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Happy corner
Campus amusement arouses controversy
Students engage in happy corner during a birthday party in a student hostel. (Lei Xuan)
By Lei Xuan
It was his hostel’s floor festival. Several people carried him horizontally and spread his legs wide apart. Carrying him towards a tree, his friends made sure that his legs were splayed wide.
They then pressed him against the trunk and rubbed his crotch up and down the side of the tree.
So King Hang, 22, a Year 1 master of arts journalism student at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, had just been “happy cornered”.
“This happened to me when I was in my final year at The University of Hong Kong. The festival had just finished and they wanted to have some fun. So they picked me to be happy cornered,” said Mr. So.
Hong Kong university students, usually males, play happy corner during social gatherings like orientation camps and birthdays.
Yau Wan Chi, a female Year 2 student in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at the Chinese University, said, “The game is a way to make friends with newcomers. Participants may not always know each other. They may just be a group of open-minded students who like to have fun.”
Ms. Yau played happy corner with a few male schoolmates in a drama. She said, “I did not feel embarrassed because it was just a symbolic action and I knew the ‘victim’ would not be hurt.”
This game makes some people uncomfortable, though.
In January, members of the Student Chorus at the Chinese University played happy corner outside the Star Ferry Pier in Tsim Sha Tsui. They were celebrating a member’s birthday.
Apple Daily reported the incident on January 27. According to the report, a couple of male students held up one person and happy cornered him against a flagpole. Although he cried out, there was a smile on his face.
Apple Daily received emails complaining that the incident was “uncivilized”.
Or Wing Yee, president of the Student Chorus at the time, was quoted in Apple Daily as saying, “I know nothing about the incident. However, it is not strange that university students play happy corner.”
Her term as president ended in February. She declined an interview about the event.
Apple Daily quoted Ho Hon Kuen, vice-president of Education Convergence, an organisation formed by educators in 1994, as saying, “There are many ways to express happiness. Why did they choose this way?
“University students build the future. I do not know how they can build the future if they think in such an obscene way.”
Apple Daily also interviewed Tsang Wai Hang, president of the Student Union of the Chinese University. Mr. Tsang thinks that students are sometimes insensitive about sexual harassment.
Even though a month has passed, some still criticize students for the incident.
Ms. Yau said, “I am disappointed that someone played happy corner in Tsim Sha Tsui, where there are many pedestrians and tourists. It is a naive, rude and disrespectful behavior.”
Rachel Ng, a Form 5 student at True Light Girl’s College, said, “The problem was with the place and time. There were tourists around the pier. Playing happy corner there might damage Hong Kong’s image as well as the students’ reputation.
“Although I think it is somewhat obscene, I do not oppose university students’ playing happy corner. And also, I do not think those Student Chorus members represent all Hong Kong university students.”
Hong Kong is not the only country where students play happy corner.
Eric Deng of Guangdong Province, a Year 3 exchange student from Tsinghua University, said, “I did not see students playing happy corner at Tsinghua University. However, I heard that university students or high school students play happy corner in Beijing.”
In several Chinese cities, happy corner goes by the name ju ren, which means “sawing people”.
Eric said, “I was surprised the first time I saw happy corner in Hong Kong. However, I do not think it is obscene.
“We play happy corner in the hostel, and everyone is involved the game. I would never play it in public, however.
“From my point of view, happy corner is not only an entertainment for Hong Kong university students, but also a part of campus culture.”
Nicole Cheung, instructor in the Department of Sociology at the Chinese University, disapproves of happy corner.
“Students should understand sex in a right way. They should treat sex seriously. Happy corner is a game that makes fun of sex. I cannot accept students playing happy corner, especially in public areas.”
For some, happy corner is a game with symbolic sex acts, and if someone feels threatened or intimidated, happy corner can be a case of sexual harassment.
However,
in most cases, people play happy corner voluntarily.
Dr. Cheung said sexual harassment among university students may be attributed
to the media.
“There are many TV programs or news reports promoting sex and violence. People talk about sex more openly. However, this may mislead students.
“I doubt whether it is necessary for students to do something like happy corner to show their open-mindedness towards sex. Happy corner is just one case of students’ nonchalance about sex.
“Sex
should not be made fun of. It is serious.”
CU’s policy on sexual harassment
By Lei Xuan
The Sex Discrimination Ordi-nance in the Laws of Hong Kong covers sexual harassment for both men and women.
Under the Sex Discrimination Ordinance, a person can be defined as sexually harassing a woman under the following circumstances:
First, if a person makes an unwelcome sexual advance, requests sexual favors, or engages in other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature.
Second, if a person, alone or together with other people, engages in conduct of a sexual nature that creates a sexually hostile or intimidating work environment.
In 1996, the Chinese University established a Task Force on Education and Training to promote the sensitivity of the university community about sexual harassment.
As stated on the Sexual Harassment website of the Chinese University, the following steps are suggested if you are sexually harassed:
• Claim your stand, speak up and refuse others’ requests;
• Record the date, time, place and witnesses of the incident;
• Complain to the Sexual Harassment Panel of the Chinese University.
The website claims that the Chinese University is committed to eliminating sexual harassment.
Any student or employee of the Chinese University who has been sexually harassed by another student or employee of the university may complain to the Sexual Harassment Panel.
The same applies to any student or employee who witnesses harassment.