Hong Kong student leaders take defiant stand on poster taunting education official over son’s death
Union leaders admit poster was inappropriate but say culprits were exercising freedom of speech
Hong Kong student leaders on Friday refused to condemn a poster taunting the city’s education undersecretary, whose son committed suicide, saying the people behind the message were exercising their freedom of speech.
The stance taken by the student leaders in six universities was in sharp contrast to that of university teaching staff, who said the remarks had gone beyond the limits of freedom of expression.
The poster, made of 12 sheets of A4 paper, was put up at Education University hours after Poon Hong-yan, son of deputy education chief Christine Choi Yuk-lin, jumped to his death on Thursday from the 41st floor of a residential complex in Yau Ma Tei. It “congratulated” Choi on the incident in Chinese.
The university, which is investigating the incident, said the CCTV footage showed two people putting up the poster on the “democracy wall” managed by the student union.
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Though admitting that the poster was adding insult to injury, Lala Lai Hiu-ching, an Education University student leader, said: “The student union will not condemn the remarks because freedom of speech and respect for others are both important.”