South China Morning Post - Hong Kong feedToday, 04:22
The president of Baptist University declined again yesterday to present degree certificates to graduates because they were carrying yellow umbrellas - symbols of the Occupy Central civil disobedience protests.
Professor Albert Chan Sun-chi, a Hong Kong delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, took a similar stance on Saturday, sparking criticism from students.
Student union president Mio Chan Pin-chun called his response "pathetic". He said the president must have bowed to pressure from "elsewhere", because he had previously supported students' social movements.
Professor Chan denied having come under any pressure. He described the graduates as disrespectful for holding the umbrellas during their convocation.
Meanwhile, it emerged that at least four other students - in addition to three barred on Saturday - had been prevented from leaving for Beijing in an effort to meet state leaders.
At yesterday's graduation incident, held around midday, a graduate of the Academy of Visual Arts and School of Communication knelt before Professor Chan and presented him with a folded yellow umbrella.
"This is a little gift from us students," the graduate said. "We hope the president can listen to the students' demands."
The professor hesitated before he took the brolly, but then made a dismissive gesture and asked the graduate to leave without handing him the certificate.
Two other graduates who later went on stage refused to accept their certificates from him.
Earlier in the day, about a dozen students at another graduation ceremony opened yellow umbrellas as the National Anthem was being played.
"By not giving the graduates their certificates, [the professor] is declining to recognise their education at the university and that they are Baptist University people," Mio Chan said.
"This is really pathetic and has seriously affected the bond between teachers and students. He is trampling on the students' basic freedom of expressing their opinions."
About a dozen students staged a protest outside the venue against the president's "suppression of the freedom of speech".
Professor Chan said that although he appreciated the students' "lofty ideals", he declined to give the graduates their certificates because their actions on the stage showed disrespect for the solemnity of the occasion.
"Hanging around on stage with an umbrella did not look good. It was not raining. Today, they carried an umbrella; what if tomorrow they carry a flag?"
He said it would not be a problem if students wore yellow ribbons - which also signify support for the Occupy campaign for democracy - or carried umbrellas while not on stage.
The professor recited a line from a poem by Chinese philosopher and reformist of the Qing dynasty, Liang Qichao. The meaning of the line is that people with great ambition are not afraid to sacrifice themselves as the target of attack by others.
The graduates who did not receive their certificates from Chan could obtain the papers from the university after the ceremony.
Meanwhile, at least four other students had been barred from travelling to the mainland since the protests began on September 28, student leaders said during an RTHK talk show yesterday.
One of the trio, Nathan Law Kwun-chung, said: "They included student union members, student [volunteers] and some who had helped in our publications."
Alex Chow Yong-kang, secretary general of the Federation of Students - one of the groups leading Occupy - said mainland border officials blocked those students on the grounds they might "jeopardise national security" or "affect state diplomacy".
The failed trips came to light after three federation representatives were barred on Saturday from flying to Beijing.
Additional reporting by Lai Ying-kit
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1642421/baptist-university-president-albert-chan-rains-graduate-parade -- gReader
