Fall Falling Leaves Moon
One other thing on Joshua Wong, buried deep in the particulars. As a high schooler about to graduate, he had to take exams for entrance to college. Ever since the Song Dynasty high stakes tests have determined social mobility and status for those not lucky enough to be aristocrats or, in the current version, of the Chinese Community party cadres.
Every one in Honk Kong wanted to know about his scores and he had to go on television to answer questions about them. Turns out he’s a middle of the score card kid. Not a future Mandarin or literati, nor a future member of the party. I don’t know this for sure, but I imagine those folks who were so interested in his scores were disappointed.
I hope Wong strikes a blow here not only for democratic freedoms, but for a society in which gifts like leadership, courage, and tenacity count as much as academic test scores.
