WHAT saddens me about all the mud-slinging aimed at the Hong Kong Polytechnic is that it has affected the learning environment of the one group of people who matter most: the students.
In all the public allegations I have heard, and all the press comments I have read, not once has anyone mentioned the well-being of the students.
There are about 11,000 full-time and 12,000 part-time students at the polytechnic and many have been worried by allegations made against some staff members over the past few weeks. It is to address their concerns, as well as those of staff and the wider community, that I intend to give the background to recent events.
I need to clear up some grave misconceptions about the decision to terminate the contract of principal lecturer Trevor Sofield and the panel of inquiry into the Hotel and Tourism Management Department (HTM).
The first misconception is that Mr Sofield's contract was terminated because he made complaints against senior management, that he ''blew the whistle''. This is wrong. The polytechnic never has and never will terminate the employment of a staff member simply for making a complaint. Mr Sofield was not the whistle-blower. He never took the initiative to come to me or any directorate members to make complaints about the head of the HTM department, Dr Frank Go, and the associate head Joseph Ruddy.
He was one of the many staff who presented information to the panel of inquiry.