VIFF -- Review: School for Defectors

An intimate look at North Korean students in the south

School for Defectors (2026)

North Koreans who want to escape to the south face enormous challenges, not only the physical one of traveling over 3,000 miles through China, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, but also the emotional trauma of leaving their families behind, or the possibility of being killed during their journey, and what will happen to their children if they die? 

There are no statistics on how many North Koreans attempt to escape, but they are desperate for a better life.

If they make it to the south, the next challenge is settling in, as their accent is different, let alone their appearance being malnourished and wearing dowdy clothes, and how will their children adapt and catch up academically?

The documentary focused on this school

In South Korea there are 10 special schools for these North Korean children to study and help them not only integrate into society, but also learn about democracy, freedom and become good people.

School for Defectors focuses on one senior high school which is different from the other nine in that it only accepts 20 students and they all must board; the principal says it helps the children integrate faster if they are not with their parents. 

The audience basically observe a whole academic school year, from the intake of students through interviews with the principal and teachers, to attending classes, applying for university, and graduating. There is also a peek into dorm life, watching them clean their rooms for inspection, and eating meals in the cafeteria.

The principal and teachers are so supportive of the students, praising and encouraging them, as they know their escaping to the south was no easy feat, and that they may feel inferior or insecure, but the students in turn are also eager to learn, hardworking and some of them eventually come out of their shells to be talkative, boisterous, and even exceptional dancers.

The students are hardworking a funny

One segment shows interviews with some of the parents who described their plight to the south, with one poignant scene of a father who had thought of what to do if he and his wife and daughter were caught by North Korean soldiers, while another family had to leave their older son and elderly grandmother behind.

Nevertheless, the optimistic energy from the students, teachers and principal are what uplifts School for Defectors, which resulted in lots of clapping in the theatre when the documentary ended.

Director Jeremy Workman attended the screening with producer and Korean-American actor Daniel Dae Kim.

It turns out I had seen Workman's previous documentary, Secret Mall Apartment two years ago and thought it was a crazy but intriguing story.

He explained that when he was in South Korea screening another film he had made, Workman was asked to show it at that school, and that's how he met the principal, who speaks good English.

Workman learned about more about the school, and was fascinated by it and was eager to possibly do a documentary about it. He got the green light from the principal, and anyone who didn't want to participate was not filmed, or their faces were pixelated if they were worried about relatives back in North Korea.

Workman (centre) and Kim (right) at the Q&A

He said he went back several times to film at the school, though he had a crew based there who filmed as well. One of the students at first was so painfully shy that she barely said a word, but by the end of the school year, she was willing to talk on camera about her school project, collecting first-hand accounts of North Koreans who escaped to the south and compiling them into a booklet.

What was not clearly explained in the film, that Kim talked about in the Q&A, was that the journey to escape was extremely dangerous, not only in avoiding getting shot by North Korean soldiers, but also avoiding arrest and deportation in China, sometimes having to stay there for years to earn enough money to continue their escape, or women being sex trafficked and being forced to marry Chinese men.

Then they had to trek through Cambodia, Laos and Thailand which involved going through jungles, difficult terrain, and having enough stamina to make it to South Korea.

School for Defectors was definitely one of the more memorable documentaries I saw this year, appreciating how much the students and their parents have gone through, and hoping they will succeed in whatever they do after high school.

School for Defectors

Directed by Jeremy Workman

92 minutes

When a Malaysian Meddles in Hong Kong Affairs

Kuok became CEO of Shangri-La hotel group last August

The debate of whether Hongkongers should learn more Mandarin than Cantonese has erupted again after the scion of the family that owns a chain of luxury hotels weighed in on the topic at a business summit in the city.

"We should really revamp our public education system. Our next generation has to be much more connected to China in terms of language and culture," said Hui Kuok, chair and group chief executive of the Shangri-La luxury hotel group.

She is the daughter of Robert Kuok, founder of the hotel group and Malaysia's richest man. At one point she was the CEO and managing director of the South China Morning Post newspaper, which was owned by her father until he sold it to Alibaba in 2016.

"One way to do this could be over time to make Putonghua the main medium of instruction in schools," she said, speaking at HSBC's Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong.

"Another way could be for Hong Kong to invite some of the best public schools in China to open campuses here, just like we have done for international schools for decades."

Needless to say there was a lot of outrage over her remarks, in particular that she has a privileged background and attended international schools and has a degree in East Asian Studies at Harvard. She became CEO of Shangri-La Asia Limited last August, and is the wife of Bryan Gaw, an executive director of Kerry Properties, another Kuok company.

Many commenting online say Hongkongers should continue speaking Cantonese, Mandarin and English, and not specifically cater to China. However, for the Shangri-La hotel group, China is its greatest source of revenue, with an equity interest in 50 hotels out of 82 worldwide.

