Faculties should be 'diplomatic', says HKU's new law dean Michael Hor Yew Meng
Blunt academics have their place, says the new dean of HKU's law faculty, Michael Hor - but the faculties should be more tactful
Michael Hor Yew Meng could not have taken up his post as one of Hong Kong's most high-profile legal intellectuals at a more chaotic time for the city.
Hor became dean of the University of Hong Kong's faculty of law a day after hundreds of thousands of democracy supporters attended the July 1 march - and just hours after more than 500 protesters were arrested for holding a sit-in at Chater Road in a rehearsal for Occupy Central.
If such large-scale action wasn't eye-opening enough for Hor - who cited a recent 20,000-strong gay rights protest as a "huge event" in his home city of Singapore - he can be assured that far more is likely to happen in the five years he has committed to the city's oldest law school.
Hor, formerly a professor at the National University of Singapore, admits it is "difficult" for him to answer the question of how tolerant society should be towards protesters pursuing what they see as the social good.
"On the one hand, it's what the demonstrators feel to be the long-term benefit or the very identity of Hong Kong that is at stake. So I think they would reasonably feel this should take priority over almost everything else.
"On the other hand, demonstrators have to be concerned about keeping public order, keeping the businesses running, keeping the taxis running, the buses running, people getting to work, keeping the wheels of finance turning."