Former Gov’t Under Secretary urges student leaders to ‘exit’ from chaos

By Season Ho

By Season Ho

As the Occupy Central movement stepped into Day 16, the police have became increasingly aggressive in clearing the road blocks in the occupied area. Julia Leung Fung-yee, the former Under Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury, said in a seminar today that it is the high time for the leaders of the movement to retreat in order to win the hearts of the general public.

Julia Leung Fung-yee, Former Under Secretary for Financial Services
& the Treasury (Photo from hknews.hksyu.edu)

Leung believes that objectives of the current movement are not clear for both the leaders and the protestors. ’The 3-ji might have clear plans and strategies for retreat originally, but the decision to break into the Civic Square twisted the whole campaign and made a force kickoff of the Occupy Central movement.’


As the impact of the class boycotts is spread around University and secondary school campuses, and political discussion starts widely among the youth, Leung thinks that it is already a ‘great achievement’ for the current scale and influence of the movement.


‘Knowing when to exit makes a successful student leader,’ said Leung, and she believes it is high time for the student leaders to retreat, as the number of protests went down and the public starts to feel annoyed by the traffic disturbance.


‘I am a realistic person,’ and the ‘reality’ she expressed is that Hong Kong is still part of China. ‘We can only extend the boundaries and make the cage larger, it is impossible for us to escape from it.’