Besides, Mandarin is already taught in Hong Kong schools as a requirement. What more does Kuok want?

It's quite strange for her to speak out on a topic like this when she herself had an international education, having grown up in Hong Kong and then studied in the United States.

Some people online have called to boycott the hotel chain, and if -- a big if -- there are enough of them to make a serious financial dent in the company's bottom line, we may know why...

Remembering a Tireless Community Volunteer

Ip was co-founder of non-profit Success

A Chinese-Canadian who dedicated most of her life to public service, and was a co-founder of Success, a non-profit organisation which helped new immigrants, has passed away. Maggie Ip was in her early 80s.

She came to Canada in the 1960s from Shanghai and got her Masters in Education at the University of Ottawa, and later was a secondary school teacher. 

Ip also served on Vancouver city council from 1993-1996, but before then she helped set up Success 51 years ago. Originally it focused on helping new immigrants from Hong Kong and China, but now serves people from around the world and has become one of the largest settlement service organisations in Canada.

In the beginning, many immigrants were "lost" and relied on friends for help to survive in Canada.

"Then we realised that they have so much potential... to help to build this country," Ip said last year on the 50th anniversary of Success.

"We would really like to make sure that they are adapted, they are adjusted and they will become contributory members of society. So this is how we started Success. That's why the Chinese call it 'immigrant mutual help'."

Ryan Drew, who works as the director of integrated services for newcomers at Success, says Ip leaves behind a rich legacy.

"Over those 50 years, she's been in a variety of different roles and capacities," she says. "And, you know, even right up to the present day, she was like attending volunteer recognition events.

"I think we've already seen her legacy in action. We are as an agency now... we've gone from this small group of volunteers, you know, sort of making things happen, in anyway they can, to being a large agency with over an C$85 million budget."

Ip leaves behind her husband Kelly and two adult children.

I happened to see her in February at a Chinese New Year event and she was in good spirits. Will miss her cheerful smile.

Hong Kong's Shrinking Primary Schools

There are fewer Primary One students in Hong Kong this year

School has started in Hong Kong with a lot fewer students.

The latest statistic? Seventy -- 70 -- Primary One classes in 66 schools were scrapped for this academic year. Ten of the 70 schools either only had a single Primary One class or none at all.

The numbers were from data compiled from 453 public and government-aided primary schools and shows the number of families who have left permanently, as well as the birth rate continuing to decline. In 2022 it dropped to 32,500, though it rose slightly the following year to 33,200.

Most of this year's Primary One students were born in 2018, when 53,700 were born, but 40,293 have signed up for public school.

"The shrinking student population is still a serious problem for the sector and the number of pupils enrolled in Primary One in the coming years will continue to fall," said Chu Kwok-keung, a school principal and lawmaker representing the education sector.

Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin doesn't deny it, saying that three to four primary and secondary schools would close in the next five years, and she expected the student population to continue to fall.

Teachers could become endangered species in Hong Kong...

Walz's Passionate, Nuanced Stance on China

Hope, Gus, Tim and Gwen Walz at the DNC in Chicago tonight

Tonight US vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz took to the stage of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and explained to the audience who he was, and what he stood for. 

He is a former soldier, high school teacher, and football coach who was the brains behind labelling Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance as "weird".

During his 20-minute speech, Walz talked about growing up in Minnesota in a small town of 400 people, how there were only 24 students in his graduating class and how he and his wife spent years trying to conceive a baby and now have a son and a daughter.

Walz addressed Democrat delegates

He mentioned how they, Hope and Gus and his wife Gwen, "you are my entire world, and I love you", to which Gus, Walz's 17-year-old who has ADHD and a non-verbal learning disorder, jumped to his feet crying and pointed to his father and said, "I love you dad."

While Walz has shown himself to be a family man, he is also well versed in geopolitics, in particular China. He has had on-the-ground experience being there, having taught English and American history in Foshan, Guandong province in 1989. 

At the time Walz was 25 years old, fresh out of college and signed up for Harvard University's WorldTeach program, where he was one of the "first government sanctioned groups of American educators" to arrive in China after reform and opening up.

And yes 1989 was the year of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations.

"It was my belief at that time that diplomacy was going to happen on many levels, certainly people to people," Walz recalled during a 2014 congressional hearing commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown. "The opportunity to be in a Chinese high school at that critical time seemed to me to be really important."

He has met HK activist Joshua Wong

He did go up to Beijing see Tiananmen Square after the massacre was over.

That one year teaching in China made an impression on Walz, so much that he and his wife not only married on June 4, 1994, but also honeymooned there. Subsequently he made some 30 trips there promoting student cultural exchanges.

