SINGAPORE: After the principal of a secondary school from Hong Kong was caught in a viral video where he behaved rudely toward two security guards during a trip to Singapore, reports say that he has been suspended.
San Wui Commercial Society Secondary School in Tuen Mun has apologised for the incident, which is now under investigation by the authorities in Singapore, according to the South China Morning Post.
“The school expresses its deepest apologies regarding this matter. The school and its sponsoring body have always placed the utmost importance on the professional conduct of our faculty and staff,” the statement from the school reads.
Meanwhile, SCMP also said that a debate emerged online in Hong Kong after the incident, over whether racism or poor behaviour was a factor in the principal’s actions.
The incident
A video was spread on Threads last week showing Lee Cheuk-hing, the school principal, standing in the doorway of a bus having a heated discussion with two female guards. He then proceeded to taunt and shout at them, despite efforts from at least three onlookers to get him to calm down.
The incident, which allegedly occurred over a parking dispute, is said to have occurred on May 22 at a location in Jurong.
Hours after it was announced that Singapore would be investigating the incident, the manager of the school, Edmund Wong Chun-sek, said that Mr Lee had been suspended as his conduct during the incident did not meet public expectations. Moreover, Mr Wong, a former lawmaker, added that the school’s board wished to show that they were resolved to address the matter.
“Though he said he wanted to protect the students, his actions did not meet what the public expects of a school principal,” SCMP quoted Mr Wong as saying.
Online debate
A debate among Hong Kong’s netizens ensued after the video was widely shared and news of the principal’s behaviour was reported on, especially as the guards that Mr Lee had shouted at are South Asian women. Commenters have pointed to the difference between how the principal interacted with the women, as opposed to a female Chinese passerby.
While the principal had shouted “You shut up!” to the guards, he told the other woman that he would listen to her as she was “very polite.”
“I like you,” he told her.
That interaction may be found here.
A commenter on r/HongKong wrote, “You just know he’s speaking to them that way because of their race. As soon as he has to interact with the local Singaporeans of Chinese ethnicity, he changes his tactics completely.”
“The moment a Chinese woman says the same thing the Malay security guards are trying to get him to do, he listens,” pointed out another.
Others, however, focused on how the principal’s bad behaviour was a poor example for the school’s students.
“If you are a school principal, regardless of the situation (unless life threatening), it makes most sense you ‘take the high road’ and lead by example as a good role model in front of your students,” one pointed out.
“When visiting another country, respect the laws of the country. What is he teaching the students? A principal should be a role model, and yet he isn’t acting as a role model. Every time someone lands in another country, he represents his country of their passport. Funny how he represents his country and his school behaving like he is at home,” another chimed in. /TISG
Read also: Hong Kong authorities say action may be taken after school principal’s swearing incident on Singapore trip
