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Wednesday, February 15, 1974
Mr. Cheong-Leen also asked for consideration to be given to
giving Mandarin equal status with Cantonese, in due course, as Mandarin
is the national dialect of the Chinese people.
As both English and Chinese were now official languages, he said,
the question now would centre on whether the Chinese language is being
effectively used as a medium of communication in the government's relations
with the Chinese speaking members of the community.
"In the years to come it will be even more fully realised than it
is today that the Official Languages Bill will have done much to reaffirm
the cultural dignity and pride of the Chinese residents of Hong Kong," he
said.
Commenting on the bill, the Senior Unofficial Member, the Hon.
Woo Pak-chuen, asked for an assurance that in the courts the parties and
witnesses would be permitted to speak in Cantonese or any other Chineso
dialect they wished to.
He welcomed the bill in that it demonstrated the government's
earnest intention that the language problem shall no longer of itself
present any difficulty in communication between the government and the
people.
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