Six Pui Ching Primary School alumni say more than HK$30 million raised to rebuild a teaching building was not chiefly available to primary pupils, as a High Court trial opened on 5 October. The defendant is The Baptist Convention of Hong Kong, the school’s organising body.
The plaintiffs allege that the convention solicited donations by presenting the project as a rebuilding of the primary school’s teaching building, but that most of the completed structure was ultimately allocated to Pui Ching Academy. They say the primary school was nevertheless left to bear construction and management costs.
The plaintiffs cited Education Bureau documents saying floors 5 to 7 could not be used for primary-school teaching on safety grounds, while pupils were not allowed to enter floors 8 to 15. They argued that the gym and adult toilets showed the building had limited practical value for primary pupils.
The central legal question is whether the fundraising and related school assets were held on a charitable trust, and whether the convention breached that trust. The plaintiffs say the organisation held three plots of school land as trustee.
The plaintiffs say the convention returned HK$20 million to Koo Ming Kown, but they allege the money came from the primary school’s account.
The defence described the misrepresentation case as hollow and said the trust argument had only been raised in recent years. It has asked the court to examine whether the parties actually relied on a trust and whether there was a clear intention to create one.
The High Court earlier ruled that the Department of Justice, initially named in the proceedings, was not a party from which the plaintiffs sought recovery and did not need to take part in the trial. The defence was due to continue its submissions on 6 October 2026.