Dismissed Tuen Mun school principal to pursue contract rights after Singapore clash

A secondary school principal who allegedly swore at a security guard in Singapore said he has instructed legal counsel to pursue his employment contract rights after the school’s sponsoring body rejected his voluntary resignation and eventually dismissed him. 

Lee Cheuk-hing, principal of the San Wui Commercial Society Secondary School in Tuen Mun, said he had proactively tendered his resignation late last month to protect the school’s reputation and ensure a smooth transition. The resignation was scheduled to take effect at the end of August, satisfying the notice period required by his employment contract. 

Lee said, however, the school board terminated his employment immediately, a decision he said left him “deeply shocked and filled with regret.” 

In his statement, Lee once again apologized to the public and the school for his improper conduct and explained the reason for the conflict. He noted that the bus company chartered for the student exchange tour had routinely dropped passengers off temporarily right outside the venue gates during similar trips. 

On the day of the incident, a local security guard shouted warnings entirely in English. Due to a language barrier, the bus driver was unable to communicate effectively, which subsequently triggered the dispute, he said. 

Lee stressed that his sole intention in intervening was to protect the safety of the students and to quickly defuse the situation, preventing the group from being stranded at an unfamiliar conflict scene abroad. 

Still, he admitted that no objective circumstances or good intentions can justify an educator losing emotional control and acting inappropriately.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