Hong Kong teacher suspended for classroom tirade against ‘cockroach’ protesters

Suspension of secondary schoolteacher believed to be first such punishment for offensive language in classroom against city demonstrators

He is barred for two weeks without pay over crude outburst in front of pupils

2-MIN READ2-MIN

A committee at Tak Sun Secondary School in Ma On Shan has suspended one of its teachers for his classroom comments about protesters. Photo: Handout

Published: 8:18pm, 4 Jan 2020Updated: 8:18pm, 4 Jan 2020

A teacher in Hong Kong has been suspended for 14 days after calling protesters “cockroaches” in front of students, in what is believed to be the first time a school has barred a member of staff from the classroom over foul language against the city’s anti-government demonstrators.

The Tak Sun Secondary School teacher was caught on audio leaked and posted on Facebook last month saying “all cockroaches only know how to say one sentence of foul language”, before quoting an obscenity.

In the one-minute recording in Cantonese, he added: “Is it the democracy you have been fighting for throughout the five months?”

The education minister earlier warned that principals would be disqualified if they did not properly handle misconduct complaints against teachers relating to the protests, a move seen as pressuring them to toe the government line.

Frontline police officers have been heard describing demonstrators as “cockroaches”, a word police spokesmen initially deemed as “not ideal” but later interpreted as a possible “compliment”.

The suspended teacher, who works at the direct-subsidised school in Ma On Shan, also said: “As shown in footage, people didn’t hit their targets when they threw petrol bombs for five months, just like you didn’t stay attentive in the biology class for five months.”

In response to the recording, Principal Dennis Law Chun-ping issued a statement on Saturday, saying the school’s incorporated management committee ruled the teacher had violated its code of conduct.