University of Hong Kong PhD student criticises appointment delay, but unhappy over chaos

Aloysius Wilfred Raj Arokiaraj submitted a resignation letter to the council of the University of Hong Kong on July 3, three days after the body made a controversial decision to delay the appointment of moderate pro-democracy scholar and former law dean Johannes Chan Man-mun to the post of pro-vice-chancellor.

In a letter to the South China Morning Post, Arokiaraj, an Indian PhD student at the university, said he disagreed with “some decisions” the council had made which he felt “fall short of our expected standards for a world class university”.

He is one of the two student representatives on the 23-member council and one of the five members who wrote to the council chairman, asking it to review its decision to defer the appointment.

He is understood to have voted against the deferral.

He attended Tuesday’s council meeting, which descended into chaos when students rushed the meeting venue.

In the letter, he condemned the students and other people involved who “did not treat the chairman with respect”. He said it was the council members’ collective responsibility to stand by and respect the decisions it had made.