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Scholarism was a Hong Kong pro-democracyWilfred Chan and Yuli Yang, CNNbr>Echoing Tiananmen, 17-year-old Hong Kong student prepares for democracy battle
28 September 2014
student activist group active in the fields of Hong Kong's education policy, political reform and youth policy. It was reported to have 200 members in May 2015. The group was known for its stance on defending the autonomy of Hong Kong's education policy from Beijing's influence."(Joshua ) Wong formed a group of students in Hong Kong called Scholarism to stop the territory from implementing a mainland-designed "national education" policy that ignored the Tiananmen massacre and pushed fealty to the Chinese Communist Party." It was also the leading organisation during the
2014 Hong Kong protests A series of sit-in street protests, often called the Umbrella Revolution and sometimes used interchangeably with Umbrella Movement, or Occupy Movement, occurred in Hong Kong from 26 September to 15 December 2014. The protests began after ...
, better known as the "Umbrella Revolution". Founded by a number of secondary school students on 29 May 2011, the group first came to media attention when they organised a protest against the Pro-Communist " moral and national education" put forward by the
Hong Kong government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong Special administrative regions of China, ...
in 2012. At the height of the event, 120,000 students and members of the public attended the demonstration and forced the government to retract its plans to introduce "moral and national education" as a compulsory subject in schools. Scholarism ceased functioning in March 2016. Core members including Joshua Wong, Oscar Lai and
Agnes Chow Agnes Chow Ting ( zh, t=周庭, born 3 December 1996) is a Hong Kong politician and social activist. She is a former member of the Standing Committee of Demosistō and former spokesperson of Scholarism. Her candidacy for the 2018 Hong Kong Is ...
formed a new political party Demosisto in April.


History


Anti-Moral and National Education movement

Originally formed as "Scholarism – The Alliance Against Moral & National Education", Scholarism was the first student
pressure group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the develop ...
that protested against the "Moral and National Education" school curriculum put forward by the Hong Kong Government in 2012. The controversial subject ignored the Tiananmen massacre and tried to present the Communist Party of China in favourable light. The group was one of the few organisations that took part in the protest outside the Central Government Liaison Office after the 1 July March 2012. In August 2012, members of Scholarism launched an
occupation protest As an act of protest, occupation is a strategy often used by social movements and other forms of collective social action in order to squat and hold public and symbolic spaces, buildings, critical infrastructure such as entrances to train station ...
at the Hong Kong government headquarters to force the government to retract its plans to introduce "Moral and National Education" as a compulsory subject. Fifty members occupied the public park beneath the government offices, and three of the protesters began a hunger strike. The protest lasted until September 2012.


Hong Kong democratic movement

After rising to prominence during the movement against the "Moral and National Education" the pro-democracy students remained active in the social and democracy movement in Hong Kong. On 23 June 2013, Scholarism issued a statement which stressed the necessity of civil nomination for the 2017 Chief Executive election. By late August, Scholarism drew up a charter and began lobbying democratic Legislative Councillors to sign it, which would commit their parties to make civil nomination through universal suffrage the number one priority during the coming campaign for the 2017 Chief Executive election. The charter was signed by
People Power "People Power" is a political term denoting the populist driving force of any social movement which invokes the authority of grassroots opinion and willpower, usually in opposition to that of conventionally organised corporate or political for ...
, League of Social Democrats, Neo Democrats, and
Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre The Neighbourhood and Worker's Service Centre (NWSC) is a pro-democracy political group in Hong Kong, holding one seat in the Legislative Council from 1995 to 1997, and since 1998. It was founded in 1985, with its roots in the New Youth Study S ...
. The Civic Party signed on with reservations, and the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
, Labour Party and
Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood The Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL) is a Hong Kong pro-democracy social-liberal political party catering to grassroots interest with a strong basis in Sham Shui Po. Established on 26 October 1986, it was one o ...
refused to sign it as they disagreed that public nomination should be the only way to put forward candidates.


