No brainwashing in Hong Kong please!
04 September 2012
Hong Kong parents, students, educators and pro-democracy activists are up in arms because of CY Leung's government's plan to introduce a new curriculum consisting of general civics education as well as lessons on appreciating mainland China. In July, tens of thousands of parents and their children took to the streets to protest against the introduction of national education.
This new curriculum -- to be introduced in primary schools in September and secondary schools in 2013.-- is seen as an attempt to brainwash the city's children by the Chinese government in Beijing.
The fact that the government is persisting with this new curriculum in
the face of strong popular opposition is confirmation that the government is carrying out a political mission on behalf of the central government in Beijing.
Private schools, including international schools, are exempt. This means of course that the children of Hong Kong's leaders would be exempt.
Why would Beijing be pushing such an initiative now? Beijing is clearly worried about Hong Kong's next elections when all Hong Kong citizens -- who have a very different cultural, social and political mindset from mainlanders -- will have the right to vote.
This shows yet again that Beijing, which is trying to develop its "soft power", still has no idea what it means.