Indecent haste

A probe is now under way into an allegation that details of this year's A-level Chinese-language exam were leaked. A school vice-principal was named in connection with the allegation.

I was very surprised that the Hong Kong Examinations Authority publicised this matter in response to an anonymous message posted on the Net.

Virtually anyone can now send anonymous messages on the Internet. They have a variety of reasons for doing so. Should we believe everything that is said in them, even though we don't know the source?

Was it really necessary to publicise the case so early on? To make matters worse, the press revealed the identity of the vice-principal and the name of his school with the case still under investigation.

Was this fair to the teacher or to his students? The Privacy Commissioner's office was set up to protect the privacy of individuals. Personal data should not be revealed while a case is under investigation.

GRACE POW

Kowloon