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Gary Cheung

Peter Lee is a mathematics teacher, but he gathers his teenage pupils once a year for a history lesson.
He shows them video footage of scenes from Tiananmen Square in Beijing, and tells them about the student protests that ended in a bloody military crackdown on June 4, 1989.
“I hope to let my students know about the tragedy and help keep the memory alive,” said Lee, 52, who teaches in a Wan Chai secondary school.
He was in university when the protests unfolded, and joined a group of Hong Kong students who went to Beijing for two weeks to support the protesters.
30 years on, is Hong Kong’s Tiananmen torch burning out?
Recalling what he saw, Lee said that around 8pm on June 3, he heard the sound of gunshots from Chang’an Avenue, near Tiananmen Square.
“Sometime after 10pm, I saw a man whose hand had been shot,” he said.
In the early hours of June 4, he saw People’s Liberation Army soldiers storming the square.
Hundreds, perhaps more than 1,000 protesters died.




Lee, who returned to Hong Kong the next day, became a teacher later that year, but he told himself he had to remind younger Hongkongers of that episode in history.
On May 3 this year, as in previous years, he did his Tiananmen Square presentation to a group of Form Five students – 26 boys born 13 years after the event.
Three raised questions during the 40-minute session, asking about the Beijing students’ courage and curious to understand why Hongkongers supported the protesters. Five boys fell asleep.
I hope they get to know more about what happened in Beijing in 1989 and it inspires them to be interested in developments in our country
Peter Lee, teacher
Overall, Lee felt the lesson went well, but added: “I’ve noticed that in recent years, some students are not so interested, probably because the June 4 incident is too remote from their daily life.”
He has attended the annual candlelight vigil in Hong Kong several times, encourages his pupils to go, and one year, accompanied a group of students to Victoria Park.
“I hope they get to know more about what happened in Beijing in 1989 and it inspires them to be interested in developments in our country,” Lee said.
Cost of sweeping Tiananmen crackdown under the carpet
His school management allows him to conduct his special class, but asked that the school not be named in this report.
The 1989 protests and crackdown fall within the secondary school Chinese history syllabus. The subject is taught to all pupils in Form One to Three, but is an elective for those in Form Four to Six.
Schools are free to decide whether to include the 1989 crackdown.
Hong Kong teacher hopes to reach city youth with Tiananmen crackdown book
At least three of Lee’s students said they intended to go to Victoria Park on June 4.
Cyrus Tung Wai, who attended twice, said: “The June 4 incident was a milestone in the Chinese people’s fight for democracy. Hong Kong people should not forget it.”
Justin Chan Wan disagreed with localists who thought the June 4 crackdown had nothing to do with Hong Kong people. He said: “Thirty years ago, many Hong Kong people expressed support for Beijing students. How can we now say it is irrelevant to Hongkongers?”
Jason Zhang Yuk-kiu said: “The commemoration is still meaningful.”


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Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square crackdown 30th anniversary

Why Hong Kong maths teacher who witnessed Tiananmen Square crackdown holds special history lessons once a year for his students

The Form Five maths class of teacher Peter Lee watch footage of the events in Tiananmen Square 30 years ago. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong teacher hopes new book on Tiananmen Square crackdown can educate younger readers

Hoi Wai-hang, a Chinese history and and liberal studies teacher at SKH St Mary’s Church Mok Hing Yiu College. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Hong Kong has kept flame of Tiananmen Square crackdown alive for 30 years – but is the fire burning out?

Portrait of Simon Tam Nai-chung, 76, who was then a Japanese-style night club manager in Tsim Sha Tsui at the time of 1989 pro-democracy movement in Beijing. Photographed in Kowloon Tong. 16APR19 SCMP / Nora Tam

Top view of people raising their candles during the June 4th Candle Light Vigil at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay. 04JUN18 SCMP / Winson Wong

Former chairman of the management committee of the Foundation for China's Democracy under the Hong Kong Federation of Students (from July 1989 to June 1990), Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong, photographed in Causeway Bay. 16MAY19 SCMP / Tory Ho

Veteran photographer Wong Kan-tai photographed in Central during an interview on his new photobook, Secret 1842-1997. 21MAR19 SCMP / Tory Ho

TO GO WITH AFP STORY "China-politics-rights-Tiananmen" by Robert Saiget (FILES) This file photo taken on June 2, 1989 shows hundreds of thousands of Chinese gathering around a 10-metre replica of the Statue of Liberty (C), called the Goddess of Democracy, in Tiananmen Square demanding democracy despite martial law in Beijing. Families of those killed in the crushing of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests on June 2, 2010 demanded China end its silence and open a dialogue on the bloodshed. In an annual open letter, 128 members of the Tiananmen Mothers castigated the Communist Party government for ignoring its calls for openness on the crackdown that occurred June 3-4, 1989 and vowed never to give up their fight. AFP PHOTO / FILES / CATHERINE HENRIETTE / AFP PHOTO / AFP FILES / CATHERINE HENRIETTE

--ONE TIME USE ONLY--- Handout image provided by Arthur Tsang Hin-wah, and taken in Beijing in 1989, shows the student demonstration in Tiananmen Square, China. [02JUNE2017 FEATURES] CREDIT / Arthur TSANG

A girl wounded during a clash between the army and students on June 4, 1989 near Tiananmen Square is carried out on a cart. On the night of June 3 to 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square sheltered the last pro-democracy supporters. Chinese troops forcibly marched on the square to end a weeks-long occupation by student protestors, using lethal force to remove opposition it encountered along the way. Hundreds of demonstrators were killed in the crackdown as tanks rolled into the environs of the square. / AFP PHOTO / MANUEL CENETA

(Black and white photo) HONG KONG SUPPORT FOR BEIJING TIANANMEN STUDENT PRO-DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT, 1989: MOURNING AFTER JUNE 4TH: Supporters of democratic movement in PRC demonstrate one year after June 4th crackdown on democratic movement in PRC, June 3, 1990

Professor PUN Ngai of HKU's Department of Sociology photographed at the University of Hong Kong in Pok Fu Lam. 19APR19 SCMP / Xiaomei Chen

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Peter Lee, 52, shows Form Five pupils video footage of scenes from Tiananmen Square in 1989, and tells them about the student protests
He was in university when events unfolded, and joined a group of Hong Kong students who went to Beijing for two weeks to support protesters


Peter Lee, 52, shows his Form Five class video footage of scenes from Tiananmen Square, and tells them about the student protests in 1989.


Tiananmen Square crackdown