Former chief of Hong Kong’s exams body warns against scrapping controversial history question on whether Japan ‘did more good than harm to China’
- Former secretary general Choi Chee-cheong urges the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority to ‘think thrice’ over the decision
- Education officials will meet the authority on Monday to investigate its question-setting mechanism
A former top official at Hong Kong’s public exam authority has warned against scrapping a controversial history paper question on Sino-Japanese relations without scientific grounds, a day after the government asked for it to be struck out.
Choi Chee-cheong, who served as secretary general of the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) from 1992 to 2004, urged the independent body to “think thrice” over the decision and to act for the benefit of exam candidates.
“Invalidating a question is a serious matter in public exams, it must go through a science-based process that is aided by the views of experts on the subject,” Choi wrote in a Chinese-language opinion piece published on a news website on Saturday.
“The consequences of deviating from the right path and laying down one’s profession are dire.”
The first extract was from an article about Japan’s plans to take in Chinese students to study law and politics and bring reform during the Qing dynasty.
The second contained parts of a letter written in 1912 by revolutionary leader Huang Xing about seeking financial help from a Japanese politician.
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Education minister Kevin Yeung Yun-hung on Friday condemned the reference materials as biased and said the question was leading. Given Japan’s invasion of China, the answer to the question must definitively be “Japan only did harm but no good”, Yeung said.
He asked the HKEAA to invalidate the question.
The paper also sparked outrage among pro-establishment figures in Hong Kong and internet users in mainland China who said the question blatantly ignored the suffering of the Chinese people during the eight-year Japanese occupation between 1937 and 1945.
Education officials will meet the authority on Monday to investigate its question-setting mechanism.
HKEAA chairman Samuel Yung Wing-ki told the Post on Saturday that detailed discussions would be needed before they decided on the bureau’s request.
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In the article published on CitizenNews, Choi said exam questions that had been struck out in the past were first analysed by subject experts.
“If the experts agree with the statistics, the relevant test questions will be invalidated with the approval of the top brass,” Choi said.
He also said the question on Thursday could have differentiated between high- and low-performing candidates.
Candidates who were careful would note that the question allowed them to incorporate their own knowledge and not rely solely on the reading materials, Choi said.
“It is hard to imagine political ideas surfacing in candidates’ heads when they answer the question,” Choi said.
Had a third piece of reading material been added for balance, Choi said it would make the question too easy and thus meaningless. Everyone would have answered that Japan did more harm than good, he said.
How a Hong Kong history exam question stirred up controversy
Choi also noted the question had to be unanimously approved by a committee comprised of academics, teachers, curriculum officers and subject specialists, before appearing in the exam paper.
“In other words, no member had special powers [in deciding the question],” Choi said.
“I sincerely urge authorities to act for the benefit of candidates and think thrice [before making a decision],” he said.
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