JEFFIE LAM JEFFIE.LAM@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 28 July, 2015, 11:02am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 28 July, 2015, 11:02am
Former chief secretary Anson Chan is among the 1,500 alumni to sign the petition. Photo: David Wong
More than 1,500 University of Hong Kong alumni – including several ex-government officials – have signed a full-page petition in newspapers today, urging the institution’s governing body to stop deferring the appointment of a liberal scholar to a senior managerial post.
The petition came to light ahead of the HKU council’s meeting at 5pm – which students have threatened to storm in protest at the delay in the appointment of former law dean Johannes Chan Man-mun as pro-vice-chancellor until a supervisory provost was hired.
HKU council chairman Dr Leong Che-hung yesterday said the council would today revisit its decision to delay Chan’s appointment.
Other than pan-democrats, among the some 1,500 alumni and 900 members of the public who signed the petition were former government officials such as former director of legal aid Lady Pauline Cheung Cheng Po-lin, and former secretary for civil services Joseph Wong Wing-ping. Former chief secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang and ex-president of the Legislative Council Andrew Wong Wang-fat also put their names on.
Professionals, including senior counsel Edward Chan King-sang, psychologist Ip Kim-ching and surgeon Dr Au Yiu-kai also signed.
Describing the council’s decision to “wait for the provost” as “extremely ridiculous”, the petition urged the governing body to confirm the candidate recommended by the search committee – understood to be Chan – as pro-vice-chancellor in accordance to the procedures as soon as possible.
It also called on an overhaul of the current system, where the chief executive is the chancellor of all public universities, to minimise the chance for the government to destroy HKU’s autonomy.
HKU council member Dr Lo Chung-mau said the governing body was under great political pressure – but that was not from the government.
“I have a feeling that HKU has been controlled by the media [over the past few months],” he told DBC radio this morning. “It would be a big crisis for the school if someone is trying to force the council to revisit the matter through storming [the meeting].”
Another member, Man Cheuk-fei, said the council today might vote to determine whether to reverse their earlier decision, adding revisiting the case was a good thing in the wake of the public outcry.
Education sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen said HKU would face a severe crisis should the council members insist on their “outrageous” decision and neglect the alumni’s voices.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1844205/former-top-hong-kong-officials-among-1500-hku
