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Transforming Structures to Images

Architectural photographer, Leon Xu, captures the beauty of a building with his knowledge in architecture and art sense. 

By Vivian Cao

“As an architect, I think about the building’s physical look, structures, material, and the relationship between people and space. As a photographer, I focus on imagining what buildings look like when I take photos,” Leon Xu says. 

Xu, aged 29, wears three hats. He is an architect, a lecturer in the architecture school of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), and a photographer. His interest in art design and degree in civil engineering navigated him to take up an unusual role – an architectural photographer.

Switching Different Hats

Xu believes photographers’ training in different disciplines affect their approaches of taking picture. He recalls one of his clients hired three photographers for a shooting project. One of them who studied Arts at university was good at capturing objects in an aesthetic way, but failed to seize the importance of space. Xu learns about space as an essential concept from his training in architecture, and this has a great influence on his productions. 

Xu showed his Double Wall Pavilion project outside his office at School of Architecture.

One of Xu’s recent works, Double Wall Pavilion, was exhibited at the 2019 Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture. Although this modal has a simple exterior, Xu highlighted: form, materials and elements in it, by applying his photography acumen. 

Design of Double Wall Pavilion. (Photo courtesy: Xu Liang)

“When I was designing this project, I decided to employ a metal net for the roof. The metal net should be three-dimensional instead of flat. Because this can create a shimmering effect when sunlight reflects on it,” Xu recalls. Architecture photography makes him pay more attention to different spots inside a building.

Another latest work of Xu is a cooperation with HATO Studio for Tai Kwun publication after its major revamp. Xu’s photos are printed on pamphlets for promoting Tai Kwun. This is a unique experience for Xu because he usually works with architects. But this project involves a cultural heritage organization and a graphic design studio.

“Do you know which team of Tai Kwun invited me? It is not the designing team nor curatorial team but the marketing team. Their perception of photos and what they want to convey are different from architects,” Xu explains. When he works with architects, he applies his professional knowledge and presents concepts and highlights of a building in photos. But the marketing team of Tai Kwun requires images that can attract public attention and interest.

Xu’s photo were printed on the promotional pamphlets of Tai Kwun. (Photo courtesy: Xu Liang)

Living under Principles

Everyone has their living principles and Xu is no exception. There are two principles he lives by when working as an architectural photographer. Xu had his first taste of commercial photography with BEAU Architects, an architecture studio in Hong Kong. The founders and partners of BEAU Architects, who cannot read Chinese, showed their appreciation after seeing a report of his works. “The report only has a Chinese version. They were not touched by my words but my photos,” Xu claims.  

He highly appreciates the opportunity to work at BEAU Architects because this studio emphasizes tectonics which is an expression of construction and materiality. This matches one of Xu’s principles – focusing on the quality of buildings.

Another principle is to avoid being proactive when handling clients. He aims to maintain an equal status with his clients but not just a service provider. Xu explains, “The relationship between my clients and I should be built base on their appreciation of my works instead of relying on self-promotion. I think this can safeguard my professionalism.”

The relationship between my clients and I should be built base on their appreciation of my works.

Xu finds defining the boundary of professionalism necessary to ensure autonomy of his works. So he only take pictures of architectures for commercial photography, but not for events and portraits. 

Separated by a River

Photo taken in Nam Shan Estate, Shek Kip Mei. (Photo courtesy: Xu Liang)

Xu has a taste of living in two proximate cities: Hong Kong and Shenzhen. After finishing his master degree in Shenzhen, he studied a postgraduate course in Hong Kong at Architecture school. Although these two cities are separated by a river,  cultural difference affects all aspects of people’s daily lives in the two cities. During his six years of stay in Hong Kong, Xu has melt into Hong Kong way of life already.

“I like Hong Kong because this city brings a lot of excitement to me. It is a city with a mixture of new and old, traditional and modern, low-income and high-income. Under this situation, plenty of unexpected things can happen,” Leon says. He adds that Shenzhen is a newly developed city that is big, clean and comfortable, but it lacks historical elements.

The limited space in Hong Kong is what Xu finds challenging, as an architect, yet attractive. “When you face a confined space compared to a big and empty room, you will have a completely different design,” Xu says. He is amazed by some narrow stores with only 3 meters width along Hong Kong’s old streets. 

