Outraged Hong Kong Baptist University students plan Friday march after suspension of pair
Student union accuses university bosses of abuse of procedures after controversy surrounding Mandarin requirement
The controversy surrounding Hong Kong Baptist University’s suspension of two undergraduates before investigations were completed over alleged threats to staff last week has escalated, with a large march organised by students expected on campus on Friday.
Members from other universities are lending their support to pressure university president Roland Chin Tai-hong to retract the suspensions, with students set to participate in the rally and a confederation of staff unions issuing condemnation’s of his decision.
How a compulsory Mandarin course caused chaos at Hong Kong Baptist University
The latest development came as at least five students involved in an eight-hour stand-off with staff at the school’s Language Centre last week were summoned for a disciplinary hearing.
They were part of a group of about 30 students who stormed the centre to demand that a mandatory Mandarin module they must pass to graduate be scrapped. They also seek greater transparency for an exemption test for the course, which was introduced last year. During the incident last week, union president Lau Tsz-kei was filmed using foul language directed towards a centre staff member.
Can any senior members from the university, if they have some sense of conscience, ask the president whether there was a problem with his … penalty?
Seventy per cent of those who sat the test failed, leading to questions over whether the test was too difficult or the evaluation too harsh. Students were also unhappy they were forced to take the module to graduate.