Minister's wife was standing up for 'values'

The wife of the development minister said her goal in sending emails at the centre of a libel trial was to protect the "core values" of her children's school, the Court of First Instance heard.

Frieda Hui Po-ming denied that she had presumed twins Jonathan and Caitlin Lu were guilty of cheating in an economics test when she sent out emails about the matter between December 1 and 15, 2011. The emails were endorsed by her husband, Development Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po.

On the contrary, she hoped the rumours circulating at the Chinese International School at the time were not true.

"All the time I am looking at something big," Hui told the court. "My objective is to look at the big issues, such as the core values, systems and processes of the school."

She said she spoke to other parents and found that the rumours had spread, and it was as if the school had "swept it under the carpet".

The twins and their father, Carl Lu, a school governor, are suing Hui and Chan over the allegation of cheating and the suggestion that they went unpunished because of their father's position.