More than a Photographer

Living in a fast-paced city like Hong Kong where commercial values often win over art, Xu still has high regards for art. “Art has a high value. Because it can enlighten people. But it depends on if you want to be enlightened or not,” he says. Xu believes art form is an expressive way to portray problems in society and people’s daily lives. Art form might not bring quick improvement, but it can enlighten people. 

Art has a high value. Because it can enlighten people. But it depends on if you want to be enlightened or not.

Xu gave a lecture to the students from School of Architecture.

He thinks the difference between him and other commercial photographers is that commercial project is only part of his works. He also enjoys art photography and attends different exhibitions to meet friends who share same interests as him. “I will not define myself as a commercial photographer. I am a photography artist,” Xu says.

Edited by Tiffany Chong
Sub-edited by Ariel Lai

Turn the Clock Back

A Taiwanese restaurant inside an industrial building can bring you back to the old times.

By Tommy Huang

School Café (小時光) is a Taiwanese restaurant inside an old industrial building in Kwun Tong. Decorated like an old school, School Café is not simply a restaurant to dine in, but also a place to turn the clock back.

The owner of School Café, Kevin Chan, is a Hong Konger who loves Taiwanese food so much that he opened a Taiwanese restaurant.

Chan also likes to collect old stuff. Old desks and chairs in School Café were originally abandoned when some schools underwent renovation in Taiwan. Chan collected and brought them to Hong Kong. He thinks it is wasteful to throw away old school furnitures which are now used in the café as dining tables and chairs for customers to sit.

Abandoned old furnitures taken from school renovation are placed in School Cafe.

Hongkongers love Taiwanese romantic movies like “Secret (不能說的秘密)” and “You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我們一起追的女孩)”. Posters of these films are hung on walls in the café. Customers can feel as if they are in Taiwan once they step into the restaurant. “I have seen movies “Detention (返校)” and “Our Times (我的少女時代)”, so I find these old desks and chairs familiar,” Bowie Mok, a Hong Kong customer says.

Second-hand comic books are also available for customers to read at the café. Japanese comics became popular in the 1970s in Taiwan and Hong Kong. “I like Slam Dunk and comics by Mitsuru Adachi,” Cannie Chan, manager of School Café, says. “Dragon Ball was also popular in my time, but it was not my favorite,” she adds.

Customers can read classic Japanese comics on the shelves.

“It brings my childhood memories back. I see action figures of Mazinger Z, which we all watched when we were young,” Lai Jui-Chin, a Taiwanese customer shares. Antiques such as action figures, sashes, fans, television, and telephone are all special features of its decoration.

Braised pork on rice is the signature dish in School Café.

Red-braised beef noodle soup and braised pork on rice are School Café’s signature dishes. Most of the ingredients are imported from Taiwan directly. “Without these ingredients from Taiwan, the taste of the food will be different,” Chan says. Tablewares such a flask-style cups, colored pencil-style chopsticks, and note-shaped menus another highlights of the restaurant. All imitate stationaries students use in schools.

“Older customers are more familiar with these decorations. When they come with their families, they share memories with their children,” Chan says. “I find it meaningful.”

Edited by Lambert Siu
Sub-edited by Soohyun Kim

A Path to Freedom

Walking along the Freedom Trail is like revisiting the history of American revolution.

By Tommy Huang in Boston

  • Massachusetts State House, also known as Massachusetts Statehouse or the New State House is located in the Beacon Hill. It houses the state government and is well- recognised because of its dome sheathed in copper and covered by 23 karat gold.

Boston was regarded as the birthplace of the American Revolution. Now a popular tourist attraction there, the Freedom Trail, is a 4 km red brick pedestrian walk starting from Boston Common to Bunker Hill, with 16 historical sites in American history.

Before the American Revolution between 1765 and 1783, Americans had to pay tax to their coloniser, the British government, but Americans had no representative in the British Parliament. “No taxation without representation” then became the slogan of the revloution.

Two important sites on the Freedom Trail are Faneuil Hall and Old South Meeting House. Boston revoluntionists gathered in these meeting halls as they challenged the British Parliament and demanded their rights during the Boston Tea Party, a mercantile and political protest which is usually considered to be the catalyst to the American Revolution.

