Uni town push eclipses rows

Unsurprisingly, a private member bill moved by lawmaker Tommy Cheung Yu-yan and two others was passed by the Legislative Council in a nearly unanimous vote.

Nearly?

Yes, nearly unanimous. And this was probably the only drama on Wednesday that made the vote a little colorful.

Three lawmakers had chosen to abstain from the vote, including Gary Zhang Xinyu.

The mainland-born Hong Kong politician representing the New Prospect for Hong Kong party declined to vote, saying he did not approve of how Legco had handled the rifts over the issue.

It is true that the bill, which will become law after it is gazetted as early as today, has resulted in rifts between different establishment groups.

Now that the controversial bill has been passed despite strong objection from CUHK members, it is also time to heal the wounds and focus future efforts of the reformed council on issues that are more urgent for the SAR as a whole.

It is time to move on from the row, which includes a long-running tussle over personnel matters at CUHK, which happens to be one of the city's most prestigious higher education institutions.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu pledged in his policy address to turn Hong Kong into an international hub for higher education.

Of the city's two top universities, one of them - the University of Hong Kong - is currently troubled by a bitter row over its vice-chancellor Zhang Xiang in relation to complaints about the way he had reportedly handled a number of matters, including a donation from a mainland company on a US sanction list.

The row at HKU has been taken from public view for the time being after the university council instigated an internal investigation into the complaints, that is expected to complete by year end with a report for the council to consider.

It would be inappropriate to speculate on what the report may say.

However, as long as the HKU investigation is still underway, it does not bode well for Lee's policy ambition to further expand Hong Kong's higher education into a international hub for study. Allowing the row at CUHK to stretch would only make things worse.

When asked by reporters whether CUHK vice-chairman Rocky Tuan Sung-chi's removal would be up for discussion at the reformed council, neither Cheung nor the other two lawmakers sponsoring the bill would commit to putting a full stop to the row after the bill was passed.

Cheung said he could not provide an answer about the future work of the new council.

Was Cheung - a strong critic of Tuan and a member on the new council - trying to give an answer open to interpretation, including a compromise?

If he was he really trying to do so, it can only be wished that passage of the bill into a legislation will also be the end of a fiasco that has rocked not only vice-chancellor Tuan but also the university as a whole.

Allowing the fiasco to drag on to continue to affect CUHK would be a lose-lose situation for all.

It is time to look forward and concentrate on the policy drive that is more urgent and important than bickering on over someone's future.