School debate contest with democrats as judges scrapped after shopping mall and university cancel bookings
A secondary school debating competition featuring prominent democrats as judges has been scrapped after a Tsuen Wan shopping mall and a local university cancelled bookings for the event.
The grand final and prize presentation ceremony, originally scheduled for last Saturday will be 'cancelled until further notice,' the organiser Zi3Sin6 Debate said in an Instagram post, adding that it 'deeply regrets' the move due to 'unavoidable changes.'
The competition was originally set to be held at the Citywalk shopping centre in Tsuen Wan, owned by developer Sino Group. The debate group was notified on Wednesday that the booking had been pulled due to 'urgent repairs,' according to its statement.
The group then booked to hold the competition at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, but the university withdrew the venue on Thursday 'after inquiring into more details about the competition,' the statement said.
The judges were to be former chairperson of the Democratic Party Emily Lau, and founding members of the now-defunct Civic Party Audrey Eu and Alan Leong. The Democratic Party, the city's largest opposition group with a three-decade history, is taking steps to disband.
HKFP has reached out to Sino Group and CUHK for confirmation.
'Unavoidable changes'
The debate group continued in its Chinese statement: 'We understand that the teams are in the process of preparing for the competition and we deeply regret the cancellation of the final as a result of these unavoidable changes.'
'We would like to extend our deepest apologies to all affected teams and those who are looking forward to participating in the final and would like to express our sincere gratitude to the judges, the teams and all the related parties for their understanding and support.'
Ming Pao reported that part of the Citywalk atrium where the competition was supposed to be held had been fenced off on Saturday, with a sign saying that the venue was temporarily closed 'due to emergency works.' Staff at the shopping mall said the ceiling needed replastering.
CUHK earlier in June also pulled its venue for an seminar held by Greenpeace, citing 'urgent maintenance' in one of its lecture halls. The environmental NGO's discussion on the city's eco-tourism policies was held online instead.
Speakers at the event included academics, industry representatives, and community representatives, such as Lam Chiu-ying, former chief of the Hong Kong Observatory and now chair of the Hong Kong Countryside Foundation; Ada Kong, programme director of Greenpeace East Asia; and Chan Kim-ching, researcher at Liber Research Community.
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