Hong Kong principal dismissed after shouting at guards in Singapore says he’ll pursue legal advice

HONG KONG: It appears that the saga over the school principal from Hong Kong who was caught on camera shouting at security guards in Singapore during a trip to the city-state is not yet over.

Although Lee Cheuk-hing was fired last week from San Wui Commercial Society Secondary School in Tuen Mun, he has said that he will be seeking legal advice. 

According to reporting from The Standard on June 7 (Sunday), Mr Lee has asked his legal counsel regarding employment contract rights in the wake of his dismissal. 

After a video of his behaviour went viral and investigations into the incident both in Singapore and Hong Kong began, Mr Lee was suspended, and then tendered his resignation. The former principal had asked in his resignation letter at the Tuen Mun school would be on August 31, as this would satisfy the required notice period stated in his contract. However, this was rejected by the school management, who chose to dismiss him with immediate effect instead.

Mr Lee was quoted in the report as saying that this decision caused him to be “deeply shocked and filled with regret.” 

He issued a statement where he apologised again for his behaviour and sought to provide a context for his conduct.

The report quotes him as saying that the bus company the school had hired for the trip had, as a matter of routine, brought passengers outside the gates of venues in past trips.

The security guard had warned the bus driver in English, but because of a language barrier, he could not communicate clearly, and this caused the disagreement.

The former principal underlined that he had stepped in only to protect his students’ safety, as he wanted to avoid the students getting stranded in another country at a venue they were unfamiliar with, though he acknowledged that there are no reasons for an educator to behave improperly.

The shouting incident

At an undisclosed location in Jurong on May 22, Mr Lee got into an argument with two female security guards over a parking issue. When the guards reportedly asked that the vehicle he and his students were using be moved, the former school head grew angry, yelling at and even taunting the guards, despite efforts from at least three onlookers to get him to calm down.

The school issued a public apology for the incident, and its manager said that Mr Lee had been suspended as his conduct during the incident did not meet public expectations. On Friday (May 29), Mr Lee resigned from his position and issued a tearful apology via video. 

The school, however, issued a statement on Wednesday (June 3) saying that the former principal’s “vulgar” behaviour is against the school’s code of conduct for its educators, particularly the guidelines that had been stipulated by the Education Bureau, CNA reported.

“This constitutes the immediate dismissal of Mr Lee and the removal of all his duties at the school,” the statement from the school’s management committee read.

Read also: Hong Kong principal who swore at Singapore security guards fired after resignation was rejected