更令人憤怒的是，偉大的特區政府似乎無視記者的不滿。政務司司長唐英年竟然對記者說；「I think that is completely rubbish that we have violated civil rights, nor have we violated freedom of speech, because every single activity of the Vice-Premier has been covered by the media」
This is not a good piece. The protest against the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link has triggered a lot of attention and controversy these days. The protesters said they oppose the rail link because it is costly and Hong Kong is already over-developed, meaning having the mega railway will further damage the city’s traditions and culture. The protesters also expressed their frustrations about the city’s political system that the government has not properly and widely consulted the public, and the legislature will still endorse unpopular government proposals because half of the seats are occupied by pro-government politicians. I am not in Hong Kong, I have not witnessed the protests. Therefore, I cannot comment on whether the protesters are radical, gone too far and violent. What I am concerned is how the government interprets the protest and the protesters demand. This is what I have read in Ming Pao Daily on January 06. The article cited government sources.
“Many people who are close to 30 cannot get married, buy property and forced to continue living with their parents. Seeing the rising property prices, they feel powerless and frustrated. They can easily become hostile to the government and property developers, and believe that the unfairness is caused by collusion between the government and the business sector.”
That sounds very familiar to me. Three years ago, I was in the Queen’s Pier, where a group of protesters were camping inside in order to block the government to demolish the historical structure to make way for road network. Protesters said the pier, with a long history, should be preserved.
The government made similar interpretation of the protesters demand and frustrations, and pledged that they would listen to young people opinion.
Three years. Same thing happens again, and the same interpretation is offered.
Went to Cheung Chau early morning yesterday for the result release of the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination. Eleven students of Zheng Sheng College, the city’s only drug rehabilitation school, took part in the exam this year. Again, there are some touching stories.
Let me talk about the location of the college. The main campus is located in Chi Ma Wan. Reaching there is quite a complicated process. First, you need to go to Cheung Chau by boat. Then, you need to get on to a connecting sampan to reach the college.
There was heavy rain yesterday. The connecting sampan could not reach the college because of strong tidal wave. Some of the students could not get their result slips in the morning.
This again proves that the college needs relocation very urgently. Would the Heung Yee Kuk and Mui Wo Rural Committee stop being ridiculous and drag on the relocation problem? Please, let the college relocate immediately.
Here is the story
Results a morale booster at Zheng Sheng
HONG KONG: HKCEE results proved the makings of an exciting day for students trying to put their lives back together at the city’s only drug rehabilitation school. Students at Christian Zheng Sheng College didn’t qualify for Secondary Six admission, but to the 11 students from the school who sat the exam, the results were something to treasure.
The youngsters felt they had made a remarkable achievement, and at the same time, proved to their families that they are reforming.
The college’s highest achiever was 20-year-old Auyeung Pui-lam, who came to the college four years ago after a conviction for theft. He scored eight points on the exam, passing all seven subjects for which he sat.
“I got all passes. I have not expected that. I have passed the one worrying me most, English,” Auyeung yelled over the phone to his mother.
Auyeung had worried that he would not get his results slip yesterday because of the heavy weather. He said he prayed Tuesday night, and woke up at 5:40 am yesterday. When he got the results, tears came to his eyes.
“My effort is not wasted,” he said.
Auyeung want to offer the slip as a gift to his deceased grandmother, who reminded him always to study hard. The one-time problem youngster once considered giving up. The example of Zheng Sheng graduate Wilson Wong, who will enter Lingnan University to study accounting in September, proved an inspiration. “I would not be who I am today without the help of Zheng Sheng,” he said.
Auyeung decided to pursue career development for a few years before going back to his studies.
A tearful Auyeung Pui-lam and the college principal Alman Chan Siu-cheuk
Thirty-year-old student Tsang Wai-ngor looked disappointed after learning about her result. She scored zero points in the exam, well below her expectations. She had hoped she could pass the Chinese Language exam.
Tsang has been through difficult times in her life. She abused drugs for a long time before pledging to quit the habit when she came to rehab and accepted Christianity. A romantic entanglement pushed her right back into drugs.
Adding to her feelings of despair, her mother and younger brother were killed in 2003. One year later, determined to reform, she entered Zheng Sheng.
Tsang found studying extremely difficult. Her ability to concentrate was impaired by her past history of drug abuse. She is still on meditations to cure systemic lupus erythematosus and the effects of drug abuse.
“I keep thinking about my mother whenever I face difficulties,” she said. “I think she would be happy about what I become now.”
