MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): Thank you, Deputy President. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (“SCNPC”) has recently adopted the Patriotic Education Law of the People’s Republic of China, which aims to strengthen patriotic education, inherit and promote the spirit of patriotism. Although the new law will not be directly applicable to Hong Kong, its spirit and principles are very worthy of emulation by Hong Kong. As a member of SCNPC, the Deputy President is actually serving as a bridge between SCNPC and the Legislative Council (“LegCo”). Today, the Deputy President has brought the motion on “Implementing patriotic education in greater depth and breadth” to LegCo. In addition to expressing my gratitude, I hope the Deputy President will continue to bring issues related to Hong Kong back to LegCo in future.
The Chief Executive delivered his Policy Address last week, proposing to strengthen efforts in promoting patriotic education, including the establishment of a Working Group on Patriotic Education led by the Chief Secretary for Administration to coordinate the work of the Government and non-governmental organizations in taking forward national education and dovetailing with the Patriotic Education Law of the country. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department will establish a Chinese Culture Promotion Office, which will be tasked to implement programmes to promote Chinese culture and history, including the establishment of two museums to introduce the country’s achievements in areas like history, political economy and culture. In fact, the proposals in the Policy Address have already responded to the demands of today’s motion. The current work is to implement the proposals put forward this time and previously as far as possible.
It is commendable that the Education Bureau (“EDB”) of Hong Kong has been actively promoting patriotic education in recent years, but there is one point worth noting. In fact, the current curriculum generally referred to as “national education” in EDB may not differ significantly from “patriotic education” in essence and content; however, the name “patriotic education” carries a more definite and positive meaning and is widely used around the world. I believe that in today’s environment of “patriots administering Hong Kong”, EDB may also need to study whether it needs to be renamed as “patriotic education”. At present, national education covers Chinese history, our country’s development, Chinese culture, Chinese geography, the Constitution and Basic Law education and other areas, cultivating students’ sense of belonging to the country and enhancing their sense of national identity. I basically agree to the direction of the curriculum development, but besides the curriculum, I believe that students’ sense of national identity can be sparked through more lively methods.
Indeed, the United States is one of the most successful countries in promoting patriotic education, particularly adept at instilling patriotic thoughts through daily life, such as hanging national flags and portraits of great people on buildings, singing national anthems at large gatherings, and collectively pledging to “cherish the country”. In fact, with our rich traditional culture and history, we should have more resources to develop a lively patriotic culture. For example, in the recent Sanxingdui artefact exhibition at the Hong Kong Palace Museum, there are some historical artefacts which have shocked the world, including the mysterious large-scale bronze masks. As long as students are properly guided to appreciate these artefacts, students’ interest in Chinese civilization and, in turn, their sense of national identity can be cultivated.
Additionally, in recent years, there has been a rise in the number of young people both at home and abroad who are wearing and studying ancient traditional costumes, known as “Chinese costumes”. Chinese costumes are exquisitely made with rich cultural connotations embedded in every stitch, which are in no way inferior to the allure of kimonos and hanboks. Moreover, there are many historical television dramas in the Mainland, the costumes of which are very elaborate and caught the attention of Hong Kong residents in the past. Therefore, by arousing students’ interest in and study of traditional costumes through school extra-curricular activities, students can also be guided to appreciate Chinese culture, as evidenced by the successful examples of Japan and South Korea. Furthermore, ancient aesthetics such as calligraphy and traditional Chinese painting need to be repackaged and infused with new elements, which can also serve as a means of patriotic education.
Deputy President, in recent years, the country’s achievements in areas such as economy, technology, infrastructure and improvement of people’s well-being have attracted worldwide attention. The country is poised for take-off, and national rejuvenation is just around the corner. However, as its development is too rapid, there will inevitably be obstacles. The country is currently amid intense geopolitical struggle, and Hong Kong is also affected. Therefore, Hong Kong needs to nurture young people with affection for both the country and Hong Kong, who can inherit Chinese culture, safeguard national unity and solidarity, and actively participate in building Hong Kong, so as to avoid the recurrence of the “black-clad violence”. Therefore, I fully support today’s motion.
Thank you, Deputy President.