Tsang Chi-ho is the latest columnist to leave his column blank in Ming Pao. Photo: RTHK
Fung Wai-wah speaks to RTHK's Damon Pang
The Professional Teachers Union has joined the chorus of calls demanding the Ming Pao newspaper to reinstate its former executive chief editor, Keung Kwok-yuen.
Keung was abruptly sacked last week and the newspaper said his dismissal was to cut costs. But staff and critics said it was more to do with Keung's editorial judgements.
The union has submitted signatures from about 200 teachers of 100 schools demanding that the newspaper reverse its decision. It said the decision has hurt the education sector's confidence in the paper, which is widely circulated in local schools.
"Ming Pao is a newspaper that many teachers recommend to students, [as a] reference or to read....so we don't want it to be interrupted or controlled by some other political forces," the union's president, Fung Wai-wah, said.
Meanwhile, another Ming Pao columnist, Tsang Chi-ho, has left his column in Ming Pao blank in protest against Keung's dismissal - joining numerous columnists who had done the same every day since he was sacked.
Tsang, who hosts a show at RTHK, left a title that read "you can fill an empty column but not the mouths of numerous people", in an apparent reference to the Canadian edition of Ming Pao. Empty columns there have been filled with drawings from the late mainland comic artist Feng Zikai.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association and seven other news groups are planning to hold a protest outside the newspaper's headquarters in Chai Wan on Monday.
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Last updated: 2016-04-29 HKT 15:29
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1257363-20160429.htm
