港大校委會於一月二十六日發表聲明，指校委會一致「同意」成立專責小組，研究大學的管治及其有效性。事實上，校委會玩弄語言偽術，僅稱「同意」設立小組，其實還需「等埋」教資會有關報告，實情並非「即時」設立小組。校委會亦故此刻意避免提及小組資料，包括成立日期、工作範圍、成員名單等，試圖以「同意設立小組」來敷衍學生。基於校委會素有前科，「等埋首副」的謬事歷歷在目，同學擔心校委會組成的檢討工作無理拖延，遂以行動尋求對話，實在有理有節，亦無可厚非。
然則，校長馬斐森於一月廿七日的公開電郵，指責學生行為乃暴民政治(mob rule)，後更立即準備閉路電視片段予警方。身為一校之長，校長非但沒有保護學生及譴責警察在校內以胡椒噴霧指嚇同學之事，反而逆道而行，誣衊眾爭取院校自主的同學為暴民，令同學失望至極。與此同時，校方要求警察進入校園，打壓同學集會及示威的權利，為政權機器干預院校開下先例。另外，馬斐森位高權重，如今竟因不諳廣東話及本地政治，而盲從李國章之謬論，認同學生受政黨所操控。此等無知言論，如同助紂為虐，令一眾同學感到痛心。
昨日，校委會主席李國章偕校長馬斐森召開記者會。會上，李國章以當日曾為梁家傑實習生的梁麗「君」等人在場為由，而推論出公民黨煽動學生發起圍堵行動，無疑是以己度人，用其奴性思維，貶低同學的自由意志，實屬無稽之談。他更含血噴人，羅織罪名，指部份學生的行為有如被藥物荼毒所致。面對五千名同學於上年十月舉行的學生會全民投票中反對李國章在大學管治架構中擔任任何職位，李國章則笑稱約一萬名沒有投票的同學對他沒有意見，公然踐踏同學訴求，偷換概念，扭曲學生會公投結果，並踐踏民主程序。
校委會召開當晚風雨交加，一眾親建制校委卻在會議室裏躲在保密機制中，大放厥詞；然而學生則在風雨中靜候跟校方對話的機會，最後卑微願望落空。不過，哪裡有打壓，那裡就有抗爭。同學護校之心，永不在荒謬成為常態的時代中死去。
香港大學學生會
二零一六年一月二十九日
Take on the hard way for reform
Dare precede for our school
Declaration of HKUSU on the meeting on 26th January of the Council of the University of Hong Kong
The Council of the University of Hong Kong issued a statement on 26th January, stating that the Council unanimously ‘agreed’ to form a review panel to look into the University governance and its efficacy. But in fact, it was a folly of rhetoric and language. The Council only ‘agreed’ the establishment and had to wait ‘until’ the report of the University Grant Committee (UGC) is issued. It was never an ‘immediate’ establishment. The Council thus deliberately avoided mentioning any details of the the panel, including its date of establishment, terms of reference and list of members, in attempt to fudge students with the ‘agreement to establish a panel’. Given the various precedence of the Council, the recent absurdity of delay ‘until the post of provost is filled’, students worried the unreasonable delay of the review of the Council composition and thus sought for dialogue with action. Such was clearly understandable and reasonable with nothing to be blamed.
Prof. Peter Mathieson, the President, yet condemned students’ action as mob rule on his public email sent on 27th January, who even immediately made video footage available to the Police Force. As the Head of the school, Not only did the President neither protect students nor condemn police act of threatening with pepper spray on campus, he even took the opposite path and slandered students who fought for institutional autonomy as mobs, disappointing every single one of us. In the meantime, the University order of police entrance onto the campus to suppress students’ right to assembly and protest makes itself a precedent in intervention to institutions through accomplices of the regime. Besides, the dignified Prof. Peter Mathieson blindly believed in Arthur Li’s fallacy and impossibly agreed that students were manipulated by political parties as he fails to comprehend Cantonese and local politics. Such ignorant and stupid claim is nothing different from providing succour for the tyrant, upsetting and disheartening every students.
Arthur Li and Prof. Mathieson then hosted a press conference yesterday, in which Arthur Li absurdly made the conclusion of the Civic Party to be behind the students’ siege for Leung ‘Lai-kwan’ was once an intern for Mr Alan Leong (Leung Lai-kwok is the name of a member of the HKU Strike Committee, former President of HKUSU), judging others with his roguery, derogating our free will with his servility. He even further smeared and incriminated some students to be under influence of drugs. In view of the five thousand students voting against Arthur Li taking up any positions under the University Governance Structure in the Union General Polling, Arthur Li yet satirized the remaining ten thousand students not voting in the polling to hold no opinion towards him. Such is a clear trample on students’ demand and distortion of the result of the polling. Such disguised displacement is no doubt a blow to the democratic procedures.
Under the torrents and gale, the Pro-establishment Council members hid under the practice of confidentiality and babbled inside the meeting room; students yet calmly waited for a chance of dialogue amid the gust and rain, with our petty hope eventually fell. Still, for where there is suppression there is resistance. Students’ determination in protecting our University shall never die out in an age when absurdity is normality.
The Hong Kong University Students Union
29th January 2016