Integrity is not just about honesty, authenticity and responsibility.  The backbone of integrity is internal consistency - people with integrity are expected to have congruent beliefs and actions, and they are able to align their judgement and behaviour with their own values.  One of the lessons I learnt from my college life at CUHK is choosing to be a righteous person.  Such person should be precluded from applying different sets of standards to the circumstances that are the same.  Considering that "respect" is among my core values, I would not condone labelling the protesters as "cockroach".  Likewise, I see it inappropriate to call the police "mongrel".  Respect should be unconditional of race, creed, gender, culture, ability, and colour of shirts.  I practise respect across all populations based on my principles, not according to self-interest.  Along the same lines, I definitely disapprove of the people, who always demonise others' views, claiming themselves as the advocates for liberty.

Despite my aspiration to refresh the youth about some treasurable norms, I have indeed reciprocated a lot from them over the past three months.  At skill level, they have perfectly demonstrated the power of fast action learner, high media literacy, collaborative problem solving and multilingualism (Jacky C Fung, Researcher, Hong Kong Policy Research Institute).  I also feel ashamed of myself for not having the courage and perseverance as theirs.

To loosen the present deadlock and further resolve our society's deep-seated problems, there are no silver bullets.  But all of us have our stakes.  Do believe that everyone bears fruit for Hong Kong.  I for one will commit to upholding integrity and showing zero tolerance towards the proliferation of hatred in our home!

Sincerely yours,

Irene Ng
Director
I·CARE Centre for Whole-person Development