A principal in Kowloon went on leave from Tuesday over an alleged inability to carry out his work, according to a school notice that was released after he held prayers as per normal to mark the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square crackdown.

Tak Sun School in Jordan took parents and students by surprise with the notice, in which it said that Henry Kuok would be on leave because he had “failed to perform the duties of a principal.” The primary school announced arrangements for an acting principal and did not mention when Kuok would resume his duties.

The move, coming less than two weeks after the prayers, led to speculation as Kuok had been organizing such events on June 4 to commemorate victims of the Tiananmen massacre in Beijing.

A day after the notice, the school was operating as usual, though more teachers were seen at the entrance greeting students in the morning.

Parents and teachers told Apple Daily that they were caught off guard by the announcement and had no idea what was happening, but praised Kuok for his conscientious attitude to education and hoped he would return soon.

Choi, the father of a Primary Six boy, said that Kuok had conducted a June 4 prayer assembly this year, just like before. The principal merely mentioned the Tiananmen incident at the assembly and then prayed for students and other people, Choi cited his son as saying.

“It was a very simple prayer, without explaining the incident. In fact these two years, he had downplayed the commemoration to a neutral event,” Choi said.

He was stunned to receive the notice on Tuesday, as the school was preparing for Primary One pupil enrollment. It was possible that major issues were involved in Kuok’s sudden absence during such a period, he said.

Choi commended the principal for his persistence in pursuing teaching reform. When Choi’s son first started school, Kuok opted for Cantonese as the medium of instruction, contrary to teaching trends at the time that favored Mandarin, he recalled.

The school had been organizing exchanges with mainland China in recent years, a move that Kuok explained was due to a need for pupils to understand national affairs from a young age.

Another father, surnamed Lo, said that he liked Kuok’s teaching methods and hoped to see him again next week.

Tak Sun being a school for boys, Kuok would design courses that were suitable for the development of boys and would instil in them a sense of belonging and brotherhood, a father surnamed Wong said. Wong added that he wanted Kuok to continue serving as he was a “very good principal.”

A mother by the name of Law said that Kuok had maintained good communication with the parents, such as by hosting monthly meetings with them. The school had a letter box at its entrance to encourage pupils with learning or other difficulties to approach him, and he would reply personally to them, she said.

Law acknowledged being worried about the principal and said that she and her children would pray together for him.

A pupil surnamed Au described Kuok as affable. The principal would share his experiences during morning assembly, Au said, hoping he would return as soon as possible. Another student, Yim, said the principal was rarely away from school and felt that the sudden leave arrangement was “very strange.”

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