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Wednesday, January 30, 1974
OFFICIAL STATUS FOR ENGLISH AND CHINESE
Language No Longer A Pretext For Difficulty In Communication
The Secretary for Home Affairs, the Hon. Denis Bray, today
described the Official Languages Bill which gives equal official status
to both English and Chinese as "a meaningful statement of purpose."
It demonstrates the government's earnest intention that language
itself be no longer used as a pretext for any difficulty of communication
between government and the people, he said.
Moving the second reading of the bill, Mr. Bray, pointed out that
it was offered to the people of Hong Kong as an act of good faith. "AS
such, some may regard it as unnecessary,
Those who trust us do not need it."
He explained that caution in implementing the recommendation of the
Chinese Language Committee to make Chinese official was not due to unwillingness
to acknowledge or adopt the free use of either English or Chinese in official
dealings.
"We thought that the governement should not commit itself to amending
the law so as to make Chinese an official language, until an adequate supply
of trained interpreters and translators was, or would shortly be, available."
He noted that the total establishment of interpreter/translators by
last December was 281, or nearly double the number in July 1971 when the final
report of the Chinese Language Committee was published.
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