- Lawmaker Starry Lee urges faster restoration of Hong Kong wartime sites to educate youth about history.
- Proposal to establish patriotism education bases in Hong Kong and Guangdong for students to learn historical resistance efforts.
- Guangdong Memorial Hall sees growing visits, especially by youth, highlighting increased interest in learning national history.
Lawmaker Starry Lee Wai-king has called on the Hong Kong SAR government to accelerate the restoration of wartime sites in the city to help residents better understand their history.
Lee made the remarks during a media delegation visit to Shenzhen, Dongguan, and Guangzhou, which included around a dozen Hong Kong-based journalists. The two-day trip marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
During the visit, Lee learned about the efforts of guerrillas who fought against the Japanese invasion. She highlighted the importance of patriotism education and expressed hope that more education bases could be established for youth in Guangdong and Hong Kong, following the model of Beijing’s inaugural patriotism education base for Hong Kong and Macao youth.
“I hope the HKSAR government actively considers setting up similar bases in its upcoming Policy Address, scheduled for Sept. 17”, Lee said.
On Thursday, the delegation visited the Guangdong Memorial Hall of the East River Column in Dongguan’s Dalingshan area. Opened in 2005, the hall houses over 5,500 exhibits, including a national defense education-themed exhibition.
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Tang Lin, deputy director of the hall, said the venue has seen a growing number of visitors, with more than 220,000 people visiting so far this year. Visits by young people have increased by 62 percent compared with the same period last year. Many parents bring their children during summer vacation to teach them about history, Tang added.
Currently, most visitors come from cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, but some international visitors also attend. The hall is planning to add more English explanations to help foreign visitors better understand the exhibits.
The media tour aims to raise awareness of wartime history and promote education about the sacrifices and efforts of those who resisted the Japanese invasion, while encouraging the younger generation to learn from the past.