While Republicans are trying to label Walz as a panda hugger, he is not. Walz has shown his support for Tibet and Hong Kong, having met the Dalai Lama and activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung. 

It is Walz's personal experiences in China that help shape his nuanced view of the country and its politics, which will serve him well should he and Kamala Harris get voted into the White House.

HK Schools Graded on National Security Education

Hey kids! Time to learn about national security at school!

National education is in full swing in Hong Kong schools, except officials feel the students aren't singing their hearts out when it comes to the national anthem, March of the Volunteers.

The Education Bureau has accused the students at two schools of singing the national anthem too softly and that they should singing with more confidence.

Hong Kong and Macau Lutheran Church Primary School in Tseung Kwan O and Yan Chai Hospital Lim Por Yen Secondary School in Tsuen Wan were both told in the bureau's review report the students' voices were weak when singing March of the Volunteers.

Some students criticised for singing too softly

"Teachers need to remind students more to help students develop the habit of singing the national anthem loudly in unison," the report said of the students of the latter school.

Maybe the kids just don't like singing? 

Meanwhile the bureau told a special school for moderately mentally disabled students in Shek Kip Mei that its teachers don't have a comprehensive understanding of national security education.

"The school must strengthen the professional development of teachers and clarify relevant concepts in order to effectively implement national security education," the report said.

Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Kwan Fong Kai Chi School, which offers special education, said implementing national security education was still in the initial stages.

"Some teachers are taking the lead [in terms of the implementation], and it is understandable that other teachers may not have a complete grasp of national security education," it said in its response to the review report.

Flag-raising ceremonies are scrutinised as well

"The school will continue to strengthen the professional development of teachers according to school conditions and clarify relevant concepts in a bid to implement national security education in the school more effectively."

The report, released by the Education Bureau, covers various education performance indicators and offers suggestions.

Now how students sing the national anthem and conduct flag-raising ceremonies are scrutinised as well...

Review: Favoriten

Immigrant children learn German in an elementary school

The 48th Hong Kong International Film Festival is on and I managed to catch a film while here -- and with YTSL no less!

We watched a documentary called Favoriten by Austrian director Ruth Beckermann that follows a class of mostly immigrant students and their teacher in an elementary school in a district of Vienna called Favoriten.

The film follows the premise that in Vienna's elementary school system, over 60 percent of students don't have German as their first language.

The students reveal honest, raw emotions

The students are from various places, like Syria, Turkey, and Ukraine, and they learn German together as it is the official language in Austria needed for work. 

These children are wonderful subjects, as they have a range of emotions and the way they talk reveal their thought process, their upbringing, or cultural background.

Their teacher is young and kind. She wears heavy makeup, and casual clothes. Not only does she teach them the curriculum, but also helps them resolve disputes with fellow classmates. She reasons with them or encourages them to apologise or to explain the incident, not only as a way to get them to speak more German, but also to learn how to get along with others. 

One girl accuses a boy sitting at the same table of bothering her; she claims he is talking non stop, but he denies it. Another more serious accusation is when a girl says the boys accuse her of having lice and they hit her, but they vehemently deny it. The teacher says they cannot accuse her of this when she doesn't have lice and adds that when she was a girl she had lice too, so what's the big deal?

Viewers watch the children visit a mosque and many of the students are Muslim and are proud of their religion. Another time they go to a Catholic church, but no one in the class is Roman Catholic. They also go to swimming class and in a funny scene they kids learn parts of the body, including words like penis and vagina, and point them out on the drawing projected on the wall.

The teacher (left) tries to reason with the pupils

It's also interesting to watch the teacher interact with the children's families in parent-teacher interviews. Some parents can speak German, while others rely on an older child to translate; overall they are grateful to the teacher for teaching their child. Most of the parents are keen for their children to integrate into Austria as much as possible, while one expresses reservations and considers taking his daughter back to Turkey. Perhaps he is tired of discrimination or doesn't feel welcome in Vienna.

Favoriten follows the students over a few years with the same teacher so they have become very close. When she meets with each child to go over their test results -- not even an exam, each one has a different reaction that's honest and emotional; one child bursts into tears, stressed out and devastated that the viewer can't help but feel for him.

There is also a hint of the strain of resources in the school system, as the in-house counsellor has been assigned elsewhere and a psychologist won't be coming anytime soon; there aren't even enough teachers to teach which is concerning.

Nevertheless it's a heart-felt film, with a lot of honest observations and emotions thanks to the children who speak their minds, while their teacher tries hard to help them peel away biases and help them to become more confident and happy in their new hometown.

