B. C. M. P
28 JUL 1971
A
Sir Kenneth... a sigh of relief.
balance needed
Language issue: balance
There should be a balanced approach towards the teaching of Chinese and English in local secondary ti schools, the Chairman of the Chinese Language
Committee said yesterday.
~Sir Kenneth Ping-fan Fung said this could help spread pi-lingualism in the Colony.
Speaking at a press conference, Sir Kenneth observed that teaching of both languages was not put on an equal footing:"In some schools too much emphasis is placed on English, while it is the reverse with other school.”
He pointed out that the Committee's fourth — and final - report had recommended the setting up of a "central body" for the recruitment and training of interpreters and translators.
There should be co-ordination for translation services in Government, he noted.
Sir Kenneth was non-committal on the issue of making Chinese an official language in the Colony.
He preferred to keep his personal views on the issue till Government published the Committee's final report.
This, he explained, was because the Committee had made recommendations on the issue in this report, which he declined to divulge.
However, he added: “If all our recommendations could be implemented then there will be equality.in status and usage for Chinese and English.”
to
Sir Kenneth felt the majority of the problems relating the implementation of the recommendations could be overcome. "This is a matter of time and money. I'm optimistic even of the problems concerning the use of Chinese in the courts of law," he added.
He was glad that the Committee's task had been
fulfilled, adding that it was the "most challenging job I've done for the community."
Sir Kenneth went on: "Noting it is a issue of great significance to the community, members of the Committee had tried to discharge their duties to the best of their abilities.
"During the past nine months, we had 47 official meetings, apart from numerous unofficial ones. Sometimes we met twice a week, with each meeting lasting as long as more than three hours. "I think I now can breathe a sigh of relief."
Sir Kenneth had been most impressed by representations over the language issue presented to him by students.
"The student representatives, I think, had done a lct of research into the issue, especially concerning the use of Chinese in the courts.
"Their views are valid and the suggestions and materials they presented had substances," he added.