Hong Kong, like all ethnic Chinese communities around the world, attaches great importance to formal school education, and parents have a high regard for and a strong trust in teachers. Hong Kong society in general, and parents in particular, trembled at the sight of violence and vandalism unleashed by unruly young people during the months-long “black revolution”.

Few people would have realized the extent of moral damage done to young people by politically biased teachers, who have prioritized their own political persuasions over the well-being of their students, until the “black revolution” broke out in the second half of last year.

After years of indoctrination with twisted ideas and beliefs, those unscrupulous teachers have successfully radicalized tens of thousands of Hong Kong students, turning them into obedient foot soldiers to carry out their own political agenda. It shocked Hong Kong society that of the more than 10,000 people arrested for various offenses during the “black revolution”, around 4,000, or 40 percent, are students, with some as young as 12 years old. Parents of these students are struggling to cope with all the doom and gloom, while those unscrupulous teachers have walked away with impunity.

The Education Bureau’s move to deregister a primary school teacher who blatantly brainwashed young minds with toxic ideas including separatism has, understandably, been applauded by the general public. The belated action is not only a necessary move allowing justice to be served, but also a remedy to stop that unscrupulous teacher from poisoning more young minds, as well as a deterrence to other teachers with similar wicked motives.

The Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union, one of the opposition camp’s major strongholds, unsurprisingly took issue with the Education Bureau’s decision in no time. It accused the bureau’s disciplinary action of “causing a chilling effect”. Make no mistake, Hong Kong’s education sector is in desperate need of such a “chilling effect”. This is exactly the kind of effect parents want. After all, no sane parents want their youngsters to be continually brainwashed by morally corrupt teachers who promote their own political interests at the expense of the students.  

The disciplinary action may not be enough, but is necessary for the sake of Hong Kong’s future generations.