Several weeks of town meetings discussing tea boycott were held upon the arrival of the British East India Company’s ships and the situation reached its climax on December 16, 1773, when demonstrators marched to Griffin’s Wharf to board on those ships to dump 340 tea chests into the Boston port.

“As a major commercial port among the 13 Colonies, Boston was seriously affected in terms of trade when the British levied taxes on colonies,” says Lian Yi-Zheng, an economic professor says. “So anti-taxation campaigns occurred in Boston,” Lian, who had his tertiary education in the US and taught at the University of California, adds.

The British government was angered by the the Boston Tea Party. In 1774 the British enacted the Intolerable Acts, a series of punitive laws, that the Boston port was closed until American paid for the dumped tea and restored British authority in the Province of Massachusetts Bay.

Lian says Boston had a highly independent colonial governmen under British rule, like Hong Kong before the 1997 handover from British to Chinese sovereignty.

Lian points out many Americans liken today’s Hong Kong to the US during the American Revolution. “In order to pursue freedom and escape from oppression, people left the motherland and established a highly civilized place economically and politically. In the end, the oppression of the government of motherland led to resistance,” Lian says.

“This mechanism is very similar with what the USA had gone through. In comparison with their own history, what happened in Hong Kong in 2019 consciously or subconsciously resonates Americans.”

Edited by Lambert Siu
Sub-edited by Soohyun Kim

Pepe the Frog, more than a frog

Reporters: Ariel Lai, Howard Li, Tiffany Chong, Soohyun Kim

It is fun to convert feelings and opinions into emojis, GIFs, memes, stickers. Internet meme Pepe the Frog originated in the USA as a symbol of hate has taken the stage as a prominent figure in the anti-extradition bill movement as a symbol of love and support.  

Associate professor Katrien Jacobs of Cultural Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong says people spend more time chatting with friends via social media platforms. They do not like reading long texts and are more infatuated with visual imagery. People who made the stickers distribute them for free, inviting others to adopt them on various platforms. These social norms give rise to such a new communication trend.  

The practice of storing and creating stickers of cartoon characters and human reactions for the purpose of communication is prevalent among Hong Kongers. One of them them, Pepe the Frog, is used as a means to convey political messages. The character has gained widespread attention in anti-extradition bill protests. The cartoon character is portrayed as a symbol of democracy, love, freedom by the people in Hong Kong, which is different from “hate speech” conferred by people in the United States. Starting from an innocent figure in the US, it was used by radical groups to hate minorities. 

Pepe has been carried around by many Hong Kongers during protests, activities to show support, encouragement, and solidarity for each other in the fight for democracy and freedom. Mandy, a participant of the Pepe human chain, has changed her view of Pepe in light of the recent protests. She first found the frog ugly, but now she finds it to be more adorable after being used as a symbol in a more positive light in the recent anti-government movement.

Jumping on the Pepe bandwagon, businessmen commercialize Pepe by selling products featuring the cartoon frog, such as toys, backpacks, wallets, and so forth. Sam, owner of Accstore, an online store that sells mainly sports-related products, has included Pepe products into their sales item list since the start of 2019, long before the anti-extradition bill movement started in June. He says the facial expression of Pepe reflects the frustration of Hong Kong people when the government keeps turning a deaf ear to their demands.

Do Good; Save Food

Hong Kong people take challenges in rescuing food from landfills

Reporters: Emilie Lui, Kayi Tsang, Cynthia Sit 

The government, NGOs and social enterprises have made great effort to combat food waste problem, as dumping huge amount of food wastes in landfills which are reaching their full capacity soon is not sustainable.

About 3,600 tonnes of food waste were landfilled each day in 2016, according to the government statistics. The huge number constituted 35 per cent of all municipal solid waste disposed of at landfills, making food waste as the largest municipal solid waste category in Hong Kong. 

The government has coordinated various food waste projects as the current practice of disposing food waste in landfills is not environmentally sustainable. One of the well-known schemes is the Food Wise Hong Kong Campaign launched since May 2013. With the orange big-eyed cartoon “Big Waster” mascot promoting food reduction concepts, citizens have gradually become familiar with the campaign and paid more attention to food waste recovery.

