Diamond boss urges employees to oppose Occupy Central in 'humiliating' e-mail
Company-wide e-mail refers to workers as 'children' and urges them to 'wake up'
A diamond conglomerate boss has courted controversy by asking his staff to oppose Occupy Central.
Addressing his workers as "children" in a company-wide e-mail, Lawrence Ma Yung-yi, chief executive of Lee Heng Diamond Group, urged them to "wake up" and see the "hypocrisy" of pro-democracy leaders.
Ma, a member of the National People's Congress who has previously served on Hong Kong election committees, advised against breaking the law for pro-democracy leaders who themselves "would not sacrifice for society".
Instead, he suggested his staff register with Silent Majority, a pro-government movement opposed to Occupy Central.
"Children … you love democracy and joined the July 1 rally. You clashed with the police, occupied roads, stormed the Legislative Council and are at odds with the mainland," Ma wrote in the e-mail, sent on Friday.
"Students, wake up. Do you see … the children of [the Occupy Central organisers] come out? These people only ask other people's children to fight for democracy, paving the road for their own children."