My Take | Spat demeans academic and minister

The spat between Baptist University and the government is a bit like the snapping between the two main characters in .

Since that silly Hollywood comedy already has a prequel, perhaps university president Albert Chan Sun-chi and food and health chief Dr Ko Wing-man are aiming to make a sequel.

Dr Chan has thrown a temper tantrum by threatening to quit and encouraging his students to boycott classes.

Why? Because his university wants an adjacent plot of vacant public land in Kowloon Tong to build a Chinese medicine hospital. Does Hong Kong really need such a hospital? We may or may not, but Dr Chan doesn't bother to explain this to us.

It hardly needs to be pointed out that just because a piece of government land is next door doesn't mean you are entitled to it. Dr Chan said his university had made an "informal" request for the land. What's wrong with a formal application for a plot worth billions of dollars? Since it has not made a serious application, it can hardly blame the government for not handing it over voluntarily.

Call it the "Long Hair" conversion of Hong Kong's body politic. Dr Chan and his university deputies should consider running for the Legislative Council. They will feel very much at home there, given their tactics and threats.