Teacher who illustrates political cartoon got fired. Saddened to be leaving his students, “I want to see them do well in DSE”

(18 Jul) A year ago, people took to the streets, went on strikes, and protested, fearing that "scores would be settled afterwards". A year later, protests have faded, and white terror has silently surfaced with the arrival of the National Security Law. The settling of scores has started.

The education sector is one of the first industries to bear the brunt. Under the high political pressure, teachers have to be cautious even outside school hours: making a "sensitive" remark, liking a post that criticizes the government, or participating in a legal protest can cost them their jobs.

InMedia interviewed several teachers who have received complaints, been suppressed by their schools, or even lost their jobs because of their political stance. Secondary school Liberal Studies teachers, teaching assistants and university professors have all suffered from this crisis. Under the National Security Law, where will they go?

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Any Hongkonger who has followed the social movements of the past year has probably seen the cartoon of a boy lying in bed at night, unwilling to go to sleep, staring at his mobile screen; he then puts down his phone, covers his face with palms and bursts into tears.

Mr. Wong said this was his most recognized and favorite work - as to why he drew it or whether it was because of a specific incident, he could not recall. He only remembered that he spent almost every night like this: looking at his phone and unable to fall asleep, then bursting into tears.

He majored in Fine Arts at university. After graduation, he studied for a diploma in education, with a minor in Liberal Studies. He eventually became a secondary school teacher. As he likes to draw in his spare time, he created an instagram account called “vawongsir” last May. His posts revolve around political cartoons,and because of this, he has received anonymous complaint letters; Last month, he received a notice from his school that his contract would not be renewed in the coming year.

He shared the news on his “vawongsir” account, and said, “Honestly, I can’t compare myself to Diocesan Girls' School’s Mr. Yang. He has given and sacrificed a lot more than me. I’m just an amateur illustrator with a few peers who’d share my work. But the scary thing is, it’s not even okay for a visual art teacher to draw after school!”

Receiving anonymous complaints from the Education Bureau after opening a political cartoon account a year ago

Mr. Wong has never admitted that he is “vawongsir” in front of his students - Whenever students asked him about it, he would always looked around warily and said he didn’t know. He admitted that many students have already "recognized" him as “vawongsir”. "With my drawing style and technique, quite a few students think I am “vawongsir”; when one person thinks so, it spreads quickly to everyone.”

He has been working in a secondary school in Tai Po for almost three years, teaching visual arts and liberal studies for junior secondary students. He explained that the account "vawongsir" was created purely for the purpose of "art" rather than "protest art". “If you look carefully, I’ve never encourage students to go on strike or on the streets.” As a matter of fact, he doesn’t encourage students to go on strike: “They should leave it (the protests) to the adults. They’re still young.”

However, in January this year, he was suddenly summoned by the principal. The principal said the Education Bureau informed him that there was an anonymous complaint about the “inappropriateness” of his work in the “vawongsir” account. He asked Mr. Wong to indicate whether he was the account holder and explain whether he had liked “vawongsir’s” posts with his private account. Mr. Wong described the situation as “very creepy”, “My personal account is ‘private’, why does the Education Bureau know that I liked my own page?” He sought help from the Professional Teachers’ Union, and decided to refuse answering the principal’s questions on the grounds that the “authenticity of the anonymous complaint” was questionable; schools were suspended afterwards and he hasn’t heard from the school since.

The school rejects Wong’s suggestion of pay freeze and terminates his contract, claiming lack of funds

Mr. Wong clearly remembered that the principal promised not to affect the school's decision on renewing his contract due to this incident. However, at the end of last month, his supervisor told him that the school was lack of funds and would not renew his contract. The next day, Mr. Wong confronted the principal and offered to stay with the school on pay freeze or part-time status, but the school refused.

Mr. Wong has never received any complaints regarding his teaching. He couldn’t help but question that his “political stance” was the real reason why he got fired. “If it’s purely because of problems with funding, they shouldn’t reject my offer… If it wasn’t for this complaint letter, I wouldn’t be the first to be fired.”

The breadwinner of his family with a chronically ill mother

Mr. Wong shared the incident on his “vawongsir” account. This time, he illustrated a teacher standing in front of the class – the teacher looks like him. He isn’t smiling and his mouth is covered by someone’s hand. “Goodbye class”, the teacher wrote.

“Of course I don’t want to lose my job!” Mr. Wong is the breadwinner of his family. He mentioned that he did worry about getting fired, “I’m about to get fired!”, he would sometimes joke to his family; but when it actually happened and he lost his stable income, he felt anxious. He explained that his mother suffers from acute kidney failure and he has to spend several thousand to ten thousand dollars a month on medical expenses.

