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Joyce Ng

The student body that took a leading role in the Occupy Central movement last year is facing a crisis as a third member university disaffiliates from it.
The future of the Federation of Students was a "worry", its secretary general Nathan Law Kwun-chung said yesterday ahead of the results of Baptist University's student vote, which ended last night with a decision to pull the students' union out of the body.
That poll drew a turnout of 1,678, with 913 agreeing to disaffiliation and 613 saying "no".
A day earlier, Polytechnic University students had arrived at the same outcome, with 1,190 for dissociation and 403 against, out of a 1,700-strong turnout.
"If more member institutions quit, we have to face the question: Is the federation still representative? What does it stand for?" Law told the South China Morning Post.
Law and his colleagues failed yesterday in their last-ditch attempt to get Baptist University students to oppose disaffiliation on the final day of their vote.
Earlier, the University of Hong Kong had voted to leave the city's largest and oldest student body and a pioneer in social movements.
Five universities now remain in the federation, including City University, which will stage its own referendum next week.
Law admitted the disaffiliation campaigns had distracted the federation from major issues such as reform of the 2017 chief executive election.
The federation had hoped to confront government officials during their community outreach on Saturday to drum up support for their reform plan - but it would not be taking action after all.
"We must deal with the domestic affairs first," Law said. "We really can't handle these things at the same time."
In another change of plans, the federation will not join this year's annual candlelight vigil to mark the Tiananmen Square crackdown - the first time it will be absent from the June 4 ceremony since 1990.
Law said federation leaders could not reach a unanimous consensus to take part, so members would have to attend in their personal capacities.
Law's deputy, Wong Ka-fai, said the university exits, one after another, undermined the federation's power to mobilise resources, such as the distribution of leaflets on campuses.
Strong initiatives, akin to last year's formation of a joint-university committee to hold class boycotts before the Occupy movement started, would no longer be possible, Wong said.
The federation is under immense criticism. Advocates of disaffiliation lambast it for making hasty decisions in an opaque manner during Occupy, resulting in injuries.
Polytechnic University student Andy Chan Ho-tin, who was in charge of the disaffiliation campaign on his campus, said his group would be disbanded now that the vote had been passed.
But he fell short of saying what he expected the PolyU students' union to do after pulling out.
"I don't mind the union people maintaining a good relationship with the federation," Chan said. "They can be flexible and work on ad hoc projects again."


Shaky times ahead as Hong Kong Federation of Students suffers third membership pull-out

Federation leader Nathan Law says If more member institutions quit, they have to rethink if the federation is still representative and what does it stand for.

News

Hong Kong

Politics

The student body that took a leading role in the Occupy Central movement last year is facing a crisis as a third member university disaffiliates from it.


Shaky times ahead as Hong Kong Federation of Students suffers third membership pull-out

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The student body that took a leading role in the Occupy Central movement last year is facing a crisis as a third member university disaffiliates from it.

The student body that took a leading role in the Occupy Central movement last year is facing a crisis as a third member university disaffiliates from it.