Teacher De-Registered for Factual Errors

Teacher at Ho Lap Primary School was de-registered last week

A primary school teacher who was de-registered last week for making up historical facts, has countered that history was not his subject, and that he was actually hired to teach English and computer skills.

It was discovered on his online teaching video he told the class that Western powers waged the Opium Wars in the mid-19th century to rid China of opium when in fact Europeans traded silk, tea and porcelain for opium from India.

Teacher was wrong about Opium War

It was just one sentence in a 15-minute video, in which he talked about Hong Kong's handover to China and the SAR and national flags.

The Education Bureau said last week that the teacher at Ho Lap Primary School had to be de-registered permanently because he had made serious mistakes by inventing historical facts. 

But when talking to the media today, the teacher -- who only had one year's work experience -- felt he was sacked because the authorities wanted to deal with him "politically".

"This whole matter was politicized. I feel resigned. I never imagined that making a mistake over a short history passage could cause the Education Bureau to de-register me. It was just a minor passage," the teacher said.

"I think the whole matter sends a chilling effect, other teachers may feel nervous."

The authorities added that in another video for general studies, the teacher told the class that paper was invented in ancient China to ensure that tortoises didn't become extinct because people were using their shells to write on.

Again this is an erroneous point, but the teacher told reporters he was only trying to to teach in a humorous way, and made corrections right away when the school discovered problems with his videos.

He added he wanted to apologize to the students and parents for his mistakes.

Paper wasn't invented to replace tortoise shells

Definitely the teacher made factual errors -- but de-registering him is an extreme form of punishment. Why not give him a verbal or written warning? After all, history is not his expertise, though admittedly he should have been more careful about teaching the facts.

Nevertheless, he is appealing the decision with the help of education sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen, who accuses the authorities of bowing to pressure from the pro-Beijing camp to de-register the teacher.

The whole incident makes all teachers in Hong Kong nervous. With most classes now taught remotely, the lessons are all recorded and so the authorities may be screening many of them to make sure they are politically correct...

We can thank the pandemic for accelerating the Education Bureau's scrutiny of teachers and punishing them so brutally. 

The government's war on teachers is its bid to weed out bad ones from influencing students to stand up to authority. Yes Hong Kong only needs compliant students. That's how the city is going to be competitive and international.

Not.

Picture of the Day: Rainbow

A beautiful rainbow at sunset in Kennedy Town today

 

It's been a crazy week. Four lawmakers disqualified after the National People's Congress Standing Committee claimed they did not uphold the Basic Law and pledge allegiance to the Hong Kong SAR. The following day 15 of their colleagues resign en masse, leaving two independents as the only opposition.

The Hong Kong Bar Association and Law Society both question the legality of the NPCSC's decision and are asking for clarification.  

And then a freelance reporter with RTHK appeared in court to face charges of false declaration when she conducted registration searches on vehicles that were in videos related to the July 21 attack in Yuen Long last year. Bao Choy Yuk-ling was granted bail, and her case will be heard in court January 14.

As if that wasn't enough, the number of coronavirus cases keeps rising, though the majority are imported. But the government insists it needs to prevent a fourth wave from happening so now it will force "high risk groups" to do mandatory testing, restaurants are back to four to a table, bars and pubs to two, and these establishments must close by midnight.

Today I decided to nip downstairs to take a quick look at the sunset (now at 5.40pm), and after I took some pictures I turned around to see people taking pictures of the sky. I looked up and saw a brilliant rainbow! What a surprise and a happy one. 

I don't know how that rainbow appeared as there was no precipitation today that I know of. But I'll take it as a sign that things could get better soon.

More Restrictive Measures to Tame Covid-19

Secretary for Health Chan announcing more measures today

 

The Hong Kong government is still trying to tame the coronavirus pandemic, and fearing the fourth wave coming, it has mandated some new regulations this afternoon.

From midnight tonight, people considered in "high risk" jobs will be forced to undergo Covid-19 tests. These probably include those in the hospitality industry, bus and taxi drivers, and healthcare workers. If they refuse to take the test they could face six months in prison and fines up to HK$25,000.

Mandatory testing for "high risk" groups

Pretty hefty, but the government believes there are still silent carriers out there.

