Tung Wah Group unhappy with College choice of single candidate
The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals rejected a move by one of its tertiary education institutions to present only one candidate to fill the post of president after the selection process came under fire for a lack of transparency.
The group said last night that the board of governors of Tung Wah College should not accept the "one-candidate policy" or hold a meeting to approve the candidate.
The college formed a search committee in November to look for a replacement for president Thomas Wong Kwok-shing, who resigned for health reasons.
"A 'search committee' is not a 'selection committee'," the Tung Wah group said. "It should never have selected only one candidate on its own without reporting to the board information about the other potential candidates."
The group responded after the college defended its move, saying it was merely following the common practice of colleges in the city and making it easier for the board of governors to assess the candidate.
The closed-door decision-making process riled students and board chairwoman Ina Chan Un-chan.
Staff and students were left out of the loop until Tuesday night, when the council sent an e-mail inviting people to attend an open sharing session yesterday to meet the new candidate.
Later that night, students received an e-mail from Ina Chan questioning the transparency of the selection.
Adding fuel to the fire, the person did not turn up for the sharing session, so their identity remains a mystery. The council said the ongoing controversy made it inappropriate to introduce the person at this time.
"The board will have a hard time reaching a consensus once there is more than one candidate," council chairwoman Viola Chan Man Yee-wai said.
"There has been only one case in which a university, which was City University, selected two candidates. In the end, the board could not compromise and the search committee had to start its selection process all over again."
Benson Lam Ping-san of the students' union criticised the committee's failure to consult students or staff. "Hongkongers want 'one person, one vote'. We students also want to elect our own president," Lam said.
Viola Chan said the council had yet to approve the person's nomination and it would hold another session with staff and students before the committee submitted its choice for approval.