The controversy over Christian Zheng Sheng College, the city only private boarding school for young drug abusers, goes on and on over the past weeks. It is late for me to write on that topic, again. I have been locked inside the court room for almost the whole week and I just don’t have the time to write. The college in Chi Ma Wan is in an urgent need to relocate because its campus is overcrowded (120 students at the capacity of 60) and shabby. Residents of Mui Wo, the site where the college applied to use, strongly opposed the college application. They say they support rehabilitation services, but they also need to use the site for education of their own children and they fear that the “drug addicts” will impose negative influence on the community. They somehow show the “Not In My Backyard” mentality. I paid a visit to the college last Saturday for a story. The college is running down. No hot water is available for bathing and it is overcrowded. I did not need to go through security checks to enter the college. No one accompanied me walking around – I could walk freely inside the campus WITHOUT fearing that the students might do something harmful to me.
Students are preparing food.
Here is the story. ---------------------------- Getting back to the straight and narrow There are no security checks for visitors at Christian Zheng Sheng College in Chi Ma Wan. Visitors can go unescorted, wherever they choose on the campus, where young drug abusers are undergoing rehabilitation. Visitors may even take photos of students. It’s the city’s only private boarding school for young drug abusers. Though many of the students have committed crimes that go beyond the taking of drugs, they are treated with respect and expected to take responsibility for themselves.
He is the first student greeting me.
Principal Alman Chan Siu-cheuk stresses that students are not incarcerated and should not be considered inmates, though most have been referred by probation officers for stays of about 30 months. “We are not afraid that the students will be in dispute with visitors. We are confident about our students,” he said. “They are empowered if we stress that they are just students who made mistakes, but not inmates who committed crimes. The students’ identity motivates them to work hard for exams and integrate with community.” Lau Yin-chun, a 17-year-old who is at the college for three months after committing theft, wants to be thought of as any other normal person. “I was a set of numbers in the rehabilitation center where I stayed before coming here. Now, people call me by my name,” said Yin-chun, who did not hesitate to open up when he was approached by a reporter. The school does not use medications in its rehabilitation therapy. Responsibility and self-discipline are the cornerstones to the treatment. The 120 students of the college get up every morning at 6:30. They have morning assembly and Bible reading. By lunch time they have put in three hours of academic study. After lunch they work another three hours and have a couple of hours of free time before dinner. Bed time is 10 pm.Students and teachers share dormitories and the bathrooms which have no hot water.
The shelves will collapse during heavy rains and typhoons.
Students do their own cooking and laundry. Part of their responsibilities require that they help clean up the grounds and assist in renovations. The place is short on regular facilities. One project took several years as students of succeeding classes removed rocks from an outdoor basketball court. It proved to be good endurance training. They work side by side with teachers, feeling more like equals than subordinates or inferiors. There are no special privileges for teachers. “The senior students who are the leaders are often the last ones to receive gifts. They are serving others and taking more responsibility,” Chan said. There’s also some vocational in addition to academic studies. There’s pizza making, photography, video production, design and logistics. Some teaching facilities are pretty sub-standard. A lot of chairs are broken. On the other hand by not replacing broken chairs the school has been able to buy state-of-the-art equipment rarely seen in mainstream schools. The 20 MacBook Pro computers, the HK$48,000 camera and the HK$18,000 lens are some examples. “I cut staff pay for that. Teachers here are only paid 60 percent of salary offered by other schools,” said Chan whose pay is also 40 percent less. The Christian Zheng Sheng Association has businesses in Cheung Chau, including a pizza shop and tea house. It gets orders for producing videos, T-shirts, and printing names on mobile phone. Even the Macao government asked the association to produce a video about taking drugs.
Students are heading to Cheung Chau for video production.
The businesses have an annual turnover of about HK$1 million. “We are a social enterprise,” Chan said, adding that students emerging from the school will become more competitive in the job market because of the training they have received. There are other advantages. Some students were taken on an exchange visit to the United States. Chan said more than 70 percent of the school’s graduates do not return to drugs. “They dare to face the camera. They are achievers. They do not consider themselves criminals,” Chan said. ------------------------
I am impressed by the students and the staff of the college. I hope the college will continue being blessed no matter whether they will move to Mui Wo. It is expected that the students and staff are under pressure to continue performing well. Given that huge support for the college is pouring, a single and minor mistake can of the college will disappoint many and jeopardize the college image. Everyone makes mistakes, and they should be welcomed if they have corrected.
Remarks: This article, a long piece, is not well written. It is not insightful and there is no new view offered. But I have to stress that I write it sincerely (not suggesting that I am not serious to the other pieces I have written) and wholeheartedly.
I am very glad that there is no significant development in Nina Wang estate battle today. I can manage to finish work earlier and arrive at Victoria Park at around 9pm. I cannot manage to get inside the Victoria Park. I can only stand in the outer area. I can neither see what's happening inside the park nor hear what the people on stage are talking about. But I am excited, really excited, when I heard Szeto Wah announcing that there are 150,000 people attending the candle light vigil for June 4. I should be glad that I can only manage to get into the outer area because it is an indication that there are really many people showing up. It is a record-breaking turnout. I am just one of the small persons in the large crowd, but the power of this large crowd of small persons can make history and show the world that we have not forgotten even though the government wants us to forget. I am glad that I was among one of them, paying respect to June 4 victims. In Hong Kong.
