He made a point of highlighting that Hong Kong would be able to meet the requirements of the draft legislation, emphasising that a good deal of work had already been done on that front. Lee’s remarks signal to the central government that there will not be a repeat of the demonstrations in which students, teachers and other protesters turned out against the government’s plans to reform the curriculum to include moral and national education.
“Hong Kong has been doing a lot of work on patriotic education, such as teaching about Chinese history and national security,” Lee said. “We have encouraged young people to visit different mainland cities, understand the country’s policies and facilitate communication between residents of both sides. All the efforts by Hong Kong will adapt very well with patriotic education.”
The message to educators, parents and students is that there is little to worry about. However, Xu also mentioned that patriotic education is meant for “all residents”, meaning this will need to be done outside classrooms as well. How will that be carried out?
Even before the national patriotic education draft bill came to light, local lawmaker Reverend Peter Koon Ho-ming might have helped shed light on how this can be done. In an interview in early June, he floated the idea of displaying the national flag in church during National Day.
Koon was speaking on the how patriotism has been demonised in Hong Kong, especially when it is discussed in the religious context. He suggested churches could display the national flag on October 1 to reflect love for the country.
Reverend Peter Koon Ho-ming (centre) at the second plenary meeting of the National People’s Congress local delegate election at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on December 15, 2022. Photo: K.Y. Cheng
Some found Koon’s suggestion controversial, and perhaps even sacrilegious. Others might not have seen it as outlandish. Some churches outside Hong Kong have national flags displayed in their sanctuaries. The practice is common enough, and the debate on whether it should continue remains unresolved.
I doubt the practice of displaying the national flag at places of worship will be required by law in this city. We have come a long way since the days of revolting against anything that involves national education or calling measures that strengthen our awareness of the nation brainwashing, but we still have much distance to travel before we can view matters such as the patriotic education draft law without anxiety.
Alice Wu is a political consultant and a former associate director of the Asia Pacific Media Network at UCLA
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Hong Kong has come a long way, but patriotic education law still sparks anxiety - South China Morning Post
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