Honorary degrees are never far from controversy but few have faced such strong opposition in Hong Kong as that soon to be awarded to Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew by the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Ten Chinese University alumni have this week banded together and launched a signature campaign to stop the university from honouring Mr Lee in its forthcoming convocation.
Vice-chancellor Arthur Li Kwok-cheung has told student representatives a reason for choosing the Singaporean elder statesman, who was also awarded the title of Honorary Freeman by the City of London in 1982, was his great contributions to economic stability in his society.
But Legislative Councillor and Chinese University council member, Cheung Man-kwong, opposes the plan. "It will be a shame to CU. Mr Lee is an exemplary model of someone who is good at using the law to suppress people. He is an important leader in Asia but an academic institution should avoid conferring a honorary degree to someone known for his autocratic style."
Another petition organiser said: "Public order laws, press freedom, and academic freedom are areas the police state of Singapore encroached upon one by one in its 35-year-rule. When a Hong Kong university confers a doctorate degree to Lee Kuan Yew, the value of this society is changing for the worse. The basic premise of right and wrong is being compromised."
Chinese University staff in favour of the move point to similar protests in the past. "There were disagreements too concerning City University's conferring of a honorary degree on tycoon Li Ka-shing," said Leung Jin-pang, psychology professor and CU Teacher Association executive committee chairman. "Some said he was a successful businessman, but others might think he exploited the poor. Mr Lee is an outstanding modern leader. Shouldn't we recognise his achievements?"
A spokesman for the Chinese University also made reference to Statute 26 section 1 (2) of the university's ordinance, which empowers it to confer the degree on anyone "who has rendered distinguished service in the advancement of any branch of learning or who has otherwise rendered himself worthy of such a degree".
Who gets honours is up to the discretion of a special committee responsible for the convocation. But the committee, comprising senate members, faculty heads and the vice-chancellor, is little known by staff.
Legislator Mr Cheung admits he is not aware how the committee works. But the selection of recipients requires the endorsement of the Chancellor, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa.
The petitioners may hope to follow the example of Oxford University teaching and administrative staff who, in 1985, held a debate and successfully campaigned against the awarding of an honorary doctorate to then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher after she announced education and research funding cuts.
Opposition to awards in Hong Kong has traditionally been low profile although disagreements arose in 1998 over the City University's offer of an honorary doctorate law degree to Lu Ping, a former director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, for his "distinguished contributions to the well-being of humanity".
There were also dissenting voices when the Polytechnic University honoured an alumni commonly seen as a pro-China figure, now Executive Council convenor Leung Chun-ying.
In the past critics, such as legislator James To Kun-sun, labelled the conferring process a networking and connection-building exercise, which had cheapened honorary doctorates and warned this could reflect badly on Hong Kong internationally.
"We don't know what justifies a honorary degree," says President of the Student Union at CU, Fung Kai-yuen. His group has invited Singaporean opposition Workers' Party chairman Joshua Jeyaretnam to address a forum about the situation in his country on Monday. Whether that will set the stage for a wider debate remains to be seen.