I keep recalling what has happened to me over the past 20 years these days. I was just a primary school student spending most of my time doing homework and playing video games. Similar to my classmates, I just did not care what was reported in the newspapers and TV. What happened exactly this month two decades ago changed the way I and my classmates behave. We read newspapers and listened to radio news in schools even though the content was complicated and incomprehensible to us. In class, the teachers put aside the textbooks and told students about what was happening in Beijing. Some even broke down to tears before the students. We understood that there were a large group of students living far away from us demanding better changes. Back home, I watched TV news with my family. My brother, who is four years older than me, took to the street. The whole family watched and recorded the marathon concert 民主歌聲獻中華 (Concert for Democracy in China). We always heard of the serious corruption in China. I got an impression that those living on the mainland were poor and backward, which is the reason for my father coming to Hong Kong. Seeing the students on hunger strike, we knew that there were people with true compassions fighting to make the nation a better living place. Hope. We really hoped that the nation would get rid of problems and better respect its people. The hope was growing stronger and stronger. Until it was crushed on June 4.
Throughout these 20 years, there are many changes in the society. My parents have not talked about June 4. My brother, who took to the street two decades ago, even believes that the crackdown is helpful to China’s present development. Our schools do not about June 4. The history textbooks only briefly mention about it. Teachers are reluctant to talk about it. Students are unaware of it. I am more aware that the students’ leaders have made mistakes and I was somehow affected by the negative comments against those who escaped to overseas countries. I was puzzled why some people always took to the street to express what they want and why some people gathered in Victoria Park year after year demanding a vindication of June 4. Yes, it is a tragedy and it is sad that the students died. But what’s the point of the vindication? How can the vindication “benefit” me? Shouldn’t we let bygones be bygones and move “forward”? When I think deeper into it, I understand more. I am not saying that I got a very in-depth understanding of the nation and Hong Kong. I am still not familiar with China’s political and economic system. China’s economic development is amazing. The living standard of many people has improved. China’s rapid growth is increasingly important to the future of Hong Kong. The nation has also made some tremendous developments. The space missions and the Beijing Olympics are among them. However, we should not forget that the nation has impressed many with its problems. Put it sarcastically, we have learned melamine from the contaminated milk and other chemicals from other products scandals. We have learned how the poor people have their interest ignored because of corruption. We have learned that Chinese people are generous and sympathetic to the people in need from last year Sichuan’s earthquake, but we have also learned that how inhumane and uncivilized the government is as parents of children died from sub-standard schools are banned from expressing their grievances and no officials are held accountable for the construction of those schools. And on this special day, we have learned from news that a sister whose brother was killed 20 years ago is banned from paying tribute. And we have the following item that makes me feel ashamed and question whether we really have a civilized history of 5,000 years.
Yes, we have to move forward. But how can we actually move forward if we do not dare to face and settle our past. Yes, China’s economic development is rapid. But that does not mean that we have to support and accept what we believe is immoral and wrong. Yes, the students’ leaders 20 years ago had erred. But this is not a justification for sending troops and tanks against the people. Yes, we have long history and our ancestors have taught us many good lessons that can convince other nations to respect us. But we have to stop all the ridiculous incidents if we want to make people respect not only our economic power. Yes, it is painful recalling the tragedy of June 4. But how can we teach history to our children and ask other people to respect history if we are not courageous enough to face our ugly past. Yes, we have seen corrupt and bad officials being arrested and removed from office. But there will be corrupted officials coming to power if we do not improve our system. Yes, there is no perfect system in the world and all countries have their own problem. But striving for excellence should always be our dream and ideal. Yes, we are benefited from the nation’s development. But we deserve to be respected and have our demands and views listened.
I have watched a public affairs program in TVB on how youngsters think about June 4. A secondary school principal said his school does not touch on the sensitive subject because there is no sufficient data on many things, such as the death toll of June 4, and a responsible educator should not only base on media reports when teaching.
This is such a RIDICULOUS comment. The reason behind the lack of sufficient data is because we do not dare to face our past. Isn't it our job to get the whole picture and collect information from our own sources, especially when officials are reluctant to do that? I am afraid that most historical events, not only June 4, will be forgotten if the officials are not willing to give us the data.
I am glad that I am born in the 1970's. I am glad that I was a primary school student in 1989. Not mature enough to understand what the students in Beijing were doing at that time, but I was able to watch news from media organisations which did not exercise self-censorship as they do today and I was able to know how my primary school teachers felt about the incident.
