Housewife in Hong Kong gets 4 months’ jail for HK$20,000 bribe bid to principal to secure primary school spot for son
- Woman, 45, who relocated to city from mainland China last year, had attempted twice to buy over head teacher at Causeway Bay school
- Magistrate acknowledges her bid to get son into best possible school, but warns her dishonesty will corrupt morals and distort established institutions in society
A housewife has been jailed for four months for offering a HK$20,000 (US$2,548) bribe to a head teacher to secure a spot for her son at a primary school in Hong Kong.
Li Junping, 45, returned to Eastern Court on Tuesday to be sentenced for offering an advantage to a public servant, a crime she committed soon after moving to the city from mainland China in June 2022.
Principal Magistrate Ivy Chui Yee-mei highlighted the gravity of a corruption offence and said the court must not condone any attempt to gain an unfair advantage over those who reaped the rewards of their own endeavours.
Chui acknowledged the defendant’s wish to have her son enrolled in the best school possible, but warned that the mother’s dishonest act would corrupt morals and distort established institutions in society.
The court heard earlier this month that Li moved to Hong Kong in June 2022 alongside her only son, then aged six.
She filed an application for a Primary One placement at Hennessy Road Government Primary School in Causeway Bay on June 6 last year, as she was unhappy with the result of the Education Bureau’s central allocation scheme.
The school arranged a first interview for the six-year-old but did not invite him for a second round.
Li approached principal Phoebe Lo Pui-shan and pleaded with the latter to reconsider her son’s application, but was told to wait for the school’s reply.