Be proud of young Hongkongers and not worried about them, top university official says
HKU vice-chancellor tells higher education forum Occupy movement was ‘most polite and organised’ protest he’s ever seen
The city should be proud of its youth and not worry about them, a top official at the University of Hong Kong said on Friday.
University of Hong Kong vice-chancellor Professor Peter Mathieson called the protests arising from the pro-democracy Occupy movement of 2014 “the most polite and organised” he had ever seen.
Speaking at a forum on higher education organised by Education Post, Mathieson characterised student activism as a global phenomenon.
“The idea that this protest in Hong Kong is something really malicious and a sign of a deterioration of the Hong Kong youth provides me with some amusement,” he said.
“Hong Kong should be proud of its young, not worried” about them, he added.
Many in the city have criticised the younger generation recently for becoming more extreme in the run-up to and aftermath of Occupy, contending a number of them are siding with radical pro-independence groups.