Apart from government plans, some local organizations and businesses  are also trying to take up social responsibilities by initiating other innovative methods. 

GreenPrice is a social enterprise founded by four university students in 2016. The co-founders decided to sell short-dated packaged food and bottled drinks after learning from  some food products are still safe to be consumed after “best before” dates. According to a research by Hong Kong Baptist University in 2014, microbial presence levels in food products reaching the “best before” dates are acceptable, which means food products expiring “best before” dates are safe for human consumption. The shop owners believe promoting this concept to the public can help reduce food waste.

Food Angel, a non-governmental organization, rescues edible surplus food from the catering industry and turns it into fresh and hot meals in their central kitchen with a set of strict safety protocols. Meal boxes are then served to elderly in need in the community. To encourage public participation in food recycling, the charity has also set up food collection boxes in 15 shopping malls to accept food donations. Food Angel pays a great effort to turn food waste  into a meaningful social devotion, which they aim to utilise any food resources they collect to provide assistance the needy .


Safeguard Hong Kong Cleaners

Reporters: Lambert Siu, Lasley Lui, Regina Chen, Wayne Chang

Flyers and leaflets about the anti-extradition bill movement can be seen all over Hong Kong.  

Cleaners who are tasked to clear these flyers and posters, however, are not equipped with proper tools and protective gear. 

CUHK Grassroot Concern Group demonstrated outside CUHK’s Estates Management Office (EMO) in November, demanding the office to provide better protection and equipment to cleaners.

To Chun-ho Danny, Organizing Secretary of Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions,  urges the government and government contractors, such as the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and MTR to issue guidelines and instructions to frontline cleaners about removing chemicals and offer frontline cleaners better protection.

Periscope December 2019 – Border Terrors

Hong Kong people are fearful of losing their freedoms and being fully integrated with the Chinese mainland, which has driven hundreds of thousands to join the protests for the past half a year.   

Our Periscope section sheds light on the city’s sentiment of fear and its trembling autonomy under the shadow of China. We try to understand the deep-rooted anxiety among many in Hong Kong and how it finds an echo in the ongoing political turmoil. 

Since June, Hong Kong people have reported being intercepted by immigration officers when entering the Mainland. They were asked to unlock their cell phones and open their bags for inspection. Once any “politically sensitive” materials were found, they would face detention at the checkpoint. We reach out to travellers and tour organisers to learn about their experiences, worries and how the searches interfere with their travel plans.    

The fear of phone checks and interrogation also haunts Hong Kong students who are required to have lessons or internship training in China. Out of concerns for personal safety as well as growing tensions between the city and China, students are trying to distance themselves from the Mainland. We talk to students and teachers to hear about the debate over the necessity of universities having joint study programmes with China’s educational institutions. 

Hong Kong’s business sector also comes under pressure from Beijing. A striking example is China’s aviation authority requesting Cathay Pacific to ban all employees who supported or took part in the recent protests from flying over China’s airspace. Over 30 Cathay employees have lost their jobs for expressing sympathy for Hong Kong protesters on social media. We speak with former Cathay employees and labour activists on how the climate of fear is changing the way people do business and work in the city crowned as the world’s freest economy. 

Border Terrors – Editor’s Note

Seven months after one million people took to the streets of Hong Kong against the now-withdrawn extradition bill, protesters show no sign of backing down from their fight for democratic reform and resistance to Beijing’s tightening control over the city.

Hong Kong people’s chronic mistrust and fear of the authoritarian Chinese government are deepened by a series of events taking place during the months-long protest movement. Employees who showed support for pro-democracy protests were fired by companies with business operations in China. A British consulate worker was detained for 15 days on a trip to Shenzhen and said he was tortured by Mainland authorities. China’s top legislative body said Hong Kong courts have no right to rule the constitutionality of the city’s laws. 

Hong Kong people are fearful of losing their freedoms and being fully integrated with the Chinese mainland, which has driven hundreds of thousands to join the protests for the past half a year.   

Our Periscope section sheds light on the city’s sentiment of fear and its trembling autonomy under the shadow of China. We try to understand the deep-rooted anxiety among many in Hong Kong and how it finds an echo in the ongoing political turmoil. 

