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<h1 class="gmail-title" id="gmail-page-title">Politics and the English language: why Singapore is ahead of Hong Kong</h1> </div>
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<div class="gmail-field gmail-field-name-field-subheading gmail-field-type-text-long gmail-field-label-hidden"><div class="gmail-field-items"><div class="gmail-field-item even"><p>Weiyi
Lim says the difference in English standards in Singapore and Hong Kong
comes down to the one major factor dividing them – government policy</p>
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<div class="gmail-node-published" datetime="2016-10-31T17:05:28+08:00">PUBLISHED : Monday, 31 October, 2016, 5:05pm</div><div class="gmail-node-updated"><span class="gmail-node-updated-date gmail-node-updated-date-hl">UPDATED : Monday, 31 October, 2016, 6:31pm</span></div> </div>
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<p><a class="gmail-scmp_button_comment gmail-count-processed gmail-popup-processed" