Word: gongs
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...were especially concerned with student vandalism. Were there any record of such destructive pranks, perhaps this concern might be reasonable--but the last record of any kind of attacks by students from one House on another was the famously innocuous stand-off between Adams and Pforzheimer, where only a gong and a "Pf" changed hands. In short, safety provides no compelling reason to block universal access...
Last week Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong's genial but unpopular Chief Executive, looked into the political abyss and backed away. Speaking to Hong Kong's Legislative Council, he echoed Beijing's assertion that Falun Gong is an "evil cult." But he stopped short of saying he would follow the suggestions of pro-Beijing figures to ban the group. As one official put it, Tung was walking a "razor's edge," trying to keep mainland backers happy while avoiding comments that might suggest the city's vaunted autonomy and rule of law were crumbling. The situation is so precarious that...
What exactly Tung's mentors in Beijing expect him to do is unclear. There's no doubt that mainland authorities are enraged that Falun Gong is using Hong Kong as a rallying point in a campaign to protest their colleagues' fate on the mainland. Beijing reacted with fury in January when 1,000 Falun Gong members held a meeting at Hong Kong's City Hall. Nor is there any dispute that the impetus to crush the group is coming from the very top. "Jiang Zemin let it be known that he wanted the crackdown," says an Asian diplomat in Beijing...
Watching Falun Gong adherents pray, it's hard to see them as a threat. At the twice-weekly meeting in Kitty Fung's tiny Wanchai apartment, bodies are crammed everywhere. Most of those present keep their heads buried in copies of Zhuan Falun, the Falun Gong bible. Chanting the phrases together, they remain oblivious to anyone entering or leaving the room...
Evian Wong displays that kind of dogged faith, the attribute that has so infuriated the authorities in Beijing. Despite losing her job, Wong still intends to tell potential employers she is a Falun Gong follower. But she has no desire to take her case to the labor tribunal for unfair dismissal. "Falun Gong teaches us not to make people feel uncomfortable," she says. "And if my actions make other people suffer, I won't do it." If present tensions are any indication, Wong and her fellow Falun Gong believers will need all the fortitude their faith can provide...