People celebrate 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on a ship at the Victoria Harbor in south China's Hong Kong, Oct. 1, 2019. (Xinhua)
"With the song I would like to send a message that there are lots of young people in Hong Kong who love our country dearly," said Ting Ching-hoi, a Hong Kong young man who composed a patriotic song.
by Xinhua writers Bai Xu, Yao Yuan and Ding Ziyi
HONG KONG, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- When black-clad radicals went on rampage in Hong Kong to vandalize facilities and torch the Chinese national flag, there were youngsters here who braved the hostility to compose a patriotic song.
"Tribulation of the past, brewing a thousand years of soil; in glory there flow blood and sweat from toil," Ting Ching-hoi and his band Hody-Listen wrote in "The Republican Land", which they dedicated as a gift to the 70th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China.
"With the song I would like to send a message that there are lots of young people in Hong Kong who love our country dearly," he told Xinhua.
Ting admitted that composing a patriotic song was not easy now, given the current situation.
The ongoing unrest and violent acts have been rocking the Asian trading and financial hub for more than three months, posing serious threat to the safety of members of the public, and they have also seriously undermined social order.
"I was saddened by what happened in the past weeks and also by the fact that quite a few young people in Hong Kong have such a biased opinion of the (Chinese) mainland," Ting said. "So it occurred to me that maybe I could do something."
Xinhua talked to many young people here recently and found that although some watch Douyin, or Tik Tok, a social media video app for creating and sharing short video footage, while others use Alibaba's online shopping platforms such as Taobao, their understanding of the country appeared to be limited.
"My guitarist William Lee used to have misunderstanding about China," Ting Ching-hoi said. "By doing research before composing the song, his perception changed a lot."
Before Lee embarked on his first visit to the mainland last year, his mother was so nervous that she offered to buy him a life insurance. But her perception was later changed by Lee as well.
People celebrate 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) at Dragon's Back in south China's Hong Kong, Oct. 1, 2019. (Xinhua)
"Students in Hong Kong do not know much about the (Chinese) mainland, because history was just an optional subject in middle schools," Ting said. "Many would not choose the course, because it wouldn't help them find a good job in the future."
In October 2017, Carrie Lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, announced the Chinese history to become an independent compulsory subject for junior high students, starting in the 2018/19 school year.
Before that, teachers would normally encourage students to learn more about the contemporary society in the course of "liberal studies".
Ting recalled when he had the course in middle school, one chapter was about self identity.
"We were asked to choose from being 'a Hong Konger in China', 'a Chinese in Hong Kong', and 'a British in Hong Kong', etc. And we were told that there is no right answer."
This is different from even the West, where students would learn about their countries at a young age, and sing the national anthem on various occasions including regular school assemblies, Ting said.
In the interviews, some Hong Kong teachers and principals, who refused to be named for fear of being attacked by radical protesters, admitted that the education is flawed.
A senior teacher, who was the head of a liberal studies panel in a secondary school, said that the subject was initially designed to encourage students to read news and pay more attention to politics.
"Since there is no uniform textbook, schools and teachers have to search for their own teaching material," he said. "So the position of a school as well as a teacher's own judgement can largely affect their teaching."
Another expert of liberal studies told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that to save time, some teachers would grab something most handy, such as media reports.
"If reports are biased, how could the teachers remain objective?" he asked.
A college teacher showed Xinhua the websites they normally use to collect teaching information. After browsing the websites, Xinhua reporters found that the articles about the Chinese mainland were largely negative, such as vaccine scandal, smog and growing urban waste.
Yau Yat, a historian, pointed out that some media in Hong Kong like to feast on negative reports of the mainland. "If all the things students discussed are negative, they would form a perception and grow up with bias," he said.
His worries were by no means unfounded.
A 17-year-old middle school student surnamed Chou was among the protesters. "They say if I don't join them (to protest against the proposed ordinance amendments concerning fugitive offenders transfers), in the future when I say something improper, I will be thrown into jail in the mainland," she said, citing media reports she read in liberal studies class to justify her view.
People attend a flag-raising ceremony at the Golden Bauhinia Square, Hong Kong to mark the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Oct. 1 2019. (Xinhua)
Ting said he always suggested his friends actually go to the mainland to have a look. "Seeing is believing."
He is currently working on another song, "1842", which tells the history of Hong Kong being separated from China under the Treaty of Nanking.
Some friends kindly warned him to be careful so as not to be attacked by radical protesters.
"Wherever we go, we have but one motherland," Ting said. He hoped that his songs could be inspirational to the young people in Hong Kong.
"Make your appeals in a rational way and work hard for the future of Hong Kong and the motherland. That's the real meaningful thing," said he. (Xinhua reporters Wang Xin, Annie Cheung and Zhao Ruixi contributed to the story.)■
