Hong Kong is now famous for a student magazine in a ‘world-class’ university …
The student magazine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has always included a section on ‘erotica’, except in some of the most recent issues it’s stepped over the line into pornography which upsets some readers. Those readers decided to report their complaints with the Telecommunications and Entertainment Licensing Authority (TELA) which oversees the quality of programming and printed matters.
The university decided to castigate the students, and instead of dealing with it internally, it also referred the matter to TELA even before the official judgement, it had ruled that the student magazine is unsuitable for circulation due to objectionable contents. The decision drew the ire of the staff and students, home and abroad, who saw the freedom of publication under threat.
In face of the many complaints, TELA had no choice but to follow the protocol and forward the matter to the Obscene Articles Tribunal, which has found the students’ articles indecent. Pending on the outcome of further investigations and appeal, there’s a threat that the students may face a law suit! The TELA may not want to charge the students since their publication is not intended for commercial circulation, but they also have to follow established rules and procedures.
The indecency judgement is of course controversial. Many considered that the contents of the student magazine pale in comparison to many other publications which treat indecent topics in a more uninhibited and shameless way. But the Bible too? Apparently someone thought it was, and many have responded to his on-line campaign and lodged their complaints to TELA. It’s hard to second-guess the motive behind this campaign. Maybe it’s just a prank, or a way to make a mockery of the whole situation.
Whatever the outcome of this saga maybe, it’s definitely caught the attention of the international media. Even my Dutch friend has read all about it in the Dutch media!
The students had hoped that their humble magazine would receive better exposure from a wider audience. Now they’ve got what they wanted, even though this is hardly good publicity for them! The Chinese University has also made itself more renowned around the world, in a way much more powerful than the worldwide university league tables or many other international surveys.
And had the Bible been sent for review (fortunately not), Hong Kong would have done something that no other place on Earth would dare. In a more positive light, one could call this challenging a very well-established authority and status quo. However, more would agree that the whole affair is a comedy of errors and nonsense, on the parts of the hypersensitive readers of the magazine, the Chinese University, and now the anti-Bible campaigners. After all, Hong Kong still has a strong tradition of writing good stories and putting them on show, be it for the cinema like the good old days, or the ‘Strange but True’ section in TV news, newspapers and websites of today.
星期二的明報寫道，中文大學的學生會希望提高學生雜誌的知名度，現因其「情色版」寫得過火而「求仁得仁」。
認為情色版意識不良的讀者向影視處投訴，校方也來個大義滅親，把事件高調交由影視處轉介淫褻物品審裁處調查，結果不但與學生劃清界線，而且走在影視處及淫褻物品審裁處之前，早早為學生報定性，還禁制其派發，引來校內師生不滿，甚至有海外學者聲援。現在內容被審裁處評為不雅，可能觸動司法程序，學生隨時面臨起訴！
中大校方大概沒想到高調處理也會玩出火受千夫所指，淫褻物品審裁處方面也未必想起訴學生，由於刋物並非作發售，或可免起訴，不過既然接到投訴就得按常規辦理。
審裁處的判決當然也惹爭議，社會上講及色情的刋物，內容比學生雜誌往往更形聲繪影，學生雜誌可謂小巫見大巫。不知是否有人趁機惡搞一番，或想為學生平反伸冤，近日有上千人響應網上的「投訴聖經大行動」，要求審查聖經是否有不雅內容。事情發生至此，已為國際傳媒報導，中大或許也因此「名氣大噪」！
世界無奇不有，事件的發展出神入化，真有賴各方無風起三尺浪：先有向影視處投訴的讀者，其實本來向校方反映便已足夠；然後有小題大做的中大，把校務推到法律層面，現在要「保鑊」更見困難校方一心求自保，卻保不了整件事中自身的公信及威望，更惹起另一個火頭；還有投訴聖經的人，居然想出這度點子，真不知其他宗教的經文會否相繼遭殃了！（後記：幸好應該不會。）
不知今時今日香港人是不是越來越無聊，無事化小，小事化大，閒來無事便要搞事？還是濫用消費者力量，一不對眼便動輒向最高機關投訴？又抑或怨氣仍多，得炮製個大笑話娛人娛己，抒發一下？
軼聞：
※ 某運程書：「今年姓沈的讀者，如要為兒女起名，大可考慮時興的『沈才柱』（粵音）或『沈才楚』（國音），有利兒女之事業運。」
※ 某審裁員：「今年工作量頓增，難道真是做到『審死官』為止？」
The student magazine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has always included a section on ‘erotica’, except in some of the most recent issues it’s stepped over the line into pornography which upsets some readers. Those readers decided to report their complaints with the Telecommunications and Entertainment Licensing Authority (TELA) which oversees the quality of programming and printed matters.
