The student activist group Scholarism has petitioned pupils at two schools to pressure four of their alumni, now legislative councillors, to reject the government’s political reform proposals.
Members of the group including leader Joshua Wong waited outside the school gates of two schools, St Stephen’s Girls’ College and Diocesan Boys’ College, the alma mater of Regina Ip, James Tien, Michael Tien and Tommy Leung.
A post on the group’s Facebook page last night urged pupils to pressure their alumni to reject the political reform package citing the expectations students have for their alumni and representatives.
The move comes ahead of next week’s vote on the government’s controversial proposal for electing the chief executive in the the 2017 elections.
Legislators will vote on a package that will allow Hong Kongers to elect their chief executive through a popular vote and where all candidates for the role have been vetted by a pro-Beijing committee.
There is speculation that there will be protests on the day of the vote and possibly another occupation outside the legislative council as members vote on the proposal.
Regina Ip and Michael Tien are chair and deputy of the New People’s Party respectively whilst James Tien and Tommy Cheung are both members of the Liberal Party. Both are pro-Beijing parties and officially support the government’s political reform package.
However, James Tien was forced to step down as chairman of the party after he called on Chief Executive CY Leung to resign at the height of the occupy protests in Hong Kong last year. His comments soon led to his expulsion from the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
Last month James Tien admitted that he had lost all hope that the pan-democratic legislators can be persuaded to vote for the package and this morning called on the government to consider pushing back the day of the vote to early July to give the pan-democrats more time to reconsider the proposals.
St Stephen’s Girls’ College in the Mid-Levels is one of the top girls’ schools in Hong Kong. Other notable alumni include former legislative council president Rita Fan and former Hong Kong University Student’s Union President Yvonne Leung. The Diocesan Boys’ School in Mong Kok is one of the leading private schools in the city, which also boasts a long list of alumni now in prominent leadership roles in law, politics and media.
