Part V: Petition, The Closure of the School and the Re-opening Campaign
A. Petition
1. Petition to the Governor
On May 9, about 440 students, 20 parents and 16 teachers
took part in the petition after school. Three separate petitions
from the students, teachers and parents were handed to the aide-de-camp
of Governor's House. In their petition, the teachers and students
described the unreasonable and abnormal condition in the school since
their exposure of the financial irregularities and ended up by demanding
the dismissal of the principal.
The parents demanded that
a) suspended students be allowed to resume classes and the
school warning letters be rescinded;
b) an explanation of the incident in which students were
assaulted;
c) an explanation of the incidents in which students' bags
were secretly searched,
2. Petition to the Bishop
Another petition from the teachers was handed to the
Bishop's secretary, Fr. Mencarini Lido, at Caritas House in Caine Road afterwards. The teachers requested Fr. Mencarini to help them
It was because the arrange an immediate interview with the Bishop. Bishop had already been informed of the abnormal condition in the school through the letter transferred to him by the Catholic Justice
and Peace Commision though he had net made any response. As Fr. Mencarini refused to carry any message for the teachers to the Bishop, the teachers themselves had to telephone Bishop Wu who was living and working on the 9th floor. Many phone calls were made but no one answered, As it was getting late, students were urged to leave
at 6.00 p.m.,
leaving behind the 16 teachers and some parents to
contact the Bishop. Night fell but it was still all silence from
the Bishop. Still expecting to have a meeting with the Bishop,
the teachers and parents stayed for the first night outside the Cathedral. And the Bishop's unexpected refusal to meet the parents
and teachers led to the sit-in in the following days.
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