Read on Twitter
1/ some thoughts on the firing of benny tai
as someone who recently was denied tenure by cuhk, it is disheartening to see how even a professor with tenure like benny tai got fired. here's why
as someone who recently was denied tenure by cuhk, it is disheartening to see how even a professor with tenure like benny tai got fired. here's why
2/ the whole point of tenure is to protect academic freedom so that scholars can ask the kind of tough, difficult, and uncomfortable questions that society maybe does not want to, but needs to ask itself.
3/ to the extent academics were already practicing self-censorship in hong kong (and many do), the case of benny erodes even that last bit of protection. e.g. https://twitter.com/geoffrey_cain/status/1288042053633482758
4/ this travesty of a decision has been years in the making. in 2016, hku students stormed the university council meeting, protesting the very governance structure that made the firing of benny tai today possible. students feared then what happened today https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1905784/surrounded-university-hong-kong-students-besiege-governing)
5/ i have only met benny once, many years ago, but we had a pleasant conversation about free speech (my thing) and the rule of law (his thing). i have heard from many of my colleagues and friends that he is a good teacher, and that his students love him.
6/ but this case is bigger than benny. academia is one of the last remaining institutions in hong kong not completely compromised, although it is not for a lack of effort by beijing. this 2018 report by @kevincarrico gives a good (dated) overview. https://www.hongkongwatch.org/all-posts/2018/1/22/academic-freedom-report
7/ benny had tenure. the hku senate recommended to keep him. but the council headed by arthur li, still decided to fire him. what is disheartening is not only to see people like benny getting fired, but also to see the kind of people that are getting promoted.
8/ bit of background: arthur li, nicknamed "king arthur", is notorious. 85% of HKU staff expressed "no confidence" in him in a poll. he was still appointed by CY Leung to head the HKU council that today decided to fire benny. https://www.ejinsight.com/eji/article/id/1036290/20150423-most-hku-staff-have-no-confidence-in-arthur-li-poll-shows
9/ this time it is academic freedom. but the integrity of the elections are also under threat. as are press freedom and press independence. and we can fully expect the pressure on the internet to increase. together with the national security law, it is a full court press.
10/ maybe it is a good time to revisit my essay on why hong kong is not dead yet. i am telling myself: "we take the hit, we get up, and we live to fight another day". https://globalvoices.org/2020/05/22/why-hong-kong-isnt-dead-yet/
11/ please also read benny tai's statement https://twitter.com/lokmantsui/status/1288086898909429761
hang in there, everyone.
hang in there, everyone.
