Dr. (oops) Mr. Junius Ho has clapped back at the decision by his alma mater to revoke his honorary doctorate due to his history of violent, homophobic, and sexist vitriol.
The trash-talking, pro-Beijing firebrand said last night that he first found out that his honorary law doctorate from Anglia Ruskin University had been revoked when he was approached by a journalist yesterday.
In a lengthy Facebook post, he characterized the revocation as a blow to academic freedom. (Gee, we wonder whether it was his peer-reviewed paper on how a female colleague with an English husband “eats foreign sausage,” or his groundbreaking research into which people with opposing political views should be “killed without mercy” that so rattled the ivory tower.)
Ho also accused the university of bowing to “obvious political pressure,” citing the fact that his doctorate was revoked days after David Alton, a member of the British Parliament’s upper house, wrote to Anglia Ruskin asking them why they continued to honor the unrepentant bully.
In a rhetorical flourish befitting his legal background, Ho also said the university had violated “procedural justice” by not informing him beforehand that he would be stripped of his the degree (to be clear, Ho wasn’t accused of committing a crime, just of being a hateful loudmouth). He added that it was “a pity that the university relies on only one side of the argument, and casually and rashly withdraws the honorary degree it awarded.”
https://www.facebook.com/JuniusHoKwanYiu/photos/a.1035763239849864/2560279217398251/?type=3&theater
He also continued to deny any involvement with the July 21 mob attack at Yuen Long MTR (where he was filmed glad-handing suspected attackers, whom he later called “heroic”), and also defended the many controversial remarks he has made as a lawmaker, saying they were protected by privilege.
“As a representative for my district, the remarks made by me are also based on the interests of voters and the public,” he said. (Really? The “sausage” remark?)
“My objection to the legalization of same-sex marriage does not mean that I’m either sexist or racist,” he added. (Though he did once refer to same-sex marriage as a slippery slope to bestiality, sooo…)
Anglia Ruskin awarded Ho the honorary doctorate in law in 2011, describing him at the time as “a top name in law who has achieved great success.” He graduated from the university in 1984, when it was known as the Chelmer Institute of Higher Education.
But yesterday, the university reversed that assessment, saying they had revoked the honor because Ho’s conduct has caused “increasing concern.”
Some of Ho’s other greatest hits, for the record, include appearing to threaten the life of pro-dem lawmaker Eddie Chu, accusing foreigners of turning Hong Kong into “the next Syria,” and most recently, saying during a LegCo appearance that that Chinese University of Hong Kong “welcomed more than 300 cockroaches at their freshers week.”
