Student Associations face difficulties in raising students' social awareness
By Tse Ting Ting
Student associations at universities often organize campaigns concerning social and political issues,
but, most students are not interested in them.
Campaigns run by student associations involve discussion groups, talks, sit-ins and demonstrations. The aim is to raise student awareness of current affairs.
Jacky Lam Man Kit is editor-in-chief of the Lingnan University’s school newspaper, Lingnan Folk. The Lingnan Folk Press Bureau holds monthly discussion groups concerning social and political issues for students to share their viewpoints.
He said that most students are indifferent to what is happening in society. The Bureau hopes that university students will become more aware of current affairs through its activities.
Charles Tsang Wing, external secretary of the Student Union of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, has the same goal.
“We hope that students will have a more comprehensive perspective of society after attending our activities,” he said.
Student responses often disappoint campaign organizers, however.
For instance, the Student Union of the Chinese University held an anti-war activity in October in response to the terrorist attack in the U.S. on 11 September.
“We made an announcement on our website and posted some notices in canteens,” said Charles. “We expected that students would show much concern about such a hot issue.
“In the end, however, only about 30 students attended the anti-war campaign. This number was below our expectations,” he said.
The Lingnan Folk Press Bureau encounters similar difficulties. The number of students that participate in its discussion groups is usually far below the Bureau’s expectations.
“Sometimes we prepare the venue and invite guests from government departments. We have also announced the details of the campaign to students,” said Jacky, the Bureau’s editor. “But in the end, only a few students join us. It has disappointed and embarrassed us a lot.”
Jacky said some students deliberately isolate themselves from the outside world. Activities concerning current issues are vain to them.
Although heavier promotion of campaigns may be a way to get student attention, student associations face financial difficulties, too.
The Students’ Union of Lingnan University, for example, received less funding after the reduction of subsidies from the government.
Though the Bureau can still afford running campaigns, it cannot afford high promotion costs.
“We expect students to keep abreast of our news on our website and notice boards. However, seldom do they really take the initiative to do so,” said Jacky.
Charles, the external secretary of the Student Union of the Chinese University, agreed that promotion is one of the major problems in running campaigns.
It is especially true when the associations have to respond to unexpected issues immediately, like the 9-11 inccident.
Charles said that the anti-war campaign was organized on a tight schedule. Consequently, they had to choose whether to spend more effort on promotion or on the campaign itself.
Apart from the difficulties in promotion, lack of interchange of opinions between campaign organizers and students is also an obstacle.
Charles, who is also a representative of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, explained that this makes gaining support from students more difficult.
“We try our best to reflect the opinions of students,” said Charles. “However, sometimes we are not sure if our attitudes and actions represent most of their views.
“I think that only through feedback can students let us know what they really need, even though negative comments are better than none. However, we seldom get responses from them,” he said.
The Student Union at Hong Kong Baptist University has been discussing how to narrow the gap between the union and the students as well.
“The fact that students were not interested in our previous campaigns implies that changes are inevitable,” said the Union’s president. “I think appropriate assessments are necessary for student unions to decide the future direction of campaigns.”
Meanwhile, some student associations are finding alternative ways to arouse students’ awareness of current issues.
The Lingnan Folk Press Bureau, for instance, understood that students have a tight schedule. In order to make it easier for students to keep in touch with current events, it has set up a notice board outside the school canteen with newspaper clippings.
“We hope students will still access social and political issues, even if they do not have time to join our activities,” said Jacky, the Bureau editor.
Prof. Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, professor in the Department of Public and Social Administration at the City University of Hong Kong, was a student activist in the ’60s and ’70s.
He said university students then had a strong sense of commitment to join campaigns about current affairs. Now student campaigns are in a state of “depression”.
“In the past, university students didn’t need to worry much about their careers. But now graduation means unemployment to them,” he said. “It is therefore not surprising that students nowadays care more about realistic needs than idealistic goals,” he said.
Moreover, Prof. Cheung said campaign organizers need to define their missions and goals more clearly.
“Campaign organizers nowadays should concentrate more on raising students’ awareness of current issues rather than joining sit-ins or demonstrations in the first place,” said he. “They should try to relight students’ passion.”View of Students
Lingnan University
English Year 2
Our school schedule is very tight. It is really difficult for us to find time to join those campaigns, though I know that we should keep an eye on social and political issues.
Lingnan University
Chinese Year 2
I have never joined their campaigns because I do not have time. Apart from academic work, I have to organize the activities of my own clubs. These already occupy most of my time in school.Wong Kin Cheung
CUHK
PAC Year 2
Student associations — especially the Hong Kong Federation of Students — often use agitation to express their discontent, such as sit-ins and demonstrations. I don’t support these, so I never join campaigns organized by student associations.
