Hong Kong Secondary Students Union - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Hong Kong Secondary Students Union (Chinese character

Chinese character

Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...

s: 香港中學生聯盟, pinyin

Pinyin

Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

: Xiānggǎng Zhōngxuéshēng Liánméng) is a pro-democracy student organisation in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

established in August 2003 by some pro-democratic secondary school students of Hong Kong. Formed by various students’ associations (SA’s) and students’ councils (SC’s) of secondary schools, it is the third-largest politically-involved youth organization in Hong Kong, after the Hong Kong Federation of Students

Hong Kong Federation of Students

Hong Kong Federation of Students is the biggest student organization in Hong Kong. It is formed by the students' union of 7 tertiary education institutions. It has 51,779 members as of March 2006...

and the Hong Kong Youth and Tertiary Students Association.

The HKSSU’s stated goals are to study social and political issues from a student’s perspective, to speak out on government policies affecting secondary school students, and to raise awareness and sense of responsibility among young people towards social and political issues. Activities include the annual Youth Conference in Hong Kong, as well as participation in various political demonstrations.

Advisors to the HKSSU include four barristers, one solicitor, twelve university professors and lecturers, two clergy, one reporter, one accountant, and two doctors.

Political activism

Secondary school students in Hong Kong were traditionally perceived as being indifferent to politics, until an ad-hoc group of secondary students (中學生關注基本法第23條立法聯盟) called about 3000 students to take part in the political demonstration in 2003 against Article 23 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law

Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23

Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 is the basis of a security law proposed by the Government of Hong Kong. It states:On 24 September 2002 the government released its proposals for the anti-subversion law. It is the cause of considerable controversy and division in Hong Kong, which operates as a...

, after noticing heated discussions among students about the proposed legislation. After the demonstration, the ad-hoc group reorganized itself and became a registered organization under the name Hong Kong Secondary Students Union.

Political demonstrations

HKSSU has been active in many political demonstrations since its inception, including:

the pro-democracy demonstration demanding universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...

in 2007 and 2008 on New Year’s Day, 1 January 2004;
the demonstration against the interpretation of Basic Law
Hong Kong Basic Law
The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, or simply Hong Kong Basic Law, serves as the constitutional document of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China...

by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
National People's Congress
The National People's Congress , abbreviated NPC , is the highest state body and the only legislative house in the People's Republic of China. The National People's Congress is held in the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, capital of the People's Republic of China; with 2,987 members, it is the...

on 11 April 2004;
the pro-democracy demonstration demanding universal suffrage in 2007 and 2008 on 1 July 2004;
the pro-democracy demonstration demanding universal suffrage in 2007 and 2008 on 23 January 2005;
the demonstration on 17 April 2005 against the history revisionism in Japanese textbooks;
the demonstration against the interpretation of Basic Law by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on 24 April 2005;
the rally on 31 May 2005 commemorating the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...

;
the pro-democracy demonstration demanding universal suffrage on 2007 and 2008 on 1 July 2005;
the pro-democracy demonstration
December 2005 protest for democracy in Hong Kong
On 4 December 2005, tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong protested for democracy and called on the Government to allow universal and equal suffrage. The protesters demanded the right to directly elect the Chief Executive and all the seats of the Legislative Council...

demanding a timetable of democratization on 4 December 2005 and
18 March 2007 protest.

Despite HKSSU’s success to mobilize a large number of students in the first 1 July Rally in 2003, it seemed unable to call such a great number of students to join later demonstrations, and people who marched in the name of the union were mostly either members of the executive committee or core members. Many teenagers did participate in the demonstrations, but they did not follow the union.

Nevertheless, HKSSU did participate in most of the protests organized by the pro-democracy camp, including as the anti–Tiananmen massacre protests, not only for expressing the students’ voice, but also for raising funds to keep the union running.

Other political involvements

Besides participating in political demonstrations, the HKSSU has also been active in other political activities, including

participating in various public discussion forums; and
organizing and participating in promotional events to encourage voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...

.

Other activities

The HKSSU was also involved in other activities, including conducting a survey among secondary school students on educational issues (funding cuts in particular) in December, 2003; and the issue of various position papers on mostly educational policies.

On the 1 January 2005, they joined a donation campaign raised by the pro-democracy camp

Pro-democracy camp

Pro-democracy camp, pan-democracy camp or pan-democrats refer to the politicians and social activists in Hong Kong who support increased democracy and may work together in areas of common interest or by not fielding candidates against one another in elections.Democratic activists are usually...

