Fury Over ATV Attack on Student Protest Group

10,000 complain over commentary accusing Scholarism of being 'pawn' of pan-democrats

by Simpson Cheung and Laura Zhou, SCMP, September 05, 2012

An ATV news commentary attracted a record high of more than 10,000 complaints for claiming opponents of national education were manipulated by "destructive" politicians who had the backing of London and Washington in the Legislative Council election.

On Monday's episode of ATV Focus, the narrator said local student-activist group Scholarism was only a pawn controlled by the "destructive" camp to boost poll support this weekend.

These teens are very poor at playing politics. They are in fact merely willful young ruffians," said the narrator, whom the show did not identify. The programme carried a disclaimer saying it reflected only the host's view.

Last night, the show continued its attack on Scholarism.

The Monday clip was widely circulated online, with many web users urging people to complain to the broadcasting regulator. The communication authority said it had received more than 10,000 complaints that accused the programme of broadcasting untrue and biased content.

The authority's code of practice says free-to-air television licensees shall ensure their programes are accurate and impartial. Shows that air personal views should allow a sufficiently broad range of opinions to be expressed.

Ronald Chiu Ying-chun, chairman of the News Executive Association, said ATV had breached the code of practice on impartiality and he demanded an explanation.

Yesterday, and ATV reporter was booed as she covered the protest against national education outside the Admiralty government offices. Scholarism convenor Joshua Wong Chi-fung said he was disappointed with the programme for broadcasting falsehoods.

It is understood that the programme is under the charge of Louie King-bun, a former senior editor of leftist newspaper Ta Kung Pao, which ran a front-page report with a tone similar to that of ATV Focus yesterday.

An ATV spokesman said freedom of expression and of the press should not be infringed, and hoped everyone's views could be respected.

Glossary

1. accuse 指控
2. biased 偏頗
3. boost 提高
4. code of practice 專業操守恆
5. commentary 評論
6. complaint 投訴
7. convenor 召集人
8. disclaimer 免責聲明
9. infringe 違反
10. leftist 左派
11. manipulate 操縱
12. narrator 旁述
13. News Executive Association 香港新聞行政人員協會
14. pan-democrats 泛民主派
15. Ta Kung Pao 大公報
16. ruffian 流民, 惡棍

Parents decry national education

With the subject set to start in primary schools, thousands protest at government headquarters

(From SCMP, September 2, 2012) Tens of thousands of people opposed to national education lessons, due to begin tomorrow in primary schools, rallied last night outside government headquarters in Admiralty.

Pictured by Joseph Lee

Among them, three teenagers were forced to bring their hunger strike to an early end on health grounds. But 10 others - university students, a parent, teachers and a professor - began a hunger strike due to last until tomorrow.

Organisers, who put the number of protestors last night at 40,000 called for another protest tomorrow at the same spot. Earlier, police put the crowd at more than 8,100.

Many parents, with children in tow, gathered outside the headquarters to make their feelings known on national education - a subject the government says will instil national pride but which protestors dismiss as a brainwashing tool.

Three members of protest group Scholarism were forced to bring a planned 72-hour hunger strike to an end 16 hours early, at midnight. The three, Lily Wong Lee-lee, Ivan Lam Long-yin and another student calling himself Kaiser, defied a request by Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to start eating again yesterday morning.

She told them they had made their point, and that the government was offering schools enough flexibility in teaching national education.

Campaigners used colourful games to argue against the national education programme, which will be compulsory at primary level from 2015 and in secondary classrooms from 2016.

Social worker Kung Si-man twisted ballons to resemble an assortment of animals. "We want children to know they have the freedom to choose what they like, and they don't have to accept everything that is forced on them," she said.

Volunteer Jenny Luk Mei-wai ran a booth that hung up questions on Chinese geography gleaned from the existing secondary school textbooks. One intermediate-level question was: what is the largest Chinese province that also shares a border with the most countries? Answer: Xinjiang. "We want to show that our current school curriculum already offers a lot of the topics that they say national education will teach," she said.

Hazel Pang Tsz-tsun, 10, explored a village made of card-board that was intended to remind visitors of a dark period in China's recent past. She was invited to shake one of the houses while her younger brother was inside, as an example of "tofu"buildings that collapsed, due to shoddy construction, in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

"Because there is brainwashing in China, when the earthquake struck people didn't realise that many deaths actually occurred because the government did not build the houses property," she said.

Other messages of protest were written on eggshells. "The children are like eggs, they young and have fragile shells," said 28-year-old Ivy Ip Wai-min, an architect who was visiting the gathering with her boyfriend.

Glossary

1. argue against 提出理據
2. booth 攤位
3. Chief Secretary 政務司
4. compulsory 強迫性
5. curriculum 課程
6. flexibility 彈性
7. fragile 易碎的
8. hunger strike 絕食
9. national education 國民教育
10. province 省份
11. Scholarism 學民思潮

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Hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded Hong Kong's streets

July 2, 2012 Excerpted from CNN

Hong Kong (CNN) -- Hundreds of thousands of protesters flooded Hong Kong's streets Sunday, shortly after the city's new chief executive was sworn in during a ceremony with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the 15th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty.

