A devastating magnitude-7 earthquake struck Ya'an on April 20. Hundreds of people were killed, thousands were injured, and more than 1 million were affected. Disturbing images and reports of the earthquake started to emerge on the Internet soon after the disaster. The very next day, half of the Hong Kong Economic Journal's front page was used to call for donations and support for the victims in Sichuan. Such a selfless immediate decision in a life-and-death situation is much respected.

By contrast, some other media indulged in confusing disaster relief with politics, with news reports about corrupt mainland officials and arguments about the "appropriateness" of the Hong Kong government's HK$100 million donation being prioritized over reports about the earthquake itself. The seriousness of the disaster was intentionally disregarded.

Controversial statements such as "donations won't help the victims but fatten corrupt officials"; "We should not donate a single penny to China", were seen everywhere in online chat forums and in news articles. The cruelness and cold-heartedness those messages convey is beyond acceptable levels by any standards.

Simultaneously, a number of Hong Kong lawmakers fiercely opposed the government's plan to donate HK$100 million to victims, the first time legislators have done so in history. I had never imagined it would be so challenging to pass a donation plan by government that is, by all means, financially capable.

From an educational perspective, moral education is essential in today's society. On the first day of school after the earthquake, the Civic Education team and the Student Union in our school came together and discussed ways to help the Sichuan victims. However, as many Hong Kong residents have lost their confidence in the proper use of donations and are reluctant to donate due to negative media reports and articles, the students designed "catchy" slogans in order to "win" donations. After a few days of hard work, our students raised more than HK$10,000 for the Sichuan victims. The amount seemed pretty respectable, but sadly, it was a massive difference between those they raised in a similar situation five years ago.

As an educator, it gives intense displeasure to witness what has happened in Hong Kong recently. I hope there will not be any man-made or natural catastrophes hitting the mainland as well as Hong Kong in the future. It is not easy to get help when disasters strike.

Talking about disasters, we have to look into Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent political remarks. Last month, Abe passively disavowed and questioned the apology made by a previous prime minister Tomiichi Murayama (1994-96).

"The definition of what constitutes an 'invasion' has yet to be established in academia or in the international community," said Abe in parliament. "Things that happened between nations will look different depending on which side you view them from." Some politicians believe that it was his attempt to distort people's understanding of history by making such comments.

Recently, Abe was seen wearing a camouflage military jacket aboard a tank in a public event in Japan, indicating the possibility of a revival in Japan's militarism.

Undeniably, historical evidence clearly proves Japan invaded and victimized many Asian countries including China. Surely, Abe's recent reckless statements and behavior have caused tremendous damage to the Chinese people, and stoked controversies internationally.

Sarcastically, some media in Hong Kong have not shown the slightest interest in criticizing Japanese leaders' irresponsible speeches and actions over the nation's aggression in the past, but aggressively criticized the mainland for the corruption of some officials, and persuaded people not to donate to victims of the Sichuan earthquake. When politics is being prioritized over morality, justice is no long a concept based on ethics, and a brand new definition has emerged.

The author is vice-chairman of Education Convergence.

(HK Edition 05/17/2013 page1)