Favoriten

Directed by Ruth Beckermann

118 minutes

HK Students Need to Sing Anthem Louder

Apparently HK students not singing the anthem loud enough

C'mon kids! Gotta sing the national anthem louder! We can't hear you belting out "March of the Volunteers"! 

That's what Hong Kong's education authorities are saying in a recent inspection report, criticising schools for paying too much attention in teaching about national security rather than focusing on why the subject mattered to them.

"Teachers and students sang the national anthem together, but the singing was a little soft," the report said. "Schools must boost students' confidence and habit in singing the national anthem."

The bureau's report evaluated 251 primary, secondary and special schools over the last academic year. It said the schools did not explain to students the threats and crises the country currently faced and emphasise the importance of national security when teaching some topics.

"In terms of classroom teaching, teachers focus too much on teaching knowledge content and rarely link students' life experiences or create situations to effectively put students into others' shoes and understand how national security is related to them," the report said.

It also complained that promoting national education in the curriculum was more of something that was completed rather than focusing on how to teach it well.

But what are the crises and threats China and Hong Kong are facing? And how does national security matter to students? 

While one principal claimed teachers and school heads not singing loudly enough only resulted in students doing the same, another said students and teachers always sang at a low volume regardless of the song.

Perhaps students will sing louder eventually, but forcing them to turn up the volume will only make them sing even softer...

Adapting Well in the UK, Thank You Very Much

The change of lifestyle is a welcome one for many HKers

Some pro-Beijing media are trying to find the narrative that Hongkongers who migrated to the UK have had a tough time surviving, with a recent survey that revealed 52 percent of the 2,000 BN(O) holders interviewed were unemployed and 47 percent worked in jobs that barely matched their work experience and skills.

But when other Hongkongers there were interviewed, many of them said that while they might be making less money, they are happier with their work-life balance, and their children are enjoying school.

Many were making less money that was exacerbated by inflation. One man named Jeffrey Lau said he and his family had a better lifestyle in Hong Kong as their double income allowed them to go out to eat more, but living in a small northern English town called Dewsbury meant his seven-year-old daughter had a less stressful education and didn't need to commute three hours to and from school.

He said less academic stress meant his daughter learned more in a year in the UK than in Hong Kong. Can you even put a price on that?

Another, 59-year-old Walter Cheung used to work in a high-end hotel in Hong Kong and in the UK was a food packer and then a restaurant waiter.

"I don't care [that it is a step backwards]. In Hong Kong, I would regularly work overtime, with no extra pay," he said. "Here, I'm asked if I want overtime, and I'm paid for it."

Cheung has even improved his health by losing 7kg. 

He was surprised by the survey as Cheung found there were lots of jobs available and the government assisted people to find work.

Meanwhile Paul Leung, a freelance delivery driver who used to have an office job, is adapting to his new life well. He is even making more money than he did in Hong Kong and spend more time with his wife and child.

"I need to look after my family, I need to accept this. It is not like I can starve to death," Leung said. "You have to adapt to people's culture when you go to another country. You also need to accept new things when you leave your own comfort zone."

Well said.

How about celebrating people's achievements instead of trying to find failures? That's the true Lion Rock spirit.

Picture of the Day: Yellow Distraction

Two giant ducks that duck a significant anniversary

Today is the fourth anniversary of the first massive anti-extradition march, where some 1 million people came out to protest. They dressed in white, mourning the end of Hong Kong if the extradition bill was passed, while walking in the humid heat from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay to Central.

But today there are no protests in the city, where the rules changed overnight with the national security law in place in 2020 and as a result no dissent is allowed.

When 1M people wore white to protest in 2019

To distract people from the anniversary, there are not one, but two cute giant ducks bobbing in Victoria Harbour.

The pair of ducks at 18 metres tall are bigger than the one that came 10 years ago at 16.5 metres.

Whooweeeee.

As if to rub it in further, in a press release, Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman gushed, "Double duck is double luck", in a nod to the Hong Kong government's bid to invite people to the city with its "Happy Hong Kong" campaign.

However are people really happy?

If they were, they wouldn't be leaving in droves, as evidenced by the increasing numbers of Hongkongers migrating elsewhere and the birthrate has dropped.

It's gotten so bad that five schools are facing closure because they don't have enough students or teachers. 

In any event, as Hong Kong celebrates the arrival of the ducks, may we point out their bright yellow colour has significance for some people?

HK Police Call for CCTV Cameras in Schools

Students and teachers will be surveilled daily at school

Hong Kong Police are becoming more active in the school system, calling for CCTV cameras to be installed in classrooms in a bid to ensure greater safety for students, but teachers fear it's a way to monitor what is said and taught in class.

Last week the HKPF launched a new website called Safe City Hong Kong and under "Security of premises" and "school" it suggests CCTV cameras be installed along with other security measures such as being aware of strangers in and around campus, drawing up contingency plans, setting up access control systems, and staying alert of incoming mail and deliveries.

