LAU Tsz-kei, HKBU student union president, led students to "occupy"

the Language Centre for eight hours, trying to force the staff to

produce marking criteria documents of the Mandarin language exemption

assessment. He used abusive language while a student even hurled vulgar words to address Patricia Warren, the centre's associate head. Their acts show a lack of basic respect for humans, let alone that for teachers and ethics .

Many universities have a language centre to enhance their students’ language abilities and offer foreign language courses. HKBU is the only one that requires students to achieve a certain level in Putonghua to graduate. Most students have to take a Putonghua course at the Language Centre. Even if it is not for ethnicity , knowing Putonghua provides an edge when joining the workforce. The course is not difficult. Since it was first conducted 10 years ago, only five students had to postpone graduation for failing to meet the requirements.

However, the student union, which writes official documents in Cantonese, wants to

have the graduation requirement removed and has negotiated with the school many times. The university held an exemption assessment this year. Consequently, 30 per cent of the students passed and were exempted from the course.

Ruthless pressure repeated

THE union said a pass rate of 30 per cent is too low and that a student who spoke fluently but did not use the tone of the suggested role in the question had failed, so they asked for the marking criteria. The "occupation" was only a medium-term strategy to have the Putonghua requirement scrapped.

This is not the first time students have made demands and forced school authorities to compromise through a "fierce and violent" campus strike or occupation. The most well-known is the HKU pro-vice-chancellor selection controversy two years ago. Some students surrounded university council members at the meeting venue and even rushed in to cause chaos. They also prevented a member who felt unwell from being put onto an ambulance. The then president and vice-president of the student union were convicted and given community service orders.

A CUHK council meeting was similarly stormed by students and radicals to make sure the members negotiate scrapping the mechanism of the incumbent chief executive to automatically becoming the vice chancellor. A security guard was injured in the head and received five stiches at the hospital. Students would not allow some council members to leave, even following them into the washroom. Last year, Hong Kong independence posters appeared at a venue managed by the CUHK student union. The university ordered to have them removed which triggered a similar incident at the student affairs office of the union and student organizations of other institutions that lasted nearly six hours.

Bad behaviour harms the innocents

SUCH ruthless protest culture has been brewing on university campuses for some time.Some student leaders use intense means to show that they dare challenge authority to fight for and consolidate their " valiant " image. Such characteristics of being "violent and bold" have become an "asset" for those joining social movements. But it leaves a bad impression of the university and students on the community. It has become a "negative asset" when other students are looking for a job. Not only university authorities but also many teachers and parents have

found their behaviour disgusting. Even some students have reservations about it.

Students actually have many means to express their views or make demands. The basic requirement of a university education is to teach students to convince people through reason instead of using abusive language or physical violence to make others compromise. Violent confrontations actually hinder reasoning and won’t earn public support. Instead they will shift focus. Violent acts reflect the students’ character and will only be more of a hindrance to problem solving.