Letters | Let’s not use the Cathay discrimination scandal to prove one’s patriotism

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Three Cathay Pacific flight attendants made fun of a mainland customer’s English ability on a flight from Chengdu to Hong Kong. Their conversation was recorded by another traveller and went viral on social media. The company investigated, apologised four times in three days and fired the three employees involved.

Hong Kong’s chief executive has expressed his anger and disappointment over the scandal, while the Equal Opportunities Commission chairman Ricky Chu Man-kin has warned that the crew’s conduct could constitute indirect discrimination under the Race Discrimination Ordinance.

Legislator Michael Luk Chung-hung of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions even called it a continuation of the 2019 social unrest, a kind of “soft resistance” against the government. Taking advantage of the incident in this way to score points for political grandstanding is reckless and can harm Hong Kong-mainland relations more than the incident itself has.

Mocking customers is certainly unprofessional, disrespectful and unbecoming in any service industry. The Cathay Pacific Airways Flight Attendants’ Union has blamed the incident on staff shortages, low pay and low morale. The airline did the right thing to terminate their contracts.