Hong Kong says school children sang anthem too softly
www.bbc.com
Officials advise teachers to help students "cultivate habit and confidence" while singing anthem.
  • Hong Kong officials have singled out at least two schools for singing the Chinese national anthem “too softly”. Teachers at a third school have been asked to help students “cultivate habit and confidence” in singing it.
  • Hong Kong has redoubled the emphasis on “patriotic” education since 2020 when China cracked down on the city’s pro-democracy movement. Many former opposition lawmakers and democracy campaigners have been jailed since 2020 under a controversial national security law that criminalised all forms of dissent.
  • In January, China implemented a law which requires schools, including those in Hong Kong, to include “patriotic education” in their curriculum and companies to do the same in their operations. The definition is vague but the curriculum is meant to promote the leadership and ideology of the Chinese Communist Party.
  • The city has also set up a government committee to help “the new generation to really appreciate our Chinese culture, our Chinese history,” Hong Kong’s chief executive John Lee said.
  • In November last year, the ‘education bureau’ introduced a new subject which would require students as young as eight to start learning about the Beijing-enacted security law. It also covers “Chinese culture” and history that aligns with the Chinese Communist Party’s vision.
  • Last month, the bureau also called on parents to work with schools to “help [their children] learn the importance of safeguarding national security and enhance their national identity and national pride”.