Contrite Hong Kong educator demoted but keeps job after sharing acrostic poem that wished death on city police, their families
- School committee determined acting vice-principal Ho Pak-yan was unaware of the Cantonese poem’s hidden message
- The poem spread quickly on social media after a riot police officer was confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus at a dinner with fellow officers
The acting vice-principal of a Hong Kong secondary school has been demoted for sharing an anti-police acrostic poem on social media, but will keep his job after the school’s directors found the act unintentional.
An inquiry by Confucius Hall Secondary School’s management committee found teacher Ho Pak-yan guilty of serious negligence and a lack of professionalism, but spared him dismissal as he was unaware of the text’s message and said he was sorry for sharing it.
Breaking his silence in a newspaper statement published on Thursday, Ho apologised for the distress caused to the school and anyone affected by the incident.
“[I] did not want to deliberately hurt anyone,” he said.
But Ho also said the “untrue claims” and personal attacks on him and his family were regrettable.
Ho shared the Cantonese poem on Facebook in the early hours of Sunday, part of which read “being blackhearted is not so good, cops are just doing their jobs”. Another section read “whole community should come together and fight the epidemic as the most effective thing to do, family support is also very important”.