Over police suggestions for school security

The HKPF is even calling for installing perimeter fencing of at least 2.8 metres in height, security guard booths, and infrared motion sensors, electric fencing and taut-wire tripping systems.

These suggestions make the schools sound like fortresses or top secret locations that need to keep intruders out rather than schools that are supposed to be welcoming places for learning.

Tech surveillance like facial recognition at the outdoor gates, canteens and classrooms have already been installed in many schools and universities in China since 2019 as a response to school shootings in the United States.

But some netizens have questioned the need to be so intrusive as to check up on students to see if they are dozing off in class or not.

Nevertheless, if the HKPF have it their way, similar "security" measures could be implemented in Hong Kong too. 

It's not a new idea -- pro-Beijing legislators had proposed the idea of installing CCTV cameras in classrooms in 2021 to monitor the content of classes and interactions between students and teachers. 

CCTV in schools has been proposed since 2021

But at that time then Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said schools wishing to install this surveillance technology would have to comply with government guidelines and privacy requirements as well as communicate with the parents and other stakeholders in advance.

If the cameras are being installed to prevent crime in schools and universities, then it makes no sense, as according to the police, crime committed by those between the ages of 10 and 20 fell by around 8 percent last year compared to the previous year.

When CCTV cameras are installed, going to school will be even more stressful than it needs to be...

Hong Kong's Declining Workforce, Student Populations

Hong Kong doesn't have enough workers across all fields

In yet another sign that Hong Kong's population is decreasing, last year the city lost over 94,000 employees, the biggest drop in the working population since records began almost 40 years ago.

The downward trend has been happening since the 2019 protests and in the last four years some 220,500 workers have left Hong Kong. The drop has been exacerbated by baby boomers retiring at 60 or 65, and experts say the combination of these factors will continue for the next year or two.

Many workers left Hong Kong or retired

"Many of the people who were born in the 1960s, when Hong Kong was experiencing the post-war baby boom, have reached retirement age. Meanwhile, the city is also seeing many emigrate to other regions and countries," said Professor Paul Yip Siu-fai, associate dean of the University of Hong Kong's faculty of social sciences.

As a result there are 73,150 job vacancies in the private sector, a jump of 20 percent from last year.

The education industry is in dire need of people with 7,750 positions that need to be filled, followed by transport and logistics at 7,390 jobs. Human health services is third at 6,510 vacancies.

Hong Kong's official population figures show the population has dropped for a third consecutive year to 7,333,200, a 1 percent drop from 2021.

Schools with few students may need to close

And because of the falling population, at least two primary schools may close because they don't have the minimum of 16 students to stay open.

Pupils and teachers have been leaving Hong Kong during the school year, and that coupled with the declining birth rate has led to fewer Primary One classes. The actual number of Primary One classes won't be known until the school year starts.

However, it is worth considering that with the government's push to develop the Northern Metropolis, the area near the border with the mainland, there could be an increase in students there. The plan is to turn this area into a residential and tech hub with some 900,000 flats and up to 650,000 jobs.

"If we axe schools now, when the population of the district goes up again in the future, there will not be enough schools," says Chu Wai-lam, vice-chairman of the New Territories School Heads Association.

Hong Kong Finally Goes Maskless

Some people continued wearing masks out of caution today

After some 950 days, the mask mandate was FINALLY lifted in Hong Kong much to the delight of the residents who have endured wearing face coverings in over 30-degree weather, while exercising, while at weddings, funerals, amusement parks.

And dealing with the fear or harassment of the police gleefully handing out HK$5,000 fines to people who weren't wearing them properly or were caught smoking.

But in reality many today still wore a mask going to work or school, unable to shake the routine, or still wanted to err on the side of caution.

Why not get rid of masks with campaign launch?

The fact that Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu suddenly announced the end of wearing masks just days before March 1 shows how the government didn't think things through -- why not have masks off for the start of the "Hello Hong Kong" campaign? Surely that would have been even more effective in enticing people to come back to the city? 

Even health experts were frustrated that there was no more science to justify having to wear masks outside in particular. Then suddenly poof! Masks are allowed off and people are reticent to do so.

Young children have been hit hardest by the mask mandate. They have been forced to wear face coverings that were unnatural to them (and could not understand why), but now they are so used to wearing them that it will take a while to get them to feel more comfortable to take them off.

Children will take time to adjust to no masks

Educators are concerned these young children have had their learning hampered by mask-wearing for three years. Pupils are unable to pronounce words properly as they cannot see their teachers' mouth movements and imitate them.