Last year, we had the successful Olympic Games. We had a massive torch relay in Hong Kong. We had a HKU student staging protest during the torch relay in HK and also demonstrations in overseas countries. A public affairs program by RTHK interviewed some youngsters who are proud of the torch relay. In the eyes of these youngsters, there are only positive developments in the nation.
I do not totally agree with the protesters. But how these youngsters talk worries me. I am glad that I am born in the 1970's and I have a different perspectives from these youngsters.
20 years now. 20 years. Not a short period of time. But I am willing to wait, and we have to wait. We must continue doing that year after year. We are doing that because June 4 MUST NOT BE FORGOTTEN.
I really like this song named 自由花 (The flower of freedom). English translation of the lyrics will come later.
We cannot forget, nor will time wear away our memory; Deep in our heart we always recall that day in that year. We felt the pain, but time has turned it into strength. One bit of truth and one ideal are what we will forever seek.
We continue on a long long journey but we know no fear. We will cut away all hindering thorns, not minding them one bit. People of yesterday went through thick and thin in silence; They didn’t want to hear more reasoning, be it true or unreal.
But there is a dream that will not die - remember. No matter how hard it rains, freedom will still bloom, But there is a dream that will not die – remember. It comes from your heart and mine – remember.
We cannot forget, as has prevailed our undying belief. We deeply trust some day it will finally turn real. This message, depends on you and me, Doing our best, to keep searching for that ideal.
I spent the entire week in the High Court covering the probate trial which will decide who – Chinachem Charitable Foundation or fung shui master Tony Chan – can inherit the estimated HK$100 billion estate of late Asia’s richest woman Nina Wang. When Nina died two years ago, most people thought her estate would be used for charitable purposes based on a will dated 2002. However, to the surprise of Wang’s siblings, Chan – an unknown person before the saga – suddenly came out, claiming himself the sole beneficiary of Wang’s fortune based on a will dated 2006. Chan claimed himself the secret lover of Wang, whose husband Teddy was declared legally dead after being kidnapped in 1990. The court heard that Wang was attracted to Chan because the fung shui master claimed that he could locate Wang’s husband, but Chan denied that his fung shui knowledge is very limited. Fung shui, Chan claimed, is only a smokescreen covering his romantic and intimate relationship with Wang. Chan presented video, audio recordings, Wang trademark pigtail and love letters to the court to prove the relationship. Awaking many reporters who were bored to fall asleep in the court room, Chan’s counsel said one of the videos could prove that Wang wanted to have a baby with Chan. I somehow cannot understand how these rich people think. Wang, a person known for her frugality who treated police or staff helping her with only a simple meal that even the poorest people can afford, spent millions of dollars in fung shui. She asked for the transcript of court document to be prayed on, and the color of the bundles be matched with fung shui advice. She gave Chan HK$700 million over a few years in cash transported by car. HK$700 million in cash in addition to HK$2 billion and fees to other fung shui masters!! I don’t think I can make it in my life. A former legislator, who introduced Chan to Wang, said he gave Chan some HK$750,000 a year for fung shui advice and burned some HK$500,000 real bank notes to get rid of legal problems. The result – he was still sent to jail. If I had HK$500,000, I would quit my job for studying or travelling or taking rest, or use it for investment. I would definitely not burn them. Burning real money is unimaginable and insane. I cannot live without money. Maybe if I am as rich as these people, I will feel more insecure with more money I have.
I know it is late for me to write this, but I really want to say something regarding your remarks about June 4 in the Legislative Council question and answer session on Thursday.
Responding to a question raised by Civic Party legislator Margaret Ng on your stance of June 4, you said you understand Hong Kong people’s feelings about June 4.
But you went on to say that the incident happened many years ago, and the nation’s development has achieved tremendous results and brought economic prosperity to Hong Kong since then. You said you believe Hong Kong people will make an “objective” view of the nation’s development.
Perhaps you can think about this. Can you ask the protesters who march to Japanese consulate in every December to have an “objective” view of Japan’s tremendous economic development over the past decades, which brings benefit to Hong Kong, and forget about Nanjing Massacre?
Well, I have not expected, and will not expect, you will join the pan-democrats in suggesting the need to vindicate the incident. Your response to Ng’s question is what I have expected.
But what touches my nerve is the following statement you have made.
“My view represents the general opinion of Hong Kong people, and the opinion of the public will also affect my view,” you said. “The Hong Kong people I represent is the general Hong Kong people.”
Mr Chief Executive, you come to power after you have been elected by a committee consisting of 800 members. You are not elected by universal suffrage. How can you say that you represent my views? My views are different from yours. I do not share your views. Please just don’t impose your views on me.
You “apologized” after the Q&A session, saying you have used wrong words.
It is not a matter of language. I feel disrespected and offended by you.
