The inquiry into allegations of political interference at the Hong Kong Institute of Education has left a bitter taste in the mouths of the city's opinion leaders and business decision makers, according to a survey commissioned by this newspaper. An overwhelming majority of respondents felt the inquiry had had a negative impact on the standing of all the key figures involved, including the chief executive.
Roughly two-thirds felt both the education chief and the ICAC commissioner should be removed from office as a result of their actions.
The survey, conducted by TNS for the South China Morning Post, asked 402 opinion leaders and business decision makers between June 12 and June 14 - before the inquiry delivered its report to the chief executive yesterday - how it had affected their attitudes to the key figures and their feelings about the institute's future.
Almost three-quarters of respondents said they believed Secretary for Education and Manpower Arthur Li Kwok-cheung had interfered with the institute's autonomy by pressuring it to merge with Chinese University. Two-thirds disapproved of this, and 69 per cent said Professor Li should not be reappointed in the new administration.
Slightly more considered former permanent secretary for education and manpower Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun to have infringed on academic freedom by calling education academics who had published critical articles to ask them to present a 'more balanced view', as she acknowledged in testimony.
Mrs Law resigned yesterday as head of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Sixty-five per cent effectively said she was no longer fit to hold the post. The respondents were aged 25 or older, with a household income of HK$40,000 or above, and in a professional position with purchasing power or had recently expressed opinions of public issues. Slightly more than one in three said they had followed the inquiry, with 3 per cent saying they had followed it 'very closely' and 31 per cent 'somewhat closely'. Almost as many paid little or no attention to the proceedings.
