OUR
REF:
YOUR REF:
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HKFS
hong kong federation of students
香港專上學生聯會
23c waterloo road, kowloon hong kong 九龍窩打老道二十三號C tel. k-888137, 840048, 840049
telegram "HKFSTUDENT"
POSITION PAPER OF THE HONG KONG FEDERATION OF STUDENTS ON THE MATTER OF LEGISLATIVE DECLARATION OF CHINESE AS AN OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF HONG KONG
SECTION A : AIM AND SCOPE
1. From time to time over the years, there has been demands from all sectors
of the community to recognise Chinese as an Official Language. Under strong public pressure, the Hong Kong Government appointed a Chinese Language Committee to examine the use of the Chinese language in official business. After eight months of study, the said Committee recommends, in its 4th (and Final) Report issued in July 1971, "that Government should consider promulgating a firm policy, in a suitable manner, that Chinese and "nglish are
(Fat Ting U Man), that is to say, Official Languages". (Para, 27) We, members of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, endorse this proposal, and congratulate the Committee for arriving at this conclusion which is most desirable for the progress and prosperity of Hong Kong.
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2. However, we note that the Committee has failed to recommend to Government
how Chinese and English should be declared official languages. Further- more, it is our concern that the implementation of this policy should not prove less enlightened than the recommendation itself, and, it is our opinion that in giving Chinese an official status, it would be meaningless if the status and usage is not guaranteed. Accordingly, we RECOMMEND that both the Chinese and English languages be made official through formal legislation by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, and be incorporated into the laws of Hong Kong for reasons found in Section B.
3. The following is an attempt of the Legal Sub-committee of the Chinese
Language Study Committee of the Hong Kong Federation of Students which is composed of current law students of the University of Hong Kong to put this policy in to Ordinance form, hoping only that it may serve an example for more concrete discussion. While our experience is limited, our ideas have not in the past been considered to be without use. (Para. 6 of the 3rd Report of the Chinese Language Committee reads: "We particularly want to mention the Report of the Legal Sub-committee of the Chinese Language Committee to the 13th Representative Council of the llong Kong Federation of Students. It is obvious that they have done a lot of research and have thought deeply and objectively on the subject. This is much appreciated by us. In arriving at our conclusions, we have derived considerable assistance from this report.")