Hong Kong Concerns

One of the big discussions around the lunch table during our stay in Hong Kong involved education. Apparently, the mainland Chinese want to re-write the school curriculum, emphasizing the progress that has been made since 1949, while omitting reference to such hard issues as 1989's Tiananmen Square riots and forced abortions. The overriding sentiment of the people we spoke with in Hong Kong was fear of their children being brainwashed, and that their standard of living, introduced by the British, would gradually fall to that of the mainland. In July, there were demonstrations against the proposed ed. changes by at least 100,000 people. Although a fraction of the island's population, this number is indicative of strong sentiment: in July many people are on vacation, and those that were there were focussing on work. The pressure isn't going away, as this article points out.

Polls suggest Hong Kong public distrust towards China is at a record high some 15 years after the former British colony reverted to Chinese rule in 1997, with many fearing Beijing's hand encroaching increasingly into the city's cherished freedoms and political affairs.

Many of the protesters were young students who flocked to the demonstrations straight after their first day back at school, some heckling Leung to scrap the scheme or step down.

Government control is a huge subject, and education in HK is but one small aspect. But with it so omnipresent, it is no wonder that so many parents mortgage their own lives so that their children can leave to go to school in the US and elsewhere abroad.