The pandemic may have also changed how people interact with others from handshakes to hygiene habits. In Canada it seems the handshake is pretty much back, though some are still anxious about reaching for someone's hand, others grateful to have human contact again.

In the meantime Hong Kong may see a spike in Covid-19 cases now that masks are officially off, but most of the population has herd immunity from vaccinations or from infections. 

What other momentous occasion happened today? The closing of Penny's Bay Community Isolation Facility!

It was opened by the Security Bureau, which made it apt that Undersecretary for Security Michael Cheuk Hau-yip "closed" the massive facility with a symbolic "lock" made of cardboard.

Cheuk with the "lock" on Penny's Bay

What is going to happen to all those shipping containers converted into mini cells for people who had mild symptoms or were close contacts of infected patients and had to wait it out here?

Is this place going to be yet another white elephant left to collect dust? There were talks of possibly making them into low-cost housing, but in terms of logistics it would be a no-go. What a waste of taxpayer money to build these facilities that were not really used but built to show Hong Kong's determination to fight the virus...

Canada Welcomes More Hongkongers

More Hongkongers choosing to move to Canada 

More Hongkongers are choosing to come to Canada, particularly young people who have graduated since 2016, as the country has specific pathways for them to become permanent residents.

Since the pathways were announced in June 2021 in response to the national security law implemented in 2020, 1,700 Hongkongers have been granted permanent residency, and nearly 33,000 work and study permits.

About 17,000 have applied for open work permits, and less than 16,000 for study visas.

Canada targeting young Hongkongers

Canada's policies are specifically targeting young people, either recent graduates, or those already or intending to study here.

Hong Kong graduates who studied in Canada or have worked here for at least a year after obtaining postsecondary qualifications within the past five years can apply for permanent residency.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) received 1,760 applications for permanent residency between the launch of the scheme and October last year.

More than 90 percent used their Canadian educational qualifications to apply, the rest used their work experience in the country. 

Of the 1,760 who applied, 1,700 were granted permanent residency, 49 were refused, and 11 withdrew, which means a 97 percent success rate.

"With many young Hongkongers casting their eyes abroad, we want them to choose Canada," said a spokesman for IRCC.

Canadian pathways announced in June 2021

With the work permits, recent graduates can come to Canada and apply for a job and bring dependents with them. Nearly 17,400 work permits or extensions were issued to Hongkongers from the launch of the scheme until last October.

Of them 72 percent were in their 20s, 20 percent in their 30s, 6 percent in their 40s and 1 percent over 50 and below 20 years of age.

To qualify for permanent residency, those with a three-year open work permit must work full time for at least one year, or 1,560 hours.

The United Kingdom and Australia are other destinations Hongkongers are applying to. In the UK, the British National (Overseas) visa pathway allows Hongkongers to live and work there for five years and then are eligible for citizenship.

Meanwhile Hong Kong graduates who studied in Australia must remain there for three to four years before becoming eligible for permanent residency.

Hongkongers also choosing the UK, Australia

With Canada's scheme being the easiest, it's not surprising to see so many young people applying, while others holding BN(O) passports and have cash to burn are trying their luck in the UK.

Canada is also looking to increase its population by 1.45 million with young immigrants in the next three years, and Hongkongers are just one of the many welcomed with open arms.

Spending 25 Percent Lesson Time on Patriotism

Children will spend more class time on patriotic education

Hong Kong parents who have taken their children out of the local school system to be educated overseas must be breathing a sigh of relief they did the right thing.

That's because the Education Bureau has asked (not directed) primary schools to spend up to one-quarter of the study time towards patriotism and national security during the six years of primary education.

Topics to be covered include "the understanding of Chinese culture, the constitution, Basic Law and national security education".

Authorities also recommended organising "cross-disciplinary" exchange visits to mainland China.

This is the first change in the curriculum in eight years. A bureau spokesman said there was a need to update the primary curriculum guide to "enhance student learning", and noted the ones for kindergarten and secondary school had been updated in 2017.

There are seven learning goals, but the first and main one is to "understand our country and the Chinese culture, and cultivate a sense of belonging and national identity towards our country through national education and national security education".

In order to teach all this information, schools are to set side up to 25 percent of the 4,752 hours of lesson time during the six primary school years for organising activities to brush up their understanding of the constitution, the Basic Law and national security.

That time will be cut into lesson time for learning the Chinese and English languages, as well as mathematics.

As a parent this must be infuriating to know that precious class time is being squandered on national education, training young children to parrot Communist ideas and beliefs.

Perhaps there will be a continued spike in students leaving the city later this year?

Wanted: Teachers, Students in Hong Kong

Over 4,000 teachers have left the school system this past year

The school year has just started in Hong Kong, but with a lot fewer teachers and students.