Umbrella Revolution

In September 2014, Scholarism launched a class boycott with the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS), protesting against the National People's Congress Standing Committee's (NPCSC) decision on the restricting nomination procedure of the election of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. On 26 September, the class boycott was held on
Tim Mei Avenue Tim Mei Avenue () is a street in Admiralty, Hong Kong. The street is built on land reclaimed as part of the Central Reclamation Phase II, which was completed in 1997 and reclaimed 5.3 hectares of land at the former Tamar naval base. The area was ...
and the square outside the Legislative Council Complex, as an organisation applied to hold a celebration event of 65th anniversary of the People's Republic China at the Tamar Park. It was also the day on which Scholarism hosted the class boycott movement for secondary school students. Joshua Wong, leading activist of Scholarism, pronounced the boycott statement. At 10:30 p.m. when the assembly came to the end, Joshua Wong, all of a sudden, called for the crowd to "retake" the Civic Square, around which fences were built two months earlier. Led by members of HKFS, hundred of protesters climbed across fences and tore down the barriers around the flag stage. The police surrounded hundreds of protesters, and then further mobilised towards the Civic Square and clashed with the protesters. The police
pepper-spray Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, or capsicum spray is a lachrymatory agent (a Chemical compound, compound that irritates the eyes to cause a burning sensation, pain, and temporary blindness) used in policing ...
ed them and displayed their batons. In chaos, it was reported a protester was having a heart attack. The police force originally refused to let the medics enter, and later permitted under the protesters pressure. At 10:52 p.m. police handcuffed and arrested Joshua Wong for forcible entry to government premises, disorderly conduct in public place and unlawful assembly. As visible wounds were found, he was sent to Ruttonjee Hospital for medical inspections before sent to the Central Police station. Many people on site were sent to the hospital because of injuries or feeling unwell. The police and protesters fell into stalemate later on. The raid on the Civic Square triggered the massive occupy protest in the following days, as more protesters were called in support of the students being carried away from the Civic Square. At the night of 27 September, HKFS and Scholarism organised another assembly. Having declared the assembly unlawful, police blockaded Exit A of Admiralty MTR station and bridges outside the Central Office Complex until the size of the crowd caused the police to lift the blockade. At 1:30 am, 28 September, Benny Tai, co-initiator of the Occupy Central with Love and Peace movement, declared the official launch of the "Occupy Central" campaign. In the afternoon, as more and more people flooded to Admiralty in support of the students, the police completely blockaded the access to the government headquarters. Later, the protesters began to occupy
Harcourt Road Harcourt Road is a major highway in Admiralty, Hong Kong, connecting Central and Wan Chai. It starts at Murray Road and ends at Arsenal Street. The road is 780 metres in length and has four lanes of traffic on either side. The section of Harco ...
which police responded by using tear gas, triggering widespread occupations at Admiralty, Mong Kok and Causeway Bay. Although the protests were fruitless in the end, Scholarism remained its leading role in the following 79-day occupy movement.


Dissolution

In February 2016, Oscar Lai Man-lok, a core member of Scholarism, revealed that he, Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow Ting planned to form a political party and field at least two candidates to run in the Legislative Council elections in September. Lai subsequently quit Scholarism to support Civic Party's
Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu (, born 5 June 1981) is a barrister and politician in Hong Kong. He is the former Leader of the Civic Party and former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, representing New Territories East after winning the 20 ...
in the Legislative Council by-election for
New Territories East New Territories East is the eastern part of New Territories, covering North, Tai Po, Sha Tin, and Sai Kung District. History All districts except Sai Kung District have been connected by the Kowloon–Canton Railway (now East Rail line) since it ...
, as Scholarism refused to officially endorse a candidate between the pro-democratic Civic Party and the localist Hong Kong Indigenous's
Edward Leung Tin-kei Edward Leung Tin-kei ( zh, t=梁天琦; born 2 June 1991) is a Hong Kong politician and activist. He is the former spokesperson of Hong Kong Indigenous, a localist group. He advocates Hong Kong independence, and coined the slogan "Liberate H ...
in the election. In March, an online news outlet IBHK reported that the group, would be disbanded. Scholarism's Facebook page said on 16 March that it was at present working on its future direction and would announce if it reached any decisions. Scholarism officially ceased functioning on 20 March 2016. The group had a sum of HK$1,450,000 in its bank account, of which HK$700,000 was transferred to a new student activist group and the other HK$750,000 was transferred to a legal assistance fund to assist the lawsuits. Core members including Joshua Wong, Oscar Lai and Agnes Chow went on to form Demosisto.


See also

* ''
Lessons in Dissent ''Lessons in Dissent'' () is a 2014 documentary film about young political activists in Hong Kong. Synopsis ''Lessons in Dissent'' was filmed over 2011 and 2012 and follows two student activists, Joshua Wong and Ma Jai, as they protest the prop ...
'', a documentary film * '' Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower'', a documentary film about Joshua Wong and Scholarism.


References


External links


學民思潮 Scholarism

Scholarism
at Facebook {{Umbrella Movement Organizations established in 2011 Organizations disestablished in 2016 Political organisations based in Hong Kong Education activism 2011 establishments in Hong Kong 2016 disestablishments in Hong Kong Student protests in Hong Kong