The last examination of Liberal Studies was held on April 27, bringing an end to 30 years of liberal studies education in Hong Kong. Naturally, the pro-establishment camp breathed a sigh of relief as their decade-long mudslinging brought an end to this subject, which supposedly heralded a new age of independent study but was heavily criticized after 2012 as a scapegoat of the government’s governance failure.
There was not much public discussion about the exam paper, nor was there any expression of regret, probably because all the topics were popular and the questions were easy. No one made any rude comments on someone’s Instagram like some English Language candidates previously did on Michelle Obama’s.
Exam experts regarded the paper as unprofessional. For example, Lo Ka-yiu, who has managed the Liberal Studies exam in Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) for 20 years, wrote on his Instagram that the exam paper was too easy as it “accepts as answer whatever candidates wrote.” “It fits the slogan ‘Happy Hong Kong,’ but it cannot discriminate candidates of different calibers.”
He commented, “The soul of Liberal Studies rests on ‘independent inquiry,’ a project-based learning unit, which was got rid of in 2021. The subject now has become soulless, as multi-perspective analyses, critical thinking, and issue-based learning cannot be conducted both in class and in the exam.”
Liberal Studies appeared as a herald of educational reform back in the 1980s when the division of arts, science, and commerce streams in the matriculation curriculum made students know nothing beyond their subjects. Hence the matriculation reform introduced an “advanced supplementary level” on top of the existing “advanced level” to allow students to study more subjects of different natures. One such subject was Liberal Studies which had six modules covering Hong Kong, China, the modern world, environmental education, human relations, and science, technology, and society.
Such modules are aimed at fostering an understanding of knowledge of different branches. They were intended to help students learn skills expected of educated people. The government tried to persuade local universities to accept it as an entrance requirement but without avail.
What failed in the “advanced supplementary level” reform became a success in the new secondary school reform almost ten years later. The government succeeded in making Liberal Studies one of the four compulsory subjects, alongside English Language, Chinese Language, and Mathematics. It marked a great success in educational reform, as it meant that values such as critical thinking and multi-perspective thinking that Liberal Studies taught would prevail. However, the timing of reform was inopportune.
The 2010s turned out to be much more politicized than anyone could have expected. Shortly after the first examination in 2012, there broke out the incident of national education, followed by the Umbrella Movement, Fish Ball Revolution, and the Anti-Extradition Campaign. As expected, the pro-establishment camp would not face up to governance failure; rather, they were more willing to turn the heralding Liberal Studies into a scapegoat. The pro-establishment camp blatantly shouted, “No Liberal Studies, No Joshua Wong Chi-fung;” Regina Ip, now convener of the Executive Council, made the Education Bureau rename “critical thinking” to “cautious thinking” because the former allegedly suggests that learners will only know how to criticize.
Finally, the advent of the national security law announced the ‘bone scraping’ campaign in the education sector for the sake of uprooting the social basis of the “black-clad mobsters,” and Liberal Studies became a victim.
From hindsight, its birth and demise marked the beginning and end of an era of enlightenment and tolerance, when views of any position in the political spectrum could be discussed in class and exams. Now, this has become history. Only pro-Beijing views can be taught in school. The promise of being unchanged for 50 years has become a big joke.
Recently, in the “Let’s Praise the Basic Law” speech contest organized by the Hong Kong Basic Law Foundation, participants, all dressed in full school uniforms, looked wearing an invisible red scarf around their heads and necks (a symbol of communist youth in mainland China), judging from what they said.
In the space of several generations, Liberal Studies turned from a subject feared by all to one warmly welcomed by Hongkongers. In the space of just a few years, the culture of independent thinking has been turned into ashes. The invisible red scarf perfectly matches the sunset in Victoria Harbour, stained equally red. Coupled with the unfolding silence of the twilight are the five stars (on the red flag) that are the only things left in the sky of Hong Kong.