His mother, who has always respected him and never stopped him from drawing, did not blame him for the layoff. Mr. Wong said local schools typically recruit during March and April, it is “too late” [for him to look for another teaching job] to only get notified now that his contract not be renewed, “There’s a big chance that no school will hire me.”

Leaving his students had him shedding tears

The post on his layoff has created a lot of noise. He has been approached by the media, invited by local shops to draw, and by tutorial centers to teach art classes. But what mattered to Mr. Wong most was the people who left comments under his post - his students.

Mr. Wong likes drawing, but he also likes to teach. He said he misses his students, and he failed to hold his tears in front of his students these few days. "Every time I walk into the classroom, they look at me as if ‘they’d never see me again’ and they’d say encouraging things like 'we support you'.” “I really want to see the secondary five students do well in their DSE.”

Speaking of his students, his expression saddened. He said, in an earnest tone, that he really didn’t want students to participate in the protests, “The day when the anti-mask law was implemented last year, I reminded my students to go home if there was anything, and leave matters to adults.” Yet his students replied, “It’s not that we don’t want to game at home, it’s that we don’t even have the mood to game.” Of course, Mr. Wong didn’t really stop his students from protesting, but whenever he received news of students' arrests and court appearances, his “heart would ache”. “They’re only secondary school students. It’s because of the government’s incompetence that they’re forced to make their voices heard.Yet my students’ future is affected by the arbitrary arrests.”

Be an ambiguous political cartoonist 

“If I can still draw, I will continue to do so as it is what I like.”

As for his future path, he said he has not yet decided. He wishes he could continue to educate the next generation with art.

For the time being, he only plans to publish an illustration book, in which the content may not be too politicised. It will be on topics related to local culture. 

Was it because of the National Security Law that he avoided political content in his book? He denied, “I don’t think I’m famous enough...There are already plenty of illustrators more well-known than me who would draw (political cartoons).” He felt that since there are already reputable illustrators such as Ah To and Zunzi who draw political cartoons, there is no need for him to do the same. He could draw on non-political themes that interest him more. 

What if fewer and fewer people dare to draw (political cartoons)? “I still don’t think I’ll draw... I’m a bit of a coward.”

Mr. Wong admitted that he will never be an artist who is “in the forefront”; under the National Security Law, he might use more ambiguous and symbolic methods to draw.In fact, the initial decision to post in a cartoon style on “vawongsir” was more or less self-censorship, "I try not to vilify anyone”. 

Can patriotism be taught?

Of course, he doesn't rule out the possibility of becoming a teacher again someday, as he has always wanted to "educate through art”. However, under the National Security Law, the Education Bureau has instructed all schools in Hong Kong to conduct "politically correct patriotic education". Being in an industry filled with white terror, Mr. Wong said frankly, "I can’t see how Hong Kong’s future will be.” He felt that the “political red line” could change anytime, and restrictions on speech will continue to tighten. “Maybe saying the term, ‘China smog’, would mean inciting unpatriotic sentiments in the future.”

However, Mr. Wong believes thatit is “almost impossible” to force students to be patriotic.“We can’t teach them to love. Tyranny can only force students to learn about China, but it’s impossible to force them to love China... so much has happened in the past year, how could you possibly force students to love you?”

The interview took place in the first week of July. At that time, Mr. Wong said he still has two weeks to say goodbye to his students. Unfortunately, the epidemic worsened and the Education Bureau suddenly announced the closure of primary and secondary schools, depriving him of his last moments with his students. Mr. Wong admitted that he was saddened, but he said he would soon set up a Youtube channel and make a video as a goodby gift for his students. 

I asked if there is anything he would like to say to his students. After a moment’s silence, he said he does not expect anyone to be the best in any profession or role, “but please remember the word I always say - attitude. Be a person with conscience, so you can call yourself a Hongkonger”. 

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Epilogue

Before the interview, I asked Mr. Wong to draw a picture for this article, and he could decide on the content. He agreed. He drew “vawongsir’s” smiley face mask, with red stitches on the smiling mouth, tears streaming from the corner or its eye, and a white envelope on the side. 

On the day of the interview, we talked a lot about the future and education. At the end of the interview, Mr. Wong asked worryingly, "Oh no... would this interview be too negative?” You don’t want people to feel negative from your interview? I asked him. He paused and said no, it’s just that this interview seemed more negative than his previous ones, “as if there’s no hope for the future”. 

“Of course, objectively it is true (that there’s no hope)... but every Hongnkonger must persevere to survive.” He mentioned “vawongsir’s” smiley face mask, “Just like my icon, I hope Hongkongers can find joy in sorrows under this unhappy environment.”

Source: Inmediahk

https://www.inmediahk.net/node/1075601

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