The latest government figures show more than 4,000 teachers left their jobs in the past school year, a five-year high and 70 percent spike from the year before. 

Apparently this past summer there have been hundreds of ads posted in newspapers of schools looking for teachers.

Teachers must instil patriotism in students now

In the meantime, some 30,000 fewer students attending primary and secondary school in September 2021 compared to the preceding October.

Not only do teachers have to instil patriotism in students through national education, but also study President Xi Jinping's speech in the case of secondary students, while newly-revised textbooks have hardly any reference to June 4 or the candlelight vigil in Hong Kong.

Teachers are walking a fine line made worse by the threat that students and teachers can report on teachers who may be violating the national security law.

Nevertheless, the authorities refuse to acknowledge the real reason why so many teachers and students have left the school system.

The government claims teachers left their posts for various reasons including retirement, further study or found a job in another sector.

Schools have advertised for teacher positions

Schools are so short of teachers that even fresh education graduates who don't yet have their teaching diploma have been hired. 

However they are gloomy about their own career prospects with all the political requirements placed on them.

"There's not much that can be changed," said a 23-year-old university graduate who has taught a year of English in a secondary school. "You either submit, or quit."

Pageant Contestants Catch Covid

The pageant is postponed until contestants recover

Should we be surprised? The Miss Hong Kong Pageant was supposed to hold its semi-finals this coming Sunday, but has been postponed for now as five contestants have tested positive for Covid-19.

In addition hosts Eric Tsang Chi-wai and Fanny Ip Hoi-yan have tested positive too.

Tsang tested positive for Covid

This is the first time the annual event has been impacted by the virus. The previous two years TVB managed to hold the event with social-distancing restrictions.

It is unclear when the semi-finals will be held, though all contestants will be taking PCR tests, while rehearsals and promotional activities will be stopped for now.

On Monday Hong Kong recorded 8,488 new cases, of which 236 were imported.

Meanwhile with school starting soon, students and teachers are advised to start doing rapid antigen tests two days before the first day of school. They should also get their third jab. 

Kindergarten operators are lobbying the education minister Christine Choi Yuk-lin to not suspend face-to-face classes after she said the government might suspend whole-day classes if the number of cases surpasses 10,000.

Kindergartens hope to stay open this year

"These two to three years in the pandemic have been uncertain. Last year, classes kept pausing and resuming, our staff has already prepared for such changes... but the best is that classes are not affected," said Rosa Chow Wai-chun, president of the Early Childhood Educators Association.

Currently kindergartens can only hold half-day classes in person, though some operators arrange for half day classes and then the other half is "daycare".

It's tough to be a student during the pandemic. In-class learning is the best way to ensure students don't fall behind and develop the social skills they need to navigate the community they live in.

Meanwhile beauty pageants can wait. Hardly essential viewing...

Teachers Must Study Xi's July 1 Speech

Xi at the July 1 handover ceremony in Hong Kong

After Chinese President Xi Jinping gave his speech in Hong Kong on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the handover back to the mainland, civil servants were directed to study it.

The business sector, with such bodies as the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, and the Business and Professional Alliance of Hong Kong, as well as the IT industry in Science Park held study seminars.

Now the education sector is mandating that teachers must "study and learn" Xi's address, that they had to read and understand its "key messages" including his expectations for the city.

Teachers from various schools study Xi's words

What are these main points?

- Improving governance

- Creating a strong impetus for growth

- Handling people's concerns

- Maintaining social harmony and stability

The Education Bureau says the speech "fully expresses President Xi's love and care for young people in Hong Kong, and his earnest hope of providing "better education for children".

Educators were also expected to "accurately comprehend the constitutional order under 'one country, two systems', deepen their awareness of the trends in both the country and the world, and understand the importance of Hong Kong's integration into the overall development of our country," the bureau said.

Primary and secondary schools will receive copies of the speech, while 

Lam says teachers should study speech

Nancy Lam Chui-ling, principal of Tsuen Wan Trade Association Chu Cheong Kindergarten, also supported the bureau's decision.

"While kindergarten children may be too young to understand the messages in the president's speech, it is important for teachers to study it," she said.

"Teachers form a key part of local education. They should develop a positive attitude about Hong Kong and its development so that they can properly teach our children."

First of all, what are teachers supposed to impart from Xi's speech? His main points are broad and more directed at senior government officials. Also, if a teacher doesn't have a positive attitude about his or her profession, then they wouldn't be teachers in the first place. Surely they don't need what the president says to "guide" them. 

This exercise of making people read Xi's speech and have study sessions to discuss it are just a bid to tick boxes. It is also a very strong signal of how Hong Kong is being further mainlandized.

Veteran China-watcher Johnny Lau Yui-siu doubted the effectiveness of such "formalistic seminars" to study state leaders' speeches just to show they were trying to "unify thoughts" within the sector.