Shockingly there are cases of people visiting friends who are in quarantine. Hello? You can't do that! Why is this happening now after how many months? 

When someone is in quarantine that means they shouldn't see anyone for 14 days! If the quarantined person needs something, then drop it off at the door, no face-to face visits please.

And then there are the parties in hotel rooms. The government is now clamping down to a maximum of four people per hotel room, and all guests must be registered with the hotel. Again why is this happening? 

People seem to think they can be more carefree in hotel rooms. The other reason is hotels are trying to drum up business by creating packages for birthday parties, and some of these events have gotten out of hand, leaving outrageous destruction behind, and now cases of infections. This has to stop in the name of social-distancing.

Restaurants four to a table, 50 percent capacity

Starting Monday restaurants have to go back to tables of four, and bars and pubs with tables of two, open until midnight, whereas it is now it is 2am. Also the capacity of these places, including swimming pools will be cut from 75 percent to 50 percent.

Professor Gabriel Leung, dean of University of Hong Kong's medical school and advisor to the government on the pandemic, said the recent situation is worrying.

"In the recent one to two weeks, we have seen much more imported infections compared to the past. This trend was also similarly seen before the outbreak of the third wave," he said.

He added that analysis of the virus strain in recent patients showed it was linked to earlier imported cases from Nepal, suggesting loopholes in measures regarding arrivals.

Dr Leung says latest virus strain is from Nepal

Leung said the local reproductive number of the coronavirus, a figure showing the amount of people a patient could infect is between one and 1.25 people in the past two weeks.

"It means the risk of an outbreak is very high," he said. "Hopefully those hidden transmissions could be traced and they would not join and cause large outbreaks."

And here I thought most Hongkongers were pretty good in observing social distancing, but I guess not! It's disappointing to find people are not erring on the side of caution -- we need to beat this virus, the sooner the better.

Young Hongkongers Welcome to Canada

More Hongkongers could be immigrating to Canada

 

Canada continues to take a firmer stance against China and has announced it will make it easier for Hong Kong students and recent graduates to study and work there.

This comes after Canada condemned China's ousting of four pan-democratic lawmakers on Wednesday.

Champagne criticized the ousting for lawmakers

Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois-Philippe Champagne issued a statement on Thursday morning saying China's decision to remove the lawmakers from the Legislative Council "is a further assault on Hong Kong's high degree of freedoms under the Sino-British Joint Declaration". 

 He also said the space for freedom of expression and public participation had narrowed further.

"This action clearly demonstrates a concerning disregard for Hong Kong's Basic Law and the high degree of autonomy promised for Hong Kong under the 'one country, two systems' framework."

Champagne ends by saying, "Canada will continue to stand with the people of Hong Kong."

The immigration scheme is aimed at anyone who has graduated from a recognized university within five years can apply to work in Canada for three years. From there they can have an easier path towards permanent residency.

Mendicino says recent graduates are eligible

The scheme will also apply to spouses, partners and children of applicants. 

Violations of the national security law or any other laws Canada does not recognize will be disregarded in cases involving asylum, permanent residency or other permits, says immigration minister Marco Mendicino.

However, those charged under the national security law or  other laws would have to somehow make it to Canada first, which may be near impossible if China doesn't allow them to leave Hong Kong...

In any event, this is a very interesting step for Canada to make, definitely a welcomed one as the country is popular with Hongkongers who wish to immigrate.

But will these young people have the resources to be able to take the plunge? And what will they do when they get to Canada? Will they have the suitable job skills that Canadian employers want?

Many Hongkongers want to come to Canada

Already immigration consultants have received several inquiries about the new scheme.

"Since the social unrest erupted last year, the number of clients seeking to move to other countries has surged by four to five times compared with 2018," said Ivan Mak, head of Hong Kong for the AIMS Immigration and Relocation Group.

"Canada has opened a doorway for young Hongkongers to get more opportunities there. They have nothing to lose," he said.

China's ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu may not be pleased about this latest development. Last month he complained about Canada granting refugee status to pro-democracy protesters he described as "violent criminals". 

The bickering may continue, but at least Canada knows where it stands when it comes to Hong Kong.