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Concerns from parents, school but then I notice some consequences discuss politics is in fact politicising
management, sponsoring body of cannot be borne by myself.” He had schools. “The Education Bureau is
the school and his colleagues were no choice but finally compromised the one which politicises schools by
aroused when Keefe was preparing – no political topics when setting banning certain ideas such as Hong
to organise the match. He realised a debate motions in future competi- Kong independence to be discussed.
political storm might have been trig- tions. This limits students’ thoughts. It is
gered even if he had kept the match Keefe believes it is hard to brain- the bureau which brings politics to
low-profile to avoid public atten- wash students simply by debate mo- schools,” Keefe says.
tion. People around him might also tions. “Students can have their own
be affected if the match continued. stance,” he says, “and their stance Prospect of Students Debating
“I realise things are beyond con- does not have to be the same as the A debate coach of a secondary
trol once they are related to politics,” stance they are assigned to in a com- school surnamed Wong, who refus-
Keefe says, “I tell my school I am petition.” es to disclose his full name, worries
willing to bear any consequences He believes forbidding students to criticisms over debating politics will

“

The future develop-
ment depends very

much on whether
debaters uphold the

value of searching
for truth

”

Statement from Hong Kong Schools Debate Federation (HKSDF) issued in Decem-
ber. (Photo courtesy of HKSDF)

affect future development of debate ing.” with unbiased and pluralistic views
training in secondary schools. Concerning the controversial de- since late August 2019, but refused
The school he works for also par- bate motions, the Education Bureau to provide an exact number of no-
ticipated in the Hong Kong Second- says in an email reply, “Many of the tices or letters issued to teachers and
ary School Debate Competition. motions are related to the current so- school upon enquiry.
“I think the future of students cial incidents with a slanted angle of
debating is definitely going to be topics. It makes people suspect that
harder in Hong Kong,” says Wong, there is a strong propagandistic pur-
“The future development depends pose.”
very much on whether debaters up- The bureau sent notices to vari- Edited by Tiffany Chong
hold the value of searching for truth ous schools, stating the basic princi-
as we say everything is worth debat- ples of teaching controversial issues Sub-edited by Lambert Siu