Protests and pandemic: will pent-up resentment, frustration among Hong Kong’s youth explode again into social unrest?
- Alarm raised after survey on two universities shows most students harbour simmering grievances described as ‘powder keg waiting to go off’
- Psychological stress from a year of fighting coronavirus and unhealed wounds from 2019 protests could be potent mix, experts warn
They raised the alarm after an unpublished survey by two universities found that nearly 90 per cent of students had no confidence in the government, and described their simmering grievances as a “powder keg waiting to go off”.
As a short-term solution, authorities should ensure students return as soon as possible to classrooms and sports to help ease the psychological stress arising from confinement during the health crisis, experts in adolescent development said. Longer term, top officials should further open avenues for young people to play a greater role in shaping public policy through joining the ranks of advisory bodies, pro-establishment voices suggested.
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China’s Rebel City: The Hong Kong Protests
Although students were no longer taking to the streets to protest, the administration would be wrong to believe their animosity had died down, warned Paul Yip Siu-fai, chair professor at the University of Hong Kong’s (HKU) department of social work and social administration.
“A [lack of protests] does not mean that the anger of our young generation towards the government has been solved,” he said. “They are just suppressing their feelings. In fact, we can see signs that young people’s level of dissatisfaction is rising due to the pandemic.”
