EDUCATION AS A BY-PRODUCT OF FISH MARKETING
127
get.
The Hoklo children in the north-east of the New Territories most definitely do have a dialect of their own, mutually unintelligible with Cantonese; yet they are placed in no special category in the schools, nor is their language used. Indeed, I was met with astonishment when I enquired about it, as if such a thing were unthinkable. When I asked at one school whether any of the teachers spoke Hoklo, one teacher was pointed out as "perhaps" speaking it; she, amid giggles, simply concentrated on her marking without saying yes or no. It was not, it was explained to me, that children were punished for speaking Hoklo at school, or anything like that; rather that they realised that speaking Cantonese, writing Chinese, and learning English were the things useful for later life that they could gain from school.
The former "Tanka" ethnic image was a reflection of the boat-dwellers' pariah occupational status. Since China is no longer an inward-looking power fearful of the corruption that people from the sea might bring, (and the rulers of Hong Kong never were), and since fishing (and in China, river and canal transport) are now seen as vital and honourable sectors of a modern economy, there is no longer any rationale for this pariah status, even though traditional social discrimination may continue among some ordinary people.
Economic organisation and social division
A major part of the strategy pursued by the F.M.O. to improve the economic efficiency and raise the social standing of the fisherfolk is the encouragement of voluntary associations among them. There are fourteen F.M.O. liaison officers, stationed at markets and depots, whose job is primarily community and social work, with a dash of public relations thrown in, making sure the press and TV are aware of any gallant acts of life-saving or other public service carried out by fishermen. One or two of the liaison officers are themselves of Shui-sheung-yan origin.
Around seventy co-operative societies are sponsored by the F.M.O., each with at least ten members, run on a one-man-one-vote basis, according to the Hong Kong Co-operative Societies Ordinance. The majority are credit societies (which, of course, can draw on long traditions of mutual financial aid) to enable the purchase of mechanised boats and fishing equipment. A few, the "better-living societies", enable fishermen to build and own houses as home bases. These co-operatives
EDUCATION AS A BY-PRODUCT OF FISH MARKETING
127
get.
The Hoklo children in the north-east of the New Territories most definitely do have a dialect of their own, mutually unintelligible with Cantonese; yet they are placed in no special category in the schools, nor is their language used. Indeed, I was met with astonishment when I enquired about it, as if such a thing were unthinkable. When I asked at one school whether any of the teachers spoke Hoklo, one teacher was pointed out as "perhaps" speaking it; she, amid giggles, simply con- centrated on her marking without saying yes or no. It was not, it was explained to me, that children were punished for speaking Hoklo at school, or anything like that; rather that they realised that speaking Cantonese, writing Chinese, and learning English were the things useful for later life that they could gain from school.
The former "Tanka" ethnic image was a reflection of the boat- dwellers' pariah occupational status. Since China is no longer an inward- looking power fearful of the corruption that people from the sea might bring, (and the rulers of Hong Kong never were), and since fishing (and in China, river and canal transport) are now seen as vital and honourable sectors of a modern economy, there is no longer any rationale for this pariah status, even though traditional social discrimination may continue among some ordinary people.
Economic organisation and social division
A major part of the strategy pursued by the F.M.O. to improve the economic efficiency and raise the social standing of the fisherfolk is the encouragement of voluntary associations among them. There are fourteen F.M.O. liaison officers, stationed at markets and depots, whose job is primarily community and social work, with a dash of public relations thrown in, making sure the press and TV and aware of any gallant acts of life-saving or other public service carried out by fisher- men. One or two of the liaison officers are themselves of Shui-sheung- yan origin.
Around seventy co-operative societies are sponsored by the F.M.O., each with at least ten members, run on a one-man-one-vote basis, according to the Hong Kong Co-operative Societies Ordinance. The majority are credit societies (which, of course, can draw on long tradit- ions of mutual financial aid) to enable the purchase of mechanised boats and fishing equipment. A few, the "better-living societies", enable fishermen to build and own houses as home bases. These co-operatives
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