Since June, Hong Kong people have reported being intercepted by immigration officers when entering the Mainland. They were asked to unlock their cell phones. Once any “politically sensitive” materials were found, they would face detention at the checkpoint. We reach out to travellers and tour organisers to learn about their experiences, worries and how the searches interfere with their travel plans.    

The fear of phone checks and interrogation also haunts Hong Kong students who are required to have lessons or internship training in China. Out of concerns for personal safety as well as growing tensions between the city and China, students are trying to distance themselves from the Mainland. We talk to students and teachers to hear about the debate over the necessity of universities having joint study programmes with China’s educational institutions. 

Hong Kong’s business sector also comes under pressure from Beijing. A striking example is China’s aviation authority requesting Cathay Pacific to ban all employees who supported or took part in the recent protests from flying over China’s airspace. Over 30 Cathay employees have lost their jobs for expressing sympathy for Hong Kong protesters on social media. We speak with former Cathay employees and labour activists on how the climate of fear is changing the way people do business and work in the city crowned as the world’s freest economy. 

This issue of Varsity also features a wide range of stories – from the stress of toddlers to end-of-life treatment, and from community screenings to the profile of designer Kevin Cheung Wai-chun. We also explore the charms of Japanese repairing art Kintsugi and a creative local residence. Enjoy the read! 

Gloria Li

Managing Editor

Luggage Full of Fear

Leisure travellers are experiencing a growing fear to set mainland China as their destination to unwind

By Ariel Lai & Tiffany Chong

Visiting Shenzhen for a culinary tour or enjoying a hipster lifestyle used to be a quick getaway for Hong Kong people at weekends. Yet, news reports about Chinese immigration officers conducting phone checks at border check points have provoked concerns of privacy and fear among travellers to China, after the anti-extradition bill movement. Social media posts of Hong Kong citizens and foreign visitors being interrogated and required to delete photos and content related to protests in Hong Kong by mainland authorities have gone viral online.   

Fear of Leisure Travellers

Charlie Ng, 22, shares his unpleasant experience when he crossed the border at Lok Ma Chau. “I will definitely bring a clean work phone or an old phone only. You cannot say no (when being told) to unlock your mobile phone at the border,” Ng says. He recalls walking pass the Lok Ma Chau Control Point with his friend of similar age, a mainland officer stopped and led them to a temporary checkpoint. Ng describes the checkpoint as a tent-like station with four sides surrounded by black nylon fabric that has separate inspection booths inside.

“I have done a lot of research in LIHKG and have known that I am likely to be inspected so I just brought a work phone,” Ng adds. Ng explains he did so as his work phone contains no politically sensitive photos or videos. He recalls being questioned by a female inspector about his purpose of visiting Shenzhen and browsed all his social media apps, particularly the photo album. The inspector also searched his bag to see if there was another personal phone. After this incident, Ng says he will avoid or postpone any trip to China from now on.

Similar to Ng, Karen Wong Tsz-ying, 23, also had her bag checked at the Huanggang Port in August. The mainland authority inspected her large-size luggage with only snacks and drinks. To protect her privacy, Wong deleted all messages and deactivated her Facebook and Instagram accounts before travelling to the Mainland. “I am afraid of visiting China now. My major concern is phone check. I am also worried of being asked to film taped confession or being interrogated (by mainland officers),” Wong says.

Carrie Ho, 22, shares the same fear with Wong. Ho used to visit Shenzhen with her friends once every two to three months. She has stopped travelling to Shenzhen since June. “I am afraid of being arrested or stopped by mainland officers,” Ho says. Although she did not experience any phone checking at the border, she did not want to risk the chance of possible detention.

Privacy Protection

Posing as a customer, Varsity calls several major travel agencies in Hong Kong to see whether escorted tours encounter similar situations when crossing the mainland border. A staff member from Wing On Travel replies that their tours to China are not affected and there is no reported case of phone check at the border. A China Travel Service Hong Kong staff member reminds travellers of the risk of phone checks at the border, especially young travellers. She says travellers are advised to bring another phone without sensitive content when visiting China. An EGL Tours frontline staff member also suggests turning off the phone and deleting all sensitive messages before entering the Mainland.

