MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 1994
:
I'VE ASKED SOME FRIENDS, "WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE CHINESE REQUIREMENT? DO YOU THINK THAT YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR CHILDREN TO HAVE A CHINESE EDUCATION, SO THAT WHEN THEY GROW UP THEY WILL HAVE MORE OPPORTUNITIES JOB-WISE, AND OTHERS?" AND THEY SAY THAT THEY REALLY WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE GOVERNMENT HAVE A SYSTEM SO THAT THEIR CHILDREN, RIGHT FROM KINDERGARTEN, WILL BE ABLE TO LEARN CHINESE, SO THAT WE CAN COMPETE WITH OUR FELLOW CHINESE PEOPLE. AND IN FACT NOT ONLY WILL THIS BE BENEFICIAL FOR THE MINORITIES, BUT ALSO BENEFICIAL FOR HONG KONG AS A WHOLE, AS THE WHOLE SOCIETY CAN SORT OF INTEGRATE, INSTEAD OF HAVING, THESE DAYS, SOMETIMES THERE ARE MINORITIES AND CHINESE LIVING APART IN THEIR OWN SEPARATE WORLDS. COULD YOU PLEASE GIVE ME SOME COMMENTS ON THIS ISSUE?
YOU
GOVERNOR:
I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT ΤΟ HONG KONG'S FUTURE PROSPERITY AND COMMERCIAL SUCCESS, AS WELL AS IMPORTANT TO HONG KONG'S HARMONY, THAT WE PROVE THAT WE ARE NOT JUST A BILINGUAL BUT A TRILINGUAL COMMUNITY. I THINK EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT THAT IS IMPORTANT IN BUSINESS AND IT IS IMPORTANT IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AS WELL. IT RAISES A NUMBER OF ISSUES, NOT JUST, IF I MAY SAY SO, FOR THOSE DESCRIBED AS THE MINORITIES - BECAUSE IN GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES ALL MINORITIES AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT, PARTICULARLY IN AN OPEN COMMUNITY LIKE HONG KONG, NOT TO THINK OF MINORITIES BUT TO THINK US ALL AS PART OF THE RICH TAPESTRY OF LIFE HERE IN HONG KONG. THERE ARE PARTICULAR ISSUES AFFECTING THOSE WHO YOU DESCRIBE AS MINORITIES, IN WHOM I'D BETTER INCLUDE MYSELF, I GUESS, AND PERHAPS CAN COME TO THOSE IN A MOMENT.
WE
ARE
OF
BUT
THE
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BUT IF WE ARE GOING TO BE SERIOUS ABOUT LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN HONG KONG, WE HAVE TO TACKLE THE SUBJECT AT A NUMBER OF LEVELS. FIRST OF ALL, OF COURSE, AT SCHOOL. AND ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT OUR EDUCATORS FACE AT THE MOMENT, IS WHETHER THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION, AS IT IS CALLED IN THE JARGON, IN OUR SCHOOLS, SHOULD BE ENGLISH OR CANTONESE. NOW, MANY EDUCATORS THINK THAT YOU'RE MORE LIKELY ΤΟ LEARN GOOD CANTONESE AND PUTONGHUA, AND GOOD ENGLISH, IF YOU'RE TAUGHT IN, AS IT WERE, YOUR MOTHER TONGUE, BUT YOU HAVE VERY GOOD SPECIFIC LANGUAGE TEACHING ON TOP OF THAT.
IT'S AN ISSUE ABOUT WHICH MANY PARENTS FEEL VERY STRONGLY, BECAUSE AT THE MOMENT A LOT OF PARENTS THINK THAT IT WOULD BE BETTER IF THEIR CHILDREN WENT TO SCHOOLS WHERE TEACHING WAS IN ENGLISH RATHER THAN CANTONESE, AND WE HAVE TO PERSUADE THEM THAT THE WORST OF ALL, IS TO GO TO SCHOOLS WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE TAUGHT IN CHINGLISH
IN NEITHER ENGLISH NOR CHINESE, CANTONESE OR PUTONGHUA,
TO TALK TO TEACHING.
PARENTS ABOUT THE BEST MEDIUM OF
SO WE'VE GOT INSTRUCTION FOR LANGUAGE
I THINK THAT WE'VE ALSO GOT TO USE THE LANGUAGE FUND, WHICH I ANNOUNCED LAST YEAR WHICH IS WORTH $300 MILLION, AS IMAGINATIVELY AS POSSIBLE TO IMPROVE AND ENHANCE LANGUAGE TEACHING IN BOTH PUTONGHUA AND IN ENGLISH. AND THERE ARE A NUMBER OF PROJECTS COMING FORWARD то THE COMMITTEE WHICH IS ALLOCATING THE FUNDS AT THE MOMENT, A NUMBER OF VERY GOOD PROJECTS COMING FORWARD TO ACTUALLY DEVELOP OUR LANGUAGE TEACHING.
WE ALSO HAVE TO SPEND A LOT MORE IN THE CIVIL SERVICE ON IMPROVING LANGUAGE SKILLS, PARTICULARLY FOR MOST OF OUR CIVIL SERVANTS LEARNING PUTONGHUA.
/BUT I