In Hong Kong, a woman named Li Junping has been sentenced to 4 months in jail for trying to bribe a school principal with HK$ 20,000 (equivalent to US $ 2548) to secure the admission of her 7-year-old son. As per reports, the 45-year-old woman had moved from mainland China to Hong Kong in 2022.
In Hong Kong’s Eastern Court, Principal Magistrate Ivy Chui Yee-mei denounced the attempt to corrupt a government educational institution. She said that court must punish any attempt to gain an unfair advantage over those who reaped the rewards of their own endeavours.
Principal Magistrate Ivy Chui Yee-mei acknowledged that the court understands the desire of the mother to ensure her son’s admission to a good school. Still, the bribery was a dishonest act and it tried to tarnish the morals of society.
Li Junping was charged by Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in January this year for bribing the Principal.
Li Junping moved to Hong Kong from mainland China in June 2022, and soon after she tried to get her then 6-year-old son enrolled in the Hennessy Road Government Primary School in Causeway Bay. The Education Bureau’s central allocation scheme did not grant her child enrolment in the school she wanted.
After the first round of interviews, the child was not called for the next phase of the selection process. Li Junping then reportedly approached Principal Phoebe Lo Pui-shan personally and requested for her son’s enrollment. But the Principal asked the mother to wait for the school’s official response.
On June 18, after 2 weeks of waiting, the mother sent a sealed envelope to Principal Phoebe Lo Pui-shan. When Phoebe Lo Pui-shan opened the envelope, she was shocked to see currency notes inside. A school employee then returned the envelope to Li Junping.
Shockingly, Li Junping did not relent and returned to the school 2 days later with HK$20,000 and again tried to bribe the Principal. At that point, the Principal informed the police and Li Junping was arrested.
Later, the school also shared that the son’s application had not been shortlisted for enrolment.
While defending her case, Li Junping claimed that her intention was to make a donation to the school if her son’s application was approved for enrollment. She later admitted that what she did was wrong.
Li’s father-in-law, with whom Li and her son were residing in Hong Kong, was reportedly so angry by the incident that he made the mother and son vacate the house.
Li’s lawyer argued that she was new to Hong Kong and hence was not aware of local legislation regarding school admissions.
As per a report in South China Morning Post, offering a bribe to a government employee is punishable by up to 3 years in prison and HK$ 100,000 in penalty.