, raising funds for people affected by tsunami of South Asia

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on Sunday, December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake...

. They established counters in Mong Kok

Mong Kok

Mong Kok , less often known as Argyle , is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District on Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong...

and Causeway Bay

Causeway Bay

Causeway Bay is a heavily built-up area of Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, located on the Hong Kong Island, and covering parts of Wan Chai and Eastern districts. The Chinese name is also romanized as Tung Lo Wan as in Tung Lo Wan Road...

, and successfully raised more than $70000.

Besides, they also organize the Youth Conference every year.

Youth Conference 2004

YC 2004 was co-organized by the HKSSU, Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor

Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor

Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor is a local non-governmental organization which was established in April 1995. It aims at promoting better human rights protection in Hong Kong in the aspect of legislation and people's everyday life....

(HKHRM) and Hong Kong Democratic Development Network (HKDDN), with the purpose of:

training for critical thinking, debating and communicating skills,
agglomerating the united power of youths,
making youths more concerned about public affairs,
learning about the Hong Kong Children's Council.

For the organizing committees, many walk-in teenagers, as well as some Executive Committees of the union who were F.5 or F.7. The director of this year was Kitty Ng, the chairlady of HKSSU.

More than 160 students from different schools applied for attending this conference, and 85 of them were chosen to participate in the activity. A pre-camp workshop was held on 21 July 2004 in Esther Lee Building of the Chinese University of Hong Kong

Chinese University of Hong Kong

The Chinese University of Hong Kong is a research-led university in Hong Kong.CUHK is the only tertiary education institution in Hong Kong with Nobel Prize winners on its faculty, including Chen Ning Yang, James Mirrlees, Robert Alexander Mundell and Charles K. Kao...

. A 5-day camp was held on 25 July – 29 July 2004, at Shaw College and a mock debate was held in Legco.

Youth Conference 2005

This year, the focus was put on the theme of ""Democratic School", together with some concepts about children rights. It was jointly organized by HKSSU, HKHRM, and Hong Kong Democratic Development Network (HKDDN).

The organizing committees were mainly filled by some non-EXCO Members of HKSSU, together with staff of HKHRM and HKDDN. The directors of Youth Conference 2005 were Ian Leung of HKSSU, Kit Chan of HKHRM and Chris Lo of HKDDN.

A 4-day camp was held on 1 August – 4 August 2005, at Chung Chi College of CUHK

Chinese University of Hong Kong

. A post-camp workshop was held the City University of Hong Kong

City University of Hong Kong

City University of Hong Kong is a comprehensive research university in Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and became a fully accredited university in 1994. It has achieved fast growth in recent years and received international recognition for its academic achievements...

on 13 August and the mock debate was held in Legco on 20 August.

Youth Conference 2006

The Executive Committee decided to organize another Youth Conference this summer, with the theme of "unequal distribution of wealth". It was jointly organized by HKSSU, HKHRM, and Hong Kong Democratic Development Network (HKDDN).

The organizing committees were mainly filled by some non-EXCO Members & EXCO Members of HKSSU, together with staff of HKHRM and HKDDN. The chairpersons of Youth Conference 2006 were Ben Chung Kam Lun of HKSSU, Valerie Chan Wing Yin of HKHRM .

A 4-day camp was held on 24 July – 27 July 2006, at United College of CUHK

Chinese University of Hong Kong

. A workshop was held on 12 August 2006 at the HKPTU headquarters and a mock debate.

Independence

The union claims to be independent in finance and the administration, and is not sponsored by any political parties. However Human Rights Monitor (hereafter short-termed as HRM) and the Democratic Development Network (hereafter short-termed as DDN) were just too close to the top-profile members of the Union. In 2005, the two factions supporting HRM and DDN respectively started a destructive power struggle, which in fact pushed the Social Democrats to power. The HRM and Social Democratic alliance remained in power until the conservatives took power in November 2006.

The Human Rights Monitor is being accused by conservatives and Social Democrats to be "too involved" in union affairs. Even for the liberals, some former executive committee members were quoted to have said that the union would eventually become a puppet of HRM if the Union could not maintain its independence.

Since the conservatives took power, cooperation and communication between HRM and the Union became more or less symbolic. Mistrust and discontent rose between both organizations.

Factional Problems

The union faced with serious factional problems, with two major power struggles since its establishment in 2003. Factional problems hindered the future development of the Union.

Political activism

Political demonstrations

Other political involvements

Other activities

Youth Conference 2004

Youth Conference 2005

Youth Conference 2006

Independence

Factional Problems

See also