JDENTS
A group of student representauves yester- day exchanged views with officials of the Secretary for Home Affairs on the question of making Chinese an official language with ' equal status to English.
The 24-hour meeting held in the conference room of the Secretariat for Home Affairs was described as "cordial" by the head of the student representatives, Mr James Chui.
Heading the official group was the Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr J. Sweetman.
Later Mr Sweetman said they went through four reports submitted by the Government Chinese Language Committee and pointed out to the students those matters
on which
a
Government had already introduced "considerable degree" of bilingualism both oral and written.
"We also discussed the problems involved, especially using Chinese in law courts, and finally the crucial question of Chinese as an official language," Mr Sweetman said.
The students presented a draft legislation which Mr Sweetman said the officials would study,
Wit
ALKS
the paper would be incorporated
d the Secretary's comments on the fourth report made by the Committee to be submitted to the Colonial Secretary.
Mr Chui said they recommended that both Chinese and English be made official languages through formal legislation by the Legislative Council and be incorporated into the laws of Hongkong.
"A mere policy statement in contrast to a legislative declaration, no matter in what form, does not safeguard the official status and usage of a language," he said. -
Mr Chui said the papers which they sub- mitted at the meeting were drawn up by the Legal Sub-Committee of the Chinese Langu- age Study Committee of the Hongkong Federation of Students, which is composed of law students of the University of Hongkong.
He said the committee had consulted the official legislation in Canada, Switzerland and India, all of which had more than one official language, before compiling the paper.
S. C. M. P
i
Students step up the pressure on language
Student language campaigners are getting so impatient with the Government on the language issue that they have decided to draft their own legislation making Chinese an official language in Hongkong.
11 SEP 1971
Four student representatives yesterday handed a copy of the draft legislation to Secretariat for Home Affairs officials "for Government's reference".
They said the move was to tell the Government how desperately they wanted Chinese to, be made an official, language by iaw.
The draft legislation was prepared by several llongkong University final-year law students m
It seeks to declare both Chinese and English as official languages in Hongkong and give them equal; use
and
status
↓
Draft
STANDARD
A
Mr James Chui, language action committee of the. Hongkong Federation of Students, said the draft legislation embodies all the recommendations made by the Government-appointed language committec,
He said he and three other representatives had a long meeting with Secretariat for Home Affairs officials on the language issue yesterday.
"We were told that each government department is prenating a report on the Government-appointed language committee proposals, and the Secretariat for Home Affairs will inchide our draft legislation in its report to be submitted In the Colonial Bergetarlat," he wild,
Mr C'hui sand they wanted the Government to make a law to, guarantee the usage of Chinese Language by
civil
servants.
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