Some travel agencies offering escorted tours advise tourists to take extra
precaution to protect their privacy

Service Tours Affected

 Leisure travellers are not the only ones who have fear of visiting the Mainland. Organisers of voluntary services also become more vigilant when they plan service tours to China.

Posing as interested participants, Varsity calls VolTra, a local voluntary organisation offering service tours to the Mainland and overseas, to inquire about their service tours in China. VolTra replies that they observe a decreasing trend of service tours to China. Due to the recent border check issues, the group says student bodies prefer organising service tours to other Asian countries. Southeast Asia becomes a popular alternative to China given impact on budget is minimal.

While some voluntary organisations may avoid opting the Mainland as the service destination, some are still organising service tours to the Mainland. One of them is Wu Zhi Qiao Volunteer Team of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHKWZQ).  Funded by Wu Zhi Qiao (Bridge to China) Charitable Foundation, CUHKWZQ is a team of university student volunteers who design and build footbridges in remote areas in the Mainland.

CUHKWZQ finds some students have safety concerns even though they are interested in this project. “We received an email asking whether we would choose another location for the voluntary service given the recent political environment in Hong Kong,” Cindy Kwok, a core member says.

Kwok adds Wu Zhi Qiao (Bridge to China) Charitable Foundation has reminded their team to avoid bringing books and newspapers which might be classified as politically sensitive by the mainland authorities.

Comparing to the same period last year, Selena Chau, another core member of WZQCUHK says it is harder for them to recruit new committee members because the core members are usually the main task force of the voluntary team. “When the members are chatting among the team, we remind each other to be careful. Some members mentioned that they will bring two phones. And others will delete photo albums and social media apps,” Chau says.

Suggestions from the Authority

A spokesperson from the Communication and Publication Affair Section of Immigration Department says they do not receive any reports about phone checking. Since Hong Kong does not have jurisdiction of the border in China, the Immigration Department will not be informed whether there is any inspection at the mainland checkpoint.

“In case travellers are detained at the border, they can approach their lawyers, the Mainland Public Securities and Hong Kong customs or police near the border, depending on the nature of services they need,” the department says. 

Edited by Ada Chung

Students’ Fear of Learning Across the Border

Students’ fear of phone checks and interrogation by mainland officers amid the city’s month-long anti-government movement has sparked debate about the need of having attachment programmes in China.

By Cynthia Sit and Emilie Lui

About five months into the anti-extradition bill saga, the protest has shown little sign of ebbing. Fears and worries triggered by the issue have spilt over to the education field as some university students revealed their experience of being stopped for scrutiny when crossing the border into the Mainland from Hong Kong.

A Facebook post sparks students’ safety concerns

Janet, a final year medical student from the University of Hong Kong (HKU), reveals two of her fellow students were stopped by mainland officers at the border in August 2019. “They [the two students] were asked to log in to their Facebook accounts which they thought was unnecessary,” she says. 

The students involved published a bilingual post on the Facebook page named “Medic Secrets”, hoping to alert other HKU medical students and raise awareness on the issue.

The Facebook post reads,“We were asked to show our Whatsapp conversations and photo albums, and other students were asked to quit groups or delete photos.” It also mentions that the officers asked them to delete anything related to Hong Kong protest and jotted down their Hong Kong identity card information. Apart from checking their phones, the mainland immigration officers also flipped through their medical notes.

Under the current curriculum of the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) programme of HKU, all year five and six students are required to attend obstetrics and gynaecology, orthopaedics, and emergency medicine clerkship sessions at the University of Hong Kong – Shenzhen Hospital (HKU-SZH), which is one of their teaching hospitals. 

Soon after the Facebook post went viral, the LKS Faculty of Medicine (HKUMed) announced in an email to all students on August 19, 2019 that all speciality clerkship at the HKU-SZH in the first semester of 2019/20 school year will be rescheduled.

While all HKUMed classes in Shenzhen have been suspended to allay students’ worries, similar arrangements are not applied to students studying Chinese medicine (see table 1). All Chinese medicine students are still required to complete the credit-bearing internships in the Mainland to fulfil their graduation requirements and be eligible to sit for the Chinese Medicine Practitioners Licensing Examination administered by the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong (CMCHK). 