Meanwhile political scientist Chan Wai-keung, from the Hong Kong Community College of Polytechnic University, also expressed concerns about "formalism".

Xi's book available at Hong Kong Book Fair

"That is very mainland-style. Hong Kong people are not quite used to this... If it is just... for formalities' sake, it will not serve much purpose. People may just show up for the sake of attending and the Hong Kong public will not take it too seriously either," Chan said.

The Hong Kong government has been given the directive to push its residents to conform with the mainland, and studying Xi's speech is one way to emulate what is done in China.

When I was in Beijing and worked in state media, in the late afternoon once in a while my local colleagues would disappear to study then President Hu Jintao's "Three Represents" speech.

A few confided it was very boring, but at the same time were resigned to the reality that they had to attend these study sessions as part of their obligation as a Communist Party member.

Hong Kong residents must study Xi's speech, member or not... Indoctrination is moving full speed ahead...

Education Chief Promotes More Putonghua Learning

Students need to learn more Mandarin for better opportunities

The Hong Kong Education Bureau claims news reports saying the city was considering switching the medium of instruction for Chinese lessons in Mandarin rather than Cantonese are "inaccurate".

However when Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin was interviewed by state-run Global Times, she said that "if conditions are met, schools can use Putonghua to teach the Chinese language subject." 

Choi says Putonghua should be used in schools

In the interview published on Monday, Choi said the young generation in Hong Kong would "suffer losses" in terms of opportunities arising from China's rapid development if they could not speak Mandarin.

Therefore, she said, schools must teach subjects in Mandarin rather than Cantonese. 

But the Education Bureau claimed some media outlets misinterpreted Choi's remarks as meaning Mandarin would be the teaching language of choice for all schools and would be comprehensively implemented.

Instead the bureau clarified that such policies would depend on the school's situation, "including the level of readiness among teachers, the Mandarin capability of students, the language environment on campus, the curriculum, and support available for learning and teaching."

The bureau also said that "teaching Chinese in Putonghua" has always been a long-term target in the Chinese language curriculum since 2002, and this policy has not changed.

However, if Choi is giving this big hint that students should further brush up on their Mandarin in order to compete with peers on the mainland, she should be appealing to the parents, as they are the ones who would prefer their children have good English skills to keep their employment options open.

Students are already learning Mandarin

Also, is Choi also suggesting that the level of Mandarin in schools is bad? Then whose fault is that? Perhaps better teachers should be hired? Oh wait thousands of them have left Hong Kong?

There was also a time when suddenly teachers in Hong Kong had to teach subjects in Cantonese rather than English because the government seemed to think students did not have a good grasp of what was going on in the class. This was difficult for teachers to do, who had for years and decades taught the subject in English. 

And now the government wants teachers to teach in Mandarin instead of Cantonese... 

NSL Indoctrination Begins

University students must now pass a class on NSL to graduate

The Hong Kong Education Bureau is making sure students are learning about the national security law with university students having to take a non-credit course on the subject in order to graduate.

In an email sent to all University of Hong Kong students on Monday, students must enrol in a course titled "Introduction to the Constitution, the Basic Law and the National Security Law" from the 2022-23 academic year.

HKU will offer the course in September

The HKU course will be taught online with a "self-directed learning approach" -- whatever that means.

"Students will have the flexibility to take this course in any semester throughout their period of study and there is NO NEED TO ENROL in this course during the upcoming course selection and/or add/drop period," the notice says, adding students just need to pass the course without further details.

It's not just this university but also the other seven that will launch or have already started offering national security courses.

Ming Pao reported that the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University will begin offering the NSL course the upcoming school year.

Baptist U has incorporated NSL in seminars

Meanwhile, Hong Kong Baptist University, the Education University of Hong Kong, Lingnan University and City University of Hong Kong have already incorporated national security content into their curriculum in the format of seminars and workshops, according to Ming Pao.

But don't think that young children have escaped the opportunity to learn about NSL -- the Education Bureau has collaborated with the Security Bureau to create picture books for pupils in kindergarten, primary and secondary schools "to raise the sense of national security," said Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin.

"... [the Education Bureau], together with the Security Bureau will gift all secondary and primary schools, and kindergartens, a picture book titled 'Our Country, Our Safety', and introduce a sense of national security and raise students' awareness and sense of responsibility of maintaining national security through various themes and real-life examples."

Wonder what examples Choi has in mind...

Kindergarten pupils to get NSL picture books

She added the EDB will also provide subsidies of around HK$50 million for secondary and primary schools, and HK$10 million for kindergartens to promote reading. 

Ostensibly reading NSL-and patriotic education-related materials...