Alternative June 4 vigil will include forum on Hong Kong’s future
At least 1,000 expected for event organised by HKU students’ union, which will shun main assembly in Victoria Park for a second year
A forum on the future of Hong Kong will be held as part of the University of Hong Kong students’ union’s alternative vigil commemorating the Tiananmen Square crackdown on June 4.
For the second year in a row, the student group will shun the main assembly in Victoria Park, and to break further with tradition, no candles will be lit during their alternative vigil.
Union president Althea Suen Hiu-nam said the student body decided to hold another alternative vigil as they disagreed with the need to build a democratic China, which is one of the aims of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, organiser of the Victoria Park vigil in Causeway Bay.
The alternative vigil is scheduled to take place at San Yat-sen Place at the University of Hong Kong on the evening of June 4, with at least 1,000 people expected to join.
Five speakers, including Hong Kong Indigenous spokesman Edward Leung Tin-kei and veteran political commentator Johnny Lau Yui-siu, will take part in a forum to explore the future of the city beyond 2047, when the “one country, two systems” principle guaranteeing the city its freedoms expires.
Suen said discussing Hong Kong’s future on the anniversary of the crackdown was appropriate since people from different generations would be gathered at their assembly.
“[The main candlelight vigil] has been the same for the past two decades. It has not contributed anything to how we think about the future,” she said.
“Commemoration shouldn’t just be about expressing sadness. It should instead trigger discussions on issues that truly matter to Hongkongers.”
“Who said we must light candles to commemorate?” she said.
On Monday it was confirmed that for the first time the Hong Kong Federation of Students would be absent from the annual candlelight vigil in Victoria Park. Instead, people from more than 10 higher education institutes in the city would gather at Chinese University.
The HKU students’ union said its decision not to take part in the Chinese University assembly was purely down to budget constraints, dismissing claims of differences between student groups.