The university decided to castigate the students, and instead of dealing with it internally, it also referred the matter to TELA even before the official judgement, it had ruled that the student magazine is unsuitable for circulation due to objectionable contents. The decision drew the ire of the staff and students, home and abroad, who saw the freedom of publication under threat.
In face of the many complaints, TELA had no choice but to follow the protocol and forward the matter to the Obscene Articles Tribunal, which has found the students’ articles indecent. Pending on the outcome of further investigations and appeal, there’s a threat that the students may face a law suit! The TELA may not want to charge the students since their publication is not intended for commercial circulation, but they also have to follow established rules and procedures.
The indecency judgement is of course controversial. Many considered that the contents of the student magazine pale in comparison to many other publications which treat indecent topics in a more uninhibited and shameless way. But the Bible too? Apparently someone thought it was, and many have responded to his on-line campaign and lodged their complaints to TELA. It’s hard to second-guess the motive behind this campaign. Maybe it’s just a prank, or a way to make a mockery of the whole situation.
Whatever the outcome of this saga maybe, it’s definitely caught the attention of the international media. Even my Dutch friend has read all about it in the Dutch media!
The students had hoped that their humble magazine would receive better exposure from a wider audience. Now they’ve got what they wanted, even though this is hardly good publicity for them! The Chinese University has also made itself more renowned around the world, in a way much more powerful than the worldwide university league tables or many other international surveys.
And had the Bible been sent for review (fortunately not), Hong Kong would have done something that no other place on Earth would dare. In a more positive light, one could call this challenging a very well-established authority and status quo. However, more would agree that the whole affair is a comedy of errors and nonsense, on the parts of the hypersensitive readers of the magazine, the Chinese University, and now the anti-Bible campaigners. After all, Hong Kong still has a strong tradition of writing good stories and putting them on show, be it for the cinema like the good old days, or the ‘Strange but True’ section in TV news, newspapers and websites of today.
星期二的明報寫道，中文大學的學生會希望提高學生雜誌的知名度，現因其「情色版」寫得過火而「求仁得仁」。
認為情色版意識不良的讀者向影視處投訴，校方也來個大義滅親，把事件高調交由影視處轉介淫褻物品審裁處調查，結果不但與學生劃清界線，而且走在影視處及淫褻物品審裁處之前，早早為學生報定性，還禁制其派發，引來校內師生不滿，甚至有海外學者聲援。現在內容被審裁處評為不雅，可能觸動司法程序，學生隨時面臨起訴！
中大校方大概沒想到高調處理也會玩出火受千夫所指，淫褻物品審裁處方面也未必想起訴學生，由於刋物並非作發售，或可免起訴，不過既然接到投訴就得按常規辦理。
審裁處的判決當然也惹爭議，社會上講及色情的刋物，內容比學生雜誌往往更形聲繪影，學生雜誌可謂小巫見大巫。不知是否有人趁機惡搞一番，或想為學生平反伸冤，近日有上千人響應網上的「投訴聖經大行動」，要求審查聖經是否有不雅內容。事情發生至此，已為國際傳媒報導，中大或許也因此「名氣大噪」！
世界無奇不有，事件的發展出神入化，真有賴各方無風起三尺浪：先有向影視處投訴的讀者，其實本來向校方反映便已足夠；然後有小題大做的中大，把校務推到法律層面，現在要「保鑊」更見困難校方一心求自保，卻保不了整件事中自身的公信及威望，更惹起另一個火頭；還有投訴聖經的人，居然想出這度點子，真不知其他宗教的經文會否相繼遭殃了！（後記：幸好應該不會。）
不知今時今日香港人是不是越來越無聊，無事化小，小事化大，閒來無事便要搞事？還是濫用消費者力量，一不對眼便動輒向最高機關投訴？又抑或怨氣仍多，得炮製個大笑話娛人娛己，抒發一下？
軼聞：
※ 某運程書：「今年姓沈的讀者，如要為兒女起名，大可考慮時興的『沈才柱』（粵音）或『沈才楚』（國音），有利兒女之事業運。」
※ 某審裁員：「今年工作量頓增，難道真是做到『審死官』為止？」
Comments
Another thought is that, I am not sure CUHK has anything to do with the complaint being referred to the Tribunal, probably since I have not been quite diligently following the news report.
承蒙subtropicalboy提點，現把原文繆誤以淺灰色標示，並予以修正，順道亦把錯別字更正。言論自由誠可貴，但也要力求內容正確，多謝指點！