By Jim Korea
2007 will most likely be remembered in the ESL world as the year Christopher Paul Neil was arrested. Neal will be remembered not only as being a terrible pedophile, but also as the individual responsible for governments across the Asia Pacific region changing and tightening their restrictions in regards to foreigners and working visas.
Neil, an English teacher who taught for the past few years in South Korea, instigated a huge Interpol manhunt this year under charges of pedophilia. Numerous disturbing photos of Neal with young children from Vietnam and Cambodia surfaced on the Internet more than 4 years ago, but Neal’s face had been purposefully distorted in all the photographs. It wasn’t until this year when German police reconstructed one of the images using modern software that Neal’s face was finally identified and arrested in Thailand on October 19, 2007.
Since the arrest of Neil, officials from around the world have been tightening their laws. Korea, the country in which Neil last taught, has decided to stiffen laws for all teachers. Visas now require (A slight delay to March 15th 2008) a police check, a criminal check and verification of degrees by the teacher’s university. In the near future, teachers may also have to undergo interviews with the nearest Korean Embassy. Thailand Police have posted 50 other photos of Western pedophilia suspects and they have cracked down on over 1000 teachers, verifying their documents and making sure they are abiding by the rules of their visas. In November, Japan began fingerprinting all foreigners entering the country. Japanese immigration officials claim that it is not a direct result of the Christopher Neil incident, but the timing of the law change makes many visitors question the motive behind it. China has always had strict laws regarding foreign English teachers, but they have certainly raised their awareness this year of the international community of teachers and earlier this year charged an ESL teacher under similar charges as those of Neil. Taiwan, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and even Mexico have been hard hit by the news of Neal’s actions and subsequent arrest.
Many ESL teachers feel angry about the shame Neil has brought on the international ESL teaching community and in some situations teachers find the finger pointing to them. Discrimination for some is at an all time high.
2007 will most likely be remembered in the ESL world as the year Christopher Paul Neil was arrested. Neal will be remembered not only as being a terrible pedophile, but also as the individual responsible for governments across the Asia Pacific region changing and tightening their restrictions in regards to foreigners and working visas.Neil, an English teacher who taught for the past few years in South Korea, instigated a huge Interpol manhunt this year under charges of pedophilia. Numerous disturbing photos of Neal with young children from Vietnam and Cambodia surfaced on the Internet more than 4 years ago, but Neal’s face had been purposefully distorted in all the photographs. It wasn’t until this year when German police reconstructed one of the images using modern software that Neal’s face was finally identified and arrested in Thailand on October 19, 2007.
Since the arrest of Neil, officials from around the world have been tightening their laws. Korea, the country in which Neil last taught, has decided to stiffen laws for all teachers. Visas now require (A slight delay to March 15th 2008) a police check, a criminal check and verification of degrees by the teacher’s university. In the near future, teachers may also have to undergo interviews with the nearest Korean Embassy. Thailand Police have posted 50 other photos of Western pedophilia suspects and they have cracked down on over 1000 teachers, verifying their documents and making sure they are abiding by the rules of their visas. In November, Japan began fingerprinting all foreigners entering the country. Japanese immigration officials claim that it is not a direct result of the Christopher Neil incident, but the timing of the law change makes many visitors question the motive behind it. China has always had strict laws regarding foreign English teachers, but they have certainly raised their awareness this year of the international community of teachers and earlier this year charged an ESL teacher under similar charges as those of Neil. Taiwan, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and even Mexico have been hard hit by the news of Neal’s actions and subsequent arrest.
Many ESL teachers feel angry about the shame Neil has brought on the international ESL teaching community and in some situations teachers find the finger pointing to them. Discrimination for some is at an all time high.
Currently Neil is facing numerous charges that can land him over 20 years in Thai prison. Thai police are conducting further forensic testing and Neal’s court date has been extended: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g8qdIstGdTbpAUxvxeDJETLe7-Xw Little else is known about the infamous Canadian who proved in 2007 that “One man can make a difference.”
6 comments:
I think it is about time for the Asian governments to realize that they need to tighten their requirements when hiring ESL teachers. I lived in Korea for three years, and I was appalled at the low caliber of people that were allowed to teach there. Many Koreans hate ESL teachers because of the way they shirk their traditions and simply do what they want. Many foreigners make Korea and other Asian countries into their personal playgrounds, and, if tightening of the rules will prevent this, I'm glad for it.
Sure many of the laws are a long time coming; however, the abrupt change is a problem. First of all, I think a one month change period is too short, even with the 3 month extension is too short. The embassies are not read, teachers don’t know the processes, schools are at a loss etc. Also, I don’t like the idea of putting the blame or using Christopher Neil as the catalyst. After all he would not even have fallen into the new regulations; he had an E7 visa I believe and a Master’s degree.
Neil's behavior is one more symptom of the general breakdown of Judeo-Christian morality in the West. When youth are indoctrinated in the moral relativism of the mass media, secular humanism, materialism, etc., then human beings become mere objects to be used and abused for one's selfish pleasure, no matter whom one destroys. This is the exact opposite of Christ's command to love God & to love one's neighbor as one's self--but such commands are now distained in the public schools, the media, etc. We have sown to the wind and an even worse whirlwind of sexual perverts is coming down the pike.
Puhleez. Whatever values "Society" may teach, the responsibility and the consequences for the choices he made resides squarely with Neal. No one MADE him commit those heinous acts. If we subscribe to Ruth's perspective, we're all eventually going to do something hideous. Hardly.
It is, unfortunately, way past time to check the credentials, experience, and backgrounds of teachers working in foreign countries. If doing so gets rid of the partyers, the tourists, the pedophiles and the incompetents, then this is not a bad thing. Unfortunately, Neal's actions will reflect badly on teachers generally, and Canadians in particular ...and that really sucks.
There is no connection to the Japanese fingerprinting at immigration, they had been in the pipeline long before and Japanese bureaucracy is unlikely to think anything in SouthEast Asia affects them.
The timing of the Japanese fingerprinting just makes me wonder. The article states that
“Japanese immigration officials claim that it is not a direct result of the Christopher Neil incident, but the timing of the law change makes many visitors question the motive behind it.”
And now Thailand is thinking of instituting a fingerprinting system in the near future. Perhaps there was no solid connection between Christopher and the fingerprinting, but I am sure he did not help the situation.
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