The Legislative Council (LegCo) Finance Committee will continue today to debate the appropriation of funds for the construction of the local section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link.

Recently, the opposition camp has been striving to build up momentum for a campaign against building the railway, with hopes of blocking or delaying the LegCo vote.

Among those who oppose the railway project, a young activist group called "Post-80" attracts the most attention. Composed of young people born during the 1980s, the group has launched a performance ritual modeled after the protests of Korean peasants against the World Trade Organization's Sixth Ministerial Conference held in Hong Kong in 2005. The ritual is being held at various places across the city, catching the attention of both the media and passers-by.

Some say that these young people are expressing their opposition to the railway project in a peaceful manner, and the government should ask itself why these young men and women have taken to the streets in such unorthodox fashion.

I find that the influence of the Post-80 group has been exaggerated. Some political forces and the media are actually capitalizing on their innocence, ignorance and enthusiasm. According to statistical figures, young people aged between 20 and 29 number close to a million, but their unemployment rate, around 4.9 percent, is higher than that of any other age group.

Since only a few dozens out of a million step forward to voice their opposition to the railway, how can we say their entire generation is against the project?

Some of the Post-80's radical slogans do not sound reasonable. Such slogans and actions could be deemed an insult to Hong Kong society and to democracy and freedom.

That the railway program has become a social issue has nothing to do with the unemployment problem; nor is it related to the government's youth policy. Rather, it is an excuse employed by the opposition camp in a bid to paralyze government operations.

The national express rail network will take shape in a few years. That Hong Kong must become connected to this expanded railway system is not a difficult concept to understand, given that it will impact the future of the city's economy and the majority of its population. By labeling the proposed railway as a symbol of "unfairness" and "injustice", the protestors demonstrate a kind of logic that is inconceivable to many people.

As for the young people who do not understand why the SAR has to build the railway, it seems that, for some reason, many of them perceive the project as a threat to the environment. While these young protestors have been able to draw media attention through street performances, they do not realize they have become a tool of political forces that oppose the government.

The phenomenon also attests the need for strengthening national and civic education in Hong Kong. I believe that if the young people currently in protest visited the mainland and learned about the practical and technological significance of the country's express rail - which is even faster than the Japanese bullet train - they might return to Hong Kong with a different opinion; particularly if they take a ride on the express rail!

Since most Hongkongers understand the significance of the railway and support its construction, the LegCo Finance Committee ought to endorse the funding today. I am convinced that if the opposition camp tries to obstruct the vote, it will lose the community's support.

It is often said that Hong Kong is a pluralistic society, but we must not allow a few radicals to claim that they act on behalf of the entire society. When irrational acts become the mainstream of a pluralistic society, pluralism itself will be in danger.

The author is a commentator of the Phoenix Satellite TV

(HK Edition 01/08/2010 page1)