On the eve of Good Friday, and National Security Education Day in Hong Kong

Banners up for National Security Education Day!

Tomorrow is Good Friday, the first day of a long weekend for Hong Kongers on account of it, the day after and Easter Monday being public holidays here and Easter Sunday being, of course, a Sunday.  It also happens to be National Security Education Day -- a day whose existence I (and pretty much the rest of Hong Kong) did not know about until last year, when it was commemorated for the first time in the territory.    

What with tomorrow being a public holiday and Hong Kong's fifth coronavirus wave not having fully receded (with 1,043 new Covid cases reported today, one of which is of the new Omicron BA.5 variant, and 54 more deaths), I imagine that this year's observations will be lower key in nature.  At the same time, Hong Kong's second National Security Education Day's not escaped the attention of Hong Kong Law Fellow, Eric Yan-ho Lai, who was moved to make Tweet the following earlier today: "The Hong Kong government marks National Security Education Day on Good Friday this year. Yea, Good Friday is about how Jesus was crucified because of an unfair trial and his conviction of sedition by the collaborators of Roman colonisers. Providence or coincidence?"

On the subject of education: The Hong Kong Free Press reported today that "At least 5,720 teachers have left Hong Kong’s local school system during the current 2021 to 2022 academic year so far, according to a Legislative Council document. That represents a more than 50 per cent rise in “drop-out teachers” from the previous school year."  This news follows "the news last Wednesday that the rate of teachers leaving the EDB’s native-speaking English teaching (NET) scheme had reached a five-year high."  So, clearly, there's been quite a teacher exodus in recent years out of the city.

 

The article ended with the following sentence: "Education secretary Kevin Yeung said there were “no substantive grounds” to link the departure of teachers to Hong Kong’s Covid-19 quarantine measures, which remain among the strictest in the world."  I actually am inclined to agree with him as far as local teachers are concerned, as I reckon many more teachers have left as a result of the national security law and censorship issues.

 

Just last week, a friend told me of her cousin, who is a teacher and avowedly "yellow" (i.e., pro-democracy), planning to migrate -- along with his parents -- before the end of this year.  (More than incidentally, my friend, who is a journalist by profession, is herself leaving Hong Kong next week.  And while another friend who was the first to leave Hong Kong in 2022 is not a teacher, she was a university professor.  So, yes, I personally know of people in the education field having left Hong Kong, and because of professional concerns that have cropped up in the wake of the passing of the National Security Law that National Security Education Day is supposed to educate people about.)

 

And on the subject of unfair trials: yesterday saw Allan Chung Kin-ping (AKA Max Chung) sentenced to 16 months in prison for organising a protest against the mob attacks at, and in the vicinity of, Yuen Long MTR station on July 21st, 2019.  In the off chance that you, dear reader, are unaware of or have forgotten about what transpired on the night of July 21st, 2019: here's a reminder that a horrific attack was undertaken by people seen as Triad gangsters at, and in the vicinity of, Yuen Long MTR station that, in view of Hong Kong being (hitherto) seen as a largely crime-free place, came as a massive shock to Hong Kongers. 

 

Adding to the shock of it all was that no police appeared for more than half an hour despite thousands of emergency calls having been placed by concerned individuals. Re how come there were so many phone calls: This being Hong Kong, a number of the people being attacked took to capturing on their smartphones images of what was happening and putting it up online via social media. There also was at least one "live stream" that ended up being viewed by tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of Hong Kongers as a result of then Stand News reporter Gwyneth Ho having been at the train station (and, as it so happened, being one of the people beaten with long rods and other weapons).

And for the record: this is the same Gwyneth Ho who turned political activist and was one of the candidates in the July 2020 democratic primaries for the Legislative Council elections. For her sins, she -- along with 46 others -- was arrested on February 28th, 2021, on national security law charges. Denied bail, she has remained behind bars since; awaiting a trial that now is being seen as not properly starting until next year.

 

As for Max Chung: In societies where thug attacks on train passengers, journalists and such would be condemned, he'd be lauded for organizing a protest march against mob violence. Instead, this is Hong Kong; and he's considered a criminal and, indeed, is now a convict, and will be so for the next 16 months. How unjust and sad is that?