CY Leung criticised for ‘escalating’ teacher incident
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's "unprecedented" call for a report on a teacher verbally abusing police officers last month has drawn criticism from educators and pan-democrats.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's "unprecedented" call for a report on a teacher verbally abusing police officers last month has drawn criticism from educators and pan-democrats.
The Executive Council was split on the wisdom of Leung's intervention after he asked the education minister on Sunday to file a report on the incident.
The incident has escalated to the society level. It will not dissipate even if Leung kept silent. I guess Leung wants to end the whole row before school starts in September
The initial dispute between teacher Alpais Lam Wai-sze and the police gained attention when a video showing her using offensive language to officers on July 14 went viral on the internet. It triggered a heated debate and prompted a rally three weeks later that descended into a brawl between Lam's supporters and detractors.
"The incident has escalated to the society level. It will not dissipate even if Leung kept silent," said executive councillor Cheung Chi-kong. "I guess Leung wants to end the whole row before school starts in September."
But fellow Exco member Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee said: "Leung shouldn't intervene personally in Lam's case - his remarks were too high-profile."
Many working in the education sector said they were shocked by Leung's unprecedented public request for the education minister to submit a report on an individual teacher's behaviour.
Some feared that Leung was trying to spread "white terror" to shut people up.