Event Summary
On 20 November 2025, Book Punch owner Pong Yat-ming and parent company Active Experiential Learning Company appeared at Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts facing five charges under the Education Ordinance for allegedly operating an unregistered school after holding a Spanish interest class on April 23, 2025. Pong faces three charges including managing an unregistered school and permitting an unregistered teacher (Antonio Baro Montane) to teach. The charges carry maximum penalties of HK$250,000 fine and two years imprisonment. Pong, unrepresented, applied for adjournment until January 8, 2026. He told media the Education Bureau inspected on the class day but took no further action until the final day of the six-month prosecution period, saying he felt “shocked.” In May, Book Punch posted that the class was an “interest class” without examinations or certification, noting that former legislator Shiu Ka-chun had previously asked the Education Bureau, which confirmed classes purely for interest and skills were outside education scope. Most unexpectedly, the Bureau called district schools asking principals if teachers brought students to the bookshop. This follows September revelations that Book Punch was forced to cancel multiple events due to “anonymous and false complaints,” with university staff and organizational representatives facing “top-down pressure” to withdraw. In July, Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po attacked Book Punch and other independent bookshops for “soft resistance.” The Education Ordinance defines “school” as providing education to 20+ people on any day or 8+ simultaneously, triggering registration requirements that effectively criminalize routine cultural programming at independent bookstores.