Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK’s newly appointed director has said he was too busy to meet employees to explain why another episode of the “Hong Kong Stories” magazine program was pulled off the air.

Several episodes of the 30-minute TV series spotlighting local life and culture have already been yanked since Patrick Li took office earlier this month. Now, a decision was made to shelve the episode due to be broadcast on Sunday, Apple Daily has learned. A repeat of an episode made in July 2019 will run instead.

It was not known whether it was Li who made the decision to pull the latest episode, or whether the remaining shows will be aired, a staffer told Apple Daily. RTHK had yet to respond to Apple Daily’s inquiries by the time of publication.

Previously, Li scrapped an episode interviewing Hong Kong band LMF, after he deemed their songs “indecent” because they contained swear words. An episode featuring interviews with novelist Chiang Hiu-mei and photographer Jimmy Lam was also pulled.

Lam, who published a volume of photographs titled “City — sick,” said his interview with “Hong Kong Stories” focused on art and creative expression. The interview only briefly touched on the police’s handling of the 2019 pro-democracy protests, and on social issues such as the face mask shortage during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

An episode from the political TV show “LegCo Review” that was supposed to air on Thursday was suddenly pulled as well. It was replaced with a program that featured interviews with teachers who received government awards.

RTHK staff called for a meeting with Li — who has no broadcasting experience — on Friday afternoon. But the director said he was too busy, a source told Apple Daily. It was becoming difficult to operate under such difficult management, the source said.

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