.
Though he said he was leaving the university with “no regret”, the departing president noted he had failed to secure monetary support from the government for the currently self-financing institution during his term.
“Self-financing institutions get zero subsidies from the government. There is a huge disparity between them and the publicly-funded universities,” he said. “It’s OK for self-financing institutions to be self-funded and rely on their students and their parents, but we also hope that their quality could be improved at the same time.”
“‘Self-financing institution’ does not mean that the government should not provide any subsidy to us,” he added. “They should subsidise us at an appropriate amount.”
