The public furore over a controversial history exam question signaled the fall of Hong Kong’s examination system under the weight of political interference, according to the central figure in the controversy.

Hans Yeung, a former development manager at the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, believes his own case shows that Hong Kong is experiencing its own Cultural Revolution, where political correctness trumps professionalism. In an interview with Apple Daily, Yeung discussed the controversy that led to his resignation after 15 years’ service at the exams agency.

Yeung resigned after being held responsible over the public exam question in May. The question asked students to evaluate whether Japan did more good than harm to China between 1900 and 1945. It soon drew condemnation from pro-Beijing groups and Hong Kong officials, for being biased towards Japan and ignoring its military aggression during World War Two.

A historian himself, Yeung said political interference in exams has not been uncommon in Chinese history. One well-known case is Zhang Tiesheng, who was given special entry to university after showing his political correctness during the Cultural Revolution, Yeung said.

Zhang wrote on an otherwise blank answer sheet in his physics exam that he had no time to study because he had devoted most of his time to work in rural areas under a campaign launched by then chairman Mao Zedong.

Once politics takes over examinations, Yeung said, Hong Kong’s future generations will suffer. The controversy has destroyed the impartiality and independence of the exams authority, he said.

As the political pressure continues to mount in future, his successors in the exams body would only pick more easy, direct and mediocre exam questions to reduce their risks, Yeung said.

“Independence is very important. It means that the authority is free from interference from the Education Department,” he said.

There is nothing wrong in challenging students with biased questions, Yeung said, since it prompts them to identify biases and devise a more balanced view on a particular topic.

The former educator also said he was made a scapegoat by a colleague he had known for more than a decade in the exams authority. It was the colleague who proposed the exam question but shifted all the responsibility to Yeung during a probe by the authority, Yeung said.

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