Despite the humid weather, organizers reported that 400,000 protesters turned out for the annual July 1 protest against what they say is the ever-encroaching hand of the Chinese central government in the city's affairs and freedoms.

It was the largest turnout since the estimated 500,000 protesters who marked the same date in 2003. Police put the figure at a much lower 63,000 people.

In a statement addressing the July 1 march, the Hong Kong government said it "fully respected people's rights to take part in processions and their freedom of expression and would listen to their views in a humble manner."

It went on to say that the government will "uphold the core values of Hong Kong and protect the freedom and rights of the people."

Vocabulary

1. encroach 侵入, 超出通常界限
2. estimate 估計
3. flood 淹沒, 湧到, 充斥
4. freedom 自由, 自主
5. humble 謙遜的, 謙恭的
6. procession 行列, 隊伍
7. protester 抗議者; 反對者; 拒絕者
8. swear (sworn) 發誓; 宣誓
9. sovereingnty 統治權, 主權
10. uphold 維護, 維持, 高舉, 支撐

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Tycoon gives Tsang apparent bargain on flat

Feb 24, 2012, excerpted from SCMP

Donald Tsang Yam-kuen appears to have found the bargain¹ of a lifetime¹³, following disclosure⁶ by his landlord¹⁰ that he will be charging Hong Kong's chief executive only 80,000 yuan (HK$98,444) a month for his luxury¹² apartment in Shenzhen¹⁵ despite spending more than 10 million yuan on its decorations⁵ and fittings.

But at that rate of rent, the landlord will need at least 10 years to recover¹⁴ his decoration costs alone, though Tsang has signed a lease for only three years. He had paid a million yuan in advance⁸ for the first year, Wong said.

Legislators have expressed concern³ over Tsang's possible conflicts of interest⁴ and have increased the pressure on him to disclose details of all the favours he has received from his tycoon friends.

The Democratic Party has urged the Independent Commission Against Corruption⁷ to investigate⁹ the lease, and has called on the Legislative Council to invoke its powers to force full disclosure⁶. Joseph Wong Wing-ping, former secretary for the civil service², questioned Tsang's judgment.

Vocabulary

1. bargain 特價商品, 便宜貨
2. civil service 公務員
3. concern 關心的事, 利害關係
4. conflicts of interest 利益衝突
5. decoration 裝飾, 裝潢
6. disclosure 揭發; 透露; 公開
7. Independent Commission Against Corruption 香港廉政公署
8. in advance 預先的, 事先的
9. investigate 調查, 研究
10. landlord 房東; 地主
11. lease 租約, 租賃
12. luxury 奢侈, 奢華
13. of a lifetime 千載難逢的
14. recover 挽回, 彌補, 取得(賠償等)
15. Shenzhen 深圳

University places no longer assured

Feb 11, 2012, Excerpted from SCMP

Attending an elite secondary school will no longer be a guarantee of a university place, teachers warn.

As more pupils sit the new Diploma of Secondary Education, schools that have in the past enjoyed a university admission rate of close to 100 per cent say they expect to have to answer to parents disappointed when their children miss out.

Traditionally, only about a third of pupils continued their studies and took A-levels after the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination papers at the end of Form Five. Under the "3+3+4" system introduced in 2009, pupils will complete three years of junior secondary education and three years of senior secondary education. Those qualified to go on to university will take four years to complete standard courses.

Nancy Chan Woo Mei-hou, principal of King's College in Sai Wan, an elite government school, said it was difficult to predict how pupils would perform in the new exam or assess the strength of competition from other schools.

A study by the Federation of Education Workers which showed that pupils found subjects such as accounting, English and the new, compulsory liberal studies paper among the most difficult in mock exams. "What is also surprising is that people are telling us that even the Chinese language papers are hard," the spokesperson said.

Vocabulary

1. 3+3+4 system 三三四學制
2. admission 許可入場[入學、入會]; 承認
3. assure 確保, 保障
4. competition 競爭
5. compulsory 強制的, 必須做的; 必修的
6. Diploma of Secondary Education 香港中學文憑
7. disappoint 使失望
8. elite 精華; 精英; 優秀分子
9. Federation of Education Workers 香港教育工作者聯會(簡稱教聯)
10. guarantee 保證; 擔保
11. Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination 香港中學會考
12. mock 假的; 假裝的; 模擬的
13. predict 預言; 預料
14. qualified 具備必要條件的; 合格的; 勝任的
15. spokesperson 發言人
16. traditionally 傳說上; 傳統上; 習慣上
17. warn 警告; 告誡; 提醒

Callers praise, blame Tsang on budget

Excerpted from SCMP, Feb 02, 2012


Middle-class callers praised the new budget – and the poorest condemned it – when the financial secretary spoke with Hongkongers on a Thursday morning radio show.


