London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

Hong Kong teachers living in fear over protest support

Hong Kong's teachers say they are living in fear as the city's democracy protests rumble on, with some not daring to discuss the movement and others anxious they could even lose their jobs if they are caught supporting it.

The education sector has always been at the vanguard of the financial hub's anti-government fight, with teachers and students taking to the streets in 2012 to oppose a government order for schools to teach classes that praised China's communist history while criticising democracy movements.

And since the recent wave of protests started last June, police said out of the 6,500 people arrested, about one third are students and around 80 are teachers.

Millions have come out on the streets in demonstrations sparked by opposition to a now-abandoned proposal to allow extraditions to mainland China.

But they morphed into wider demands for greater democratic freedoms and police accountability in the starkest challenge to Beijing since the former British colony was returned to Chinese rule in 1997.


EXPLAIN EVERY POST

Primary school teacher Nelson is facing disciplinary proceedings for writing Facebook posts critical of the police, telling AFP he is under investigation by the education bureau following an anonymous tip.

Nelson, who asked to be identified with a pseudonym, has no idea who made the complaint although the posts were only viewable to his Facebook friends.

The complainant - who said they were a parent - presented screengrabs of Nelson's private posts expressing anger at police behaviour.

After their own probe, Nelson's school confirmed he had not discussed politics in class with students - but the education bureau is still pushing him to explain every post.

"I think they (the authorities) have gone too far ... When I get off work, I am off duty. Just like the police, when they are off-duty, they can also express their views on Weibo," Nelson said, referring to the Twitter-like platform.

He has now deactivated his Facebook account and has become extra careful with what he posts on other networks, including not writing the word "police".

His caution echoes that of some Cathay Pacific staff last year who said they were deleting their social media accounts after former colleagues claimed they were fired for supporting protesters.

Earning over HK$30,000 (US$3,900) a month from his first permanent teaching job, Nelson fears losing his post while waiting for the authority's final verdict.

His and his family's personal information has also been disclosed online, leading to dozens of menacing calls a day.

"Some threatened that they knew where I live and told me to 'watch out'," Nelson said.


'BE VIGILANT'

Hong Kong's education chief Kevin Yeung has vowed harsher disciplinary action for arrested teachers - including revoking their teaching licences - and spoke about what he called "a small number of black sheep in the education sector".

He told lawmakers that most of the complaints about teachers' professional misconduct involved "inappropriate messages posted on social media, such as hate, malicious or abusive messages and messages that promote violence".

Yeung stressed that what the education bureau has been doing did not violate teachers' freedom of speech because "the moral values displayed by teachers in a private forum is also part of their professional conduct".

But he has also said "using biased teaching materials" could trigger an investigation, leading to concerns classes about protests, democracy and social justice movements might be risky.

Another teacher Ng said at his school staff dare not talk about the political situation.

"When colleagues gather at the office, even those who are (anti-government) would say, let's not talk about politics and be vigilant," the PE teacher told AFP.

By the end of November, the Education Bureau had received 123 complaints against teachers. They upheld 44 of them and took follow-up action, including issuing warning letters, in 13 cases.

Two government school teachers were suspended from their positions, while two others have resigned during probes.

President of the city's Professional Teachers' Union Fung Wai Wah said the government is trying to silence teachers.

"The government's mistakes in handling the extradition bill have led to huge conflicts in society. However, it doesn't admit it's at fault and shifts the blame onto the education sector and makes us a scapegoat," Fung said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×