The five-session courses were about the crisis management and media strategy, public speaking skills and election debate, social mobilization, Hong Kong’s district council election analysis and China’s political system. They were specially designed for young Hong Kong adults who may actively contribute to our society.
As I had been away for three years, it was an excellent opportunity to have a well-organized summaries and first-hand information, together with structural framework of essential skills concerning the politics. The four-day courses were intensive enough to help us focus on studies. We had direct transport between hotels, restaurants and the school which saved time for us to reflect and consolidate what we had learnt. Our different backgrounds brought the discussion with different points of view and sometimes, it could be challenging to convince others. We had a great time in our group.
It was my pleasure to know Mr. Jerry Gao, who was our guide and organize our accommodation and food. On the coach, he never missed one chance to introduce the history of Guangzhou, the recent development and discuss the social issues with detailed figures and background. Our friendship started from Southern Metropolis Daily, which were frequently read through Wisenews. When I asked help from Jerry, he suggested me to read the weekend version which targets the middle-class readers. On the following days, he always gave his newspapers to me once he finished reading. Somehow I didn’t have much time to go through them but I sincerely appreciate his kindness and his consideration for others. We came across different topics which did not only happen in Hong Kong or in China but also in UK! He had studied in Manchester, UK for a year and I had worked there for a year too. It was great fun to talk with him in English.
I was surprised by the large number of undergraduates from different universities. Most of them study the subject which is more or less related to politics. On the other hand, there are not many working adults who age around thirty. I must admit that I need more sleep than them and had to escape to my room on the last night.
After the lesson of crisis management, Calvin and I were very serious to check the fire exit route and the safety measures while other group mates were indifferent to our precautions. On the night we had the group sharing, I raised my concern about their reaction. We were supposed to be more cautious towards any potential problem which could turn into a crisis but that was not the case. They didn’t take it serious and they were convinced that the probability of being trapped by fire was nearly zero. If it did happen, they knew they could rely on us rather than themselves! Haven’t they listened to Professor Liu that there was 70% of chance to avoid the crisis with advanced measures? We may learn a lot by the end of the day but we never apply it to our daily lives and stay at the theoretical level.
We should think more about our next step.
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