The Renaissance Times
This space is a platform for students to express their opininons on things important to them, either anonymous or with your name attached. If you wish to contribute to this page, click on the 'Speak Out' button. Remember to be respectful and constructive. Hate speech will not be tolerated.
On Occupy Central...
"Most people in school HAVE ABSOLUTELY no idea why they're wearing it (yellow ribbons), which makes me think we need some help in critical thinking"
"It seems like the protestors are just looking for a fight. They complain that the police should not have used tear gas yet that worked....Democracy is a good thing, but it may not always be good for the country. Let me ask you a question. Would you rather live in Singapore or Indonesia? Singapore has zero democracy, but the country is managed well. You do not always need democracy to live happily. Hong Kong should have democracy, but it must be given through a long period of time with peaceful citizens"
"The way Hong Kong got back on track was through China. China sent down the mainlanders. They did not need to, but they cared about Hong Kong so they did. After Occupy Central, there will be no way the Chinese government would help Hong Kong at all. What is the point, if Hong Kong is threatening him. The way to get democracy is not by threatening, it is by being a friend and an ally"
"That speech Leung Chung Ying is making on television right now is half-hearted. He keeps going back to referencing the law-no one cares about that. We don't want to hear about the law. We want you to tells what you're going to do and why"
It's sad, but logically inevitable, that HK's Occupy protests/Umbrella Revolution ended without concrete progress. The event is mostly viewed with some bitterness by the city's online community, parents, and students alike; partly due to the reveal that Hong Kong isn't the haven of law and order that we convinced ourselves it was. Prior to Occupy, I was ambivalent regarding local politics and the feasibility of democracy in a Chinese city (simply stating a political reality). However, the protests proved to me exactly how far we have to go.
In political discourse, disagreement is inevitable. Even in China where public opinion is rigidly controlled, a suppressed dissent exists among the populace. Allowing and providing platforms for the expression of opinions is necessary for society to move forward and evaluate itself objectively (or as close to objectivity as possible). Historically only organizations that seek to propagate itself, through silencing opposition and controlling the capacity for thought and discussion, has gone as far as to express actual fear of thought itself.
On the ALS challenge...
The challenge pretty much sucked because you're pretty much forced into doing it. Most of the people on my newsfeed only did it for the likes. I think the writer was right in pointing how challenges can go wrong but is wrong in saying that it actually helps anything.
Viral movements make you donate to things you don't want to. The money could go elsewhere, somewhere better spent, like cancer research or something. That affects a whole lot more people
On Equality..
Our school claims to be multicultural, international, and diverse. Although I am grateful that we often talk about racism, current political events, and dilemmas from all over the world, and more, I find that we often don't touch upon the subject of LGBTQ+. I don't know if its because LGBTQ+ people are not really that noticed in Hong Kong or because our school doesn't really think it's as important, but I am tired of hearing people say, "that's so gay!" when they're implying something is 'stupid' or 'uncool'; I am tired of people furrowing their brows or calling it disgusting when mentioned. Such comments really are quite harmful to one's self-esteem, especially when it comes out of a friend's mouth. I think it is time to raise awareness for LGBTQ+ topics to help our students accept others and themselves. After all, why are racism and sexism not okay, but homophobia and transphobia are? I feel like discussion and debate should definitely be allowed and included more, but hate-speech and misuse of terms should come to an end. I want the stigma to be broken; I don't want LGBTQ+ people, especially teens, to feel like they do not belong, or have a problem anymore.
Please, please, please check out these sites:
http://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/youth.htm
http://nobullying.com/lgbt-bullying-statistics/
http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/gay-bullying-statistics.htmlI'm a paragraph.