John Tsang Chun-wah, who delivered his budget in the legislature on Wednesday, heard from one caller who was crying, saying she and other poor people had one more been ignored.


Many middle-class callers, meanwhile, thanked Tsang for the wide range of tax relief measures, which they said would ease their burden.


Some of them urged the government to roll out more measures to help the poor.


Tsang said they would be helped through recurrent government spending on such areas as education.


Vocabulary

1. budget 預算
2. burden 重擔
3. condemn 責難, 責備
4. financial secretary 財政司司長
5. ignore 不顧, 不理會, 忽視
6. legislature 立法會
7. middle-class 中產階級
8. praise 讚揚, 稱讚
9. recurrent 定期重複的; 週期性的
10. relief 緩和, 減輕; 解除; 救濟; 補助
11. urge 催促; 力勸; 激勵; 慫恿

CE candidates hold first debate on air

Excerpted from SCMP, Jan 30, 2012.

The first face-to-face debate between chief executive candidates was held on Monday morning, but only two of the three contenders showed up for the radio broadcast discussion.

Henry Tang Ying-yen was not present, leaving Leung Chun-ying and Albert Ho Chun-yan to challenge each other’s policies on population policy, on a Commercial Radio programme.

Leung called for stricter measures to stop mainland women giving birth in Hong Kong.

But he rejected Ho’s call for a Basic Law amendment to prevent children born in Hong Kong of mainland parents from gaining the right of abode. Such a move was unprecedented and would not solve the problem in the immediate future, Leung said.

Vocabulary

1. abode 住所, 住處
2. amendment 修正; 改善
3. Basic Law 政策法
4. broadcast 廣播; 廣播節目
5. candidate 候選人
6. challenge 挑戰; 質疑; 指責
7. chief executive
8. contender 爭奪者; 競爭者
9. debate 辯論, 爭論
10. face-to-face 面對面地
11. measure 尺寸; 措施; 手段; 基準, 尺度
12. population policy 人口政策
13. unprecedented 無先例的, 空前的

Discussion

1. Name the three chief executive candidates.
2. Who was absent from the debate?
3. Which word in the essay means "having no previous example"?

Dolce & Gabbana's apology too late

Dolce & Gabbana's apology too late

Jan 19, 2012 SCMP

After weeks of protests over its photo ban against Hongkongers, Dolce & Gabbana finally broke its silence early yesterday morning - as most of the city slept - to say it was "truly sorry".

But the delayed apology was not enough to appease some angry internet users, who suggested another photo shoot protest be staged on Sunday. The Italian fashion house issued a statement around 3am yesterday apologising for alleged criminal intimidation of a photographer outside its Harbour City store.

"We understand that the events which unfolded in front of the Dolce & Gabbana boutique on Canton Road have offended the citizens of Hong Kong," it said. "For this we are truly sorry and we apologise."

Internet users rejected the apology, however. "Although the company apologised, it did so for having offended Hong Kong residents. It did not admit that it was wrong ... to ban photos from being taken," said the creator of a Facebook page promoting another protest this Sunday. The company has offered no guarantee that it will allow photographs to be taken outside the store in future, and did not identify the security guard responsible for the discriminatory comments, the Facebook page said.

Vocabulary

1. alleged 被說成的

2. apology 道歉

3. ban 禁止

4. boutique 女裝商店

5. broke its silence 打破沈默

6. criminal 犯法的; 刑事

7. discriminatory 歧視性的

8. intimidation 恐嚇

9. offend 觸怒

10. security guard 警衛

11. statement 聲明

Local mothers in protest over beds shortage

Local mothers in protest over beds shortage
Monday, January 16, 2012 The Standard

Despite the rain, about 400 mothers-to-be, young couples and parents wheeling their infants in prams yesterday marched from Victoria Park to the Government Headquarters in Tamar to protest against the shortage of maternity beds.

With blue ribbons tied around their left wrists to signify unity and carrying banners proclaiming "Reclaim the rights of Hong Kong moms and children," "Defend order and culture of our home city," and "Stop the abuse of local public resources," the protesters, supported by 74,000 on Facebook, said it is time to say "no" to mainland parents giving birth in Hong Kong."

In response, Hospital Authority chief executive Leung Pak-yin said the authority will consider admitting fewer expectant women from the mainland during the Year of the Dragon.

Leung said some public hospitals have already stopped accepting advance bookings by mainlanders.

The spokeswoman for the protest group, Yeung Ka-lee, said local mothers are upset at the government's incompetence in formulating a long-term population policy.

Vocabulary
1. Chief executive
2. Government Headquarters in Tamar
3. Hospital Authority
4. Local public resources
5. Mainlanders
6. Population policy
7. Protestor
8. Victoria Park