Leek the Truth.

Consider this a warning. Heed this as a threat.

RCHK Leeks will break the oligarchy and every structure that supports it, if only for the benefit of all the innocent students under its thumb. Its pitiful staff are underworked and overpaid, encouraging them to be lazy and develop morals that grate against the wheels of common society. Their writings are nothing more than propaganda trains akin to those of the Soviet Union, made to pit students against each other and create conflict.

Welcoming Year 6 students into secondary? Referring to essentially every ‘unoriginal’ idea as plagiarism?

It’s almost as if the Truth knows that it’s polarising students with such avant-garde ideas. That’s why they’re called the Truth, perhaps: the truth behind every strife, every concern and every tear of RCHK’s students.

They say they stand for free press. They proclaim themselves “a forum for fact-based reportage of school, local and global news stories” to “offer students the chance to express their views through news reports, opinion pieces and creative writing”, yet they are restrained within the boundaries of teacher’s delicate sensibilities and expectations. Free press? Even the most censored Leeks article is freer than the average Truth article, because Truth functions under the default hierarchical system of a news outlet.

The editor-in-chief controls output and content, even ‘advising’ writers on what news to report on, whilst the poor students slave away under their control. Here at Leeks, all creative freedom is given to the writers with little to no input from the core members, and the only editing we do consists of grammar checks and swear-word culling. The latter is a product of the precedent set by the Truth and other ‘scholarly’ establishments in our school, and even we have to bow down to the limits set upon us by the Sculgod. Swear words are scientifically proven to have positive effects on self-esteem and pain perception, and yet due to archaic values set in stone by inflexible thinking, they have not been properly introduced into the academic lexicon.

Speaking of flexibility, we here at Leeks are the true promoters of diversity. Leeks has current events, up to date memes, and its own cooking blog. We have comics, near daily instagram stories to entertain the viewers, and instead of upsetting people with articles that carry an overtly negative tone, we use satire to amuse and endear our readers. We even have a viral article with a thousand views, due to a kind redditor’s recommendation.

Our variety (and reach!) far exceeds that of Truth, who despite having more categories is limited to a few articles per category. Their satirical advice column pales in comparison to our own, having only two articles in the entire section. Quantity over quality, we say, and in accordance with our philosophy, we pump out articles to satiate our readers’ appetite for articles on every questionable topic under the sun.

It is obvious, at this point, why Leeks is superior to the Truth, but why are we still considered the underprivileged?

The intense nepotism at work behind the scenes will make anyone’s blood boil. The RCHK Truth is fully paid for and sponsored by the school, a privilege that RCHK Leeks does not enjoy despite having more Instagram followers.

What’s the point of being an influencer if you can’t enjoy the monetary benefits? Truth even costs more than Leeks to run: Truth uses Squarespace as a website building platform, whose cheapest plan costs over 1100 HKD per year. We have asked the school for funding before but have been denied on the basis that 800 HKD is too much.

How is that fair? How is RCHK, a school that supposedly stands for democracy and equality for all, willingly turning a blind eye to the plight of the students it helped raise and even contributing to the injustices against them? If Leeks cost more than the Truth to run, it would’ve made sense to have only been given the amount given to Truth, but we cost three hundred dollars less.

What excuse does RCHK have in not giving us the funds?

Favoritism is the only explanation. The hierarchy is clear; teacher-run clubs take up all the resources and leave student-run clubs struggling to even stay afloat.

Not to mention their incredibly ableist website — the lack of readability on their homepage will negatively affect anyone who struggles with differentiating text and spacing. Cluttered, inconsistent kerning and spacing can affect even the most avid reader, so imagine the effect they’ll have on anyone with genuine struggles.

Our functionally illiterate students — see our previous article on the state of the English department — will have no way of navigating a site that takes more than a split second to understand the layout of, something highlighted in almost every user-interface design video on Youtube.

Would you really stand for a news outlet that can’t even cater to the large, invisible minorities? Would you accept the ‘Truth’ from a site that relies on favouritism to keep afloat, instead of the passion and the love of its writers?

English department, it’s time to step up.

You’re either with us or against us.

Make the right choice. Stand beside Sculgod.

Disclaimer: This is a piece of satire. While we do intend to wage war against the Truth, we mean it at a school appropriate level — there is no genuine hatred between the two news platforms.