The government-organised meeting was meant to defuse the row over a plan to open a drug rehabilitation centre for teenagers in Mui Wo. So, it was both very sad and thought-provoking that emotions should run so high and there should be so much tension between residents and the representatives and students from the Christian Zheng Sheng drug rehabilitation college.
At issue is a government-backed plan to allocate to the college the New Territories Heung Yee Kuk Southern District Secondary School in Mui Wo, Lantau, which has been vacant for more than two years. Located at present in remote Ha Keng, on the Chi Ma Wan peninsula, the college is overcrowded and short of teaching facilities.
The plan met with fierce opposition from residents and most members of the Islands District Council. At the consultation session on Sunday, residents claimed it was wrong to locate the college in the village. Holding up placards saying: 'Local school for local needs', they want the vacant school to be used for Mui Wo residents.
Some of the college students attending the session were in tears as residents booed supporters of the relocation plan.
Shortly before the Islands District Council discussed the issue on Monday, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen called for community support for non-governmental bodies involved in drug rehabilitation. 'When our children make mistakes, they need forbearance,' he said '... I hope Hong Kong society generally, and the Mui Wo community in particular, can embrace these young people with love and give them a second chance.'
Even the locals who oppose the relocation plan would not disagree with such remarks. Many people have also embraced community values such as tolerance, love and care for the underprivileged, unfortunate and those who have lost their way.
But when it comes to the question of locating facilities deemed unwelcome or undesirable in their vicinity, the 'not-in-my-backyard' mentality has prevailed.
