As a father, I share the pain parents endure by the loss of their children. At a time when Christine Choi Yuk-lin, Hong Kong’s Undersecretary for Education, most needed consolation and emotional support after her 25-year old son, suffering from depression, jumped to his death, she was “congratulated” by 12 A4-sized papers posted on the “democracy wall’ of the Education University in Hong Kong. This drew wide condemnation.
Ms. Choi was recently appointed Undersecretary for Education. Her appointment was greeted with criticism from the education sector’s pro-democracy camp. It has to do with Ms. Choi’s stance on teaching national education in schools.
The posts on the “democracy wall”, managed by the Education University’s student union, were removed. In front of cameras, Student Union President Lai Hiu-ching said the posts were inappropriate. However, she said the perpetrators had the right to express what they wanted to say. She emphasised the fundamental value of “freedom of expression” to defend her callous remark. Her response surprised us all.
