Hunger strike puts driving instructor in hospital

A driving instructor who had been on a hunger strike in protest against the sacking of his two colleagues passed out for a second time on Monday.

Steven Lin Kwok, 59, fainted and fell to the floor after punching his fist against a table during a meeting with the management of Hong Kong School of Motoring at its Sha Tin campus.

Last Monday, Lin had joined his two colleagues on a hunger strike to protest against the sackings by the school. The strikers said no reason had been given for their dismissals.

Lin collapsed for the first time last Friday and was taken to a hospital. After regaining consciousness, he left the hospital and resumed his fast

On Monday, Lin was taken to the Prince of Wales Hospital where he remains after having regained consciousness. A doctor at the hospital said he might have fractured a bone in his hand and that an X-ray and electrocardiogram would be conducted on him.

The two sacked driving instructors, each with 16 and 23 years of experience respectively, said the school had plans to replace senior teachers with cheaper ones.

They also suspected they were let go because they had been organising a union to change company rules that only allow the staff to teach at designated schools and prevent them from giving private lessons.

At Monday’s meeting, the school’s chief executive, Taurus Leung Ying-kwan, denied the dismissals had anything to do with wage levels.

Leung said the two sacked employees had not been co-operating well with the school.