Eighty-seven. Eighty-seven rounds of tear gas catalysed the 2014 Hong Kong Occupation, a big tent civil disobedience campaign for democracy, and served as my awakening moment. It set me on discovering deeper issues and how the intertwined disciplines of philosophy, politics and economics are able to explain and solve issues beneath the surface of the movement.
Academically, the movement prompted me to read Mill's 'On Liberty' and Thoreau's 'Civil Disobedience,' only questioning whether it is justified to treat democracy as an end in itself and how the goal of securing 'genuine democracy' can be comparable to Thoreau's anti-slavery case. Witnessing how online news media mobilised, I conducted my Independent Enquiry Study on 'Online News Media and Teenagers in Politics'. Through interviews with protest leaders, I gained invaluable insights into how online news media enthused the apolitical youth and learnt research techniques in analysing and drawing conclusions from literature and first-hand information. On the other hand, the event motivated me to choose 'Protection of Human Rights in Peaceful Protests' as one of the topics of the Chinese University of Hong Kong's 2015 Model United Nations (MUN). After compiling chair reports, I co-chaired academic discussion for over a hundred students in my committee from more than 20 …show more content…
After reading ‘spirit level’, I find China's crony capitalistic structural reform aggravates inequality, hence, the disconnect between economic utility and happiness. However, I notice that another cause may be the underlying difference in the principles of happiness. In the modern west, hedonism has gained influence; Confucius offered a radically distinct narrative in 'Analects', praising 'restrained happiness' and denouncing 'hedonistic'
Academically, the movement prompted me to read Mill's 'On Liberty' and Thoreau's 'Civil Disobedience,' only questioning whether it is justified to treat democracy as an end in itself and how the goal of securing 'genuine democracy' can be comparable to Thoreau's anti-slavery case. Witnessing how online news media mobilised, I conducted my Independent Enquiry Study on 'Online News Media and Teenagers in Politics'. Through interviews with protest leaders, I gained invaluable insights into how online news media enthused the apolitical youth and learnt research techniques in analysing and drawing conclusions from literature and first-hand information. On the other hand, the event motivated me to choose 'Protection of Human Rights in Peaceful Protests' as one of the topics of the Chinese University of Hong Kong's 2015 Model United Nations (MUN). After compiling chair reports, I co-chaired academic discussion for over a hundred students in my committee from more than 20 …show more content…
After reading ‘spirit level’, I find China's crony capitalistic structural reform aggravates inequality, hence, the disconnect between economic utility and happiness. However, I notice that another cause may be the underlying difference in the principles of happiness. In the modern west, hedonism has gained influence; Confucius offered a radically distinct narrative in 'Analects', praising 'restrained happiness' and denouncing 'hedonistic'