More information has been arriving and from several different sources. It was either ‘great’, ‘terrifying’ or ‘shocking’ depending on whose message you read. It was certainly no bun fight. Every shop on the campus was broken into and every single item removed, No. 2 canteen was broken into and set on fire but that didn’t get far as it is just a concrete shell with very little inside which is combustible, many dormitory blocks were attacked, mainly those belonging to teachers, but none were entered and two cars were burnt outside the White House. Other vehicles were attacked and damaged. Almost every piece of street furniture – signboards, noticeboards, street lamps and phone booths – was destroyed. I asked how many people were involved but the only coherent estimate came from Johnny, he guessed a few thousand and it may well have involved the majority of the male students. When he saw the crowd outside the White House but could only see boys.
The campus has a small PSB station but with only a handful of staff; if they had tried to stand in the way of a few
thousand angry students they would have been turned into mincemeat. The PLA had arrived early Saturday morning and the message was put out that they would be there for the rest of the semester.
As to what triggered it all, again Johnny’s comments made a lot of sense, ‘a mixture of alcohol and seething resentment’. Each year the students are required to make an advanced payment for utilities to be used in the coming year. The charge is always an overpayment so quite a lot of it is repaid at the end of the year. This year the college told them that no repayment would be made and this seems to have been the straw which broke the camel’s back. The college is simply one big money making machine for those at the top [President Huang Bo Qang ended up in gaol on corruption charges] or in any position to cause problems and the students are exploited to the limit, and beyond. All goods at the campus shops are overpriced, as are the canteens which are also of notoriously poor quality. The college is able to get away with all that as it enforces a ‘closed campus’ regime from Sunday evening to late Friday afternoon, allowing only teachers and a few privileged students to pass through the gates during that time.
My co-teacher had no kind words for the rioters which I can understand as she had been shaken by the experience [though not physically] and I won’t repeat what she thought should be done with those responsible, but, having been there myself for longer than is sensible, I could sympathise with the rioters.
No one mentioned any deaths, during or immediately after the fracas, so maybe, apart from a few scratches and bruises, no one was seriously hurt. I hope so.
Diary Of A Foreign Teacher 