Andrew Chiu to report police to EOC over ear jokes

Andrew Chiu (seen left) says police officers joked about how he is missing an ear, after it was bitten off during an attack last year. Photo: RTHK

Democratic Party district councillor Andrew Chiu said on Tuesday that he would make a complaint to the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) after police officers mocked his missing ear while the force cleared protesters from a mall at the weekend.



Chiu's left ear was bitten off during a vicious attack outside the same mall, Cityplaza in Taikoo Shing, following a protest there in early November.



He told RTHK's "Millennium" programme that a police officer had said to him that he wouldn't have been able to hear the songs a crowd of people in the mall were planning to sing on Sunday evening, being as he has lost an ear.



Chiu, who's the vice chairman of Eastern District Council, said several riot officers also covered their ears with their hands to mock him.



He described the behaviour as "childish" and said he would be reporting the matter to the equality watchdog.



Asked about the incident by RTHK, chief superintendent Kwok Ka-chuen, who heads the force's public relations bureau, said he would not comment on the issue, other than he would remind officers to be empathetic and remain professional.



On why officers would feel the need to tug or cover their ears, Kwok said he couldn't speculate as to the reasons for the behaviour of individual colleagues.