Some students feel anxious about going to China these days after reading media reports about students having their phones and belongings checked as they crossed into the Mainland. The Anti-Extradition Bill Concern Group of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) organised the “All Rise for the Liberation of CUHK” march on September 12, 2019, to raise concerns over programs that require students to go to China and urge the school to protect students.


Course details from Schools of Chinese Medicine of HKBU, CUHK and HKU’s websites

The debate over the necessity of lessons and internship arrangements in China

Ka-wai, a fresh graduate of the Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons) in Chinese Medicine Programme of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) who declines to reveal her full name, describes her compulsory internship experience in summer 2018 as a short vacation with her classmates where she also met friendly mainland professors and students.

Ka-wai says contact with mainland China is inevitable for Chinese medicine pharmacy students.“It is pretty normal and necessary for us to have an internship in mainland China as Chinese medicine is from mainland China after all,” she says. She also points out it is more convenient for the school to educate on the operation of Chinese medicine hospitals, which cannot be found in Hong Kong. 

However, it is questionable whether internships in mainland China are irreplaceable. Ka-wai says some content of the internship, such as the quality control of proprietary Chinese medicines and prescription dispensing, overlaps with lectures she had in Hong Kong. 

In light of the current situation in Hong Kong, Ka-wai thinks it is risky for students to complete their internship in the Mainland. She thinks the idea of completing an internship in the Mainland may not be welcomed since many university students are involved in the social movement and they may have safety or political concerns. 

“The Mainland internship arrangement is sustainable only with the harmonious relationship between Hong Kong and China, but now the animosity between Mainlanders and Hongkongers may deter students from visiting the Mainland,” she says.

Ka-wai hopes the school can provide special arrangements regarding internships amid fears that students may be targeted by Mainland authorities because of the ongoing anti-government protests in Hong Kong. “The school may consider cancelling the internship arrangements as there could be replacements,” she adds.

 Universities’ responses

So far, HKBU has not announced any special arrangements in response to students’ concerns. Varsity has contacted the school for comment but has not received any reply.

School of Chinese Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)  has arranged students to take internships in Hong Kong from November 2019 to March 2020 considering the current social situation. Rocky Tuan Sung-chi, Vice-Chancellor of CUHK, wrote an open letter to students in September, saying the school would approach the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong (CMCHK) to explore the possibility of making changes to the internship arrangements. However, he stressed that any proposed changes to the program must have the approval from the CMCHK.

Knowledge over safety?

In the same letter, Tuan also responded to students’ concerns regarding the newly-launched CUHK-Peking University Dual Undergraduate Degree Programmes (DDP) offered by the Faculty of Arts, including Linguistics and Chinese Language and Literature.

To participate in the dual degree programme, students can enrol voluntarily and will be selected based on interviews and their academic performances.  According to Tuan’s open letter, they can choose to opt-out at any time during the programme, and their undergraduate studies at CUHK will not be affected. Tuan also emphasises that students can always seek assistance from the school if they need any help. In fact, a task force has also been set up to review the dual degree programmes and respond to students’ enquiries. 

Students’ fears and worries remain despite the school’s effort to allay their concerns. Nicholas Ho Ho-kan and Wong Chi, chairperson and secretary respectively of the Representative Council, Chinese Language and Literature, CUHK, said students of their department are worried about being bullied or facing white terror when studying in Peking University.

Ho thinks that the school should re-examine how they can ensure the personal safety of students when they are not in the campus area. “The school has been passive in providing assistance to students. They claim that students can seek help from the school when in need, but can the students really do so when something actually happens to them?” he questions.

In a written reply, Professor Tang Sze-wing, the Chairman and Division Head of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, CUHK, says, “Students in the CUHK-Peking University Dual Degree Programme are assigned to an academic advisor in the department who works closely with the students by paying adequate attention to their needs and giving them advice in their study and helps liaise between the students and the parties concerned when they encounter problems.”

He adds, “The units that take care of the student affairs at CUHK and affiliated departments and relevant units at the host university may offer appropriate help with care and support on academic problems and daily life problems for students who join exchange programmes, short-term study programmes, and dual degree programmes.”

Edited by Lily Yu

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Varsity CUHK
Varsity is an award-winning magazine created for the tertiary students and faculty of Hong Kong. It is written, edited and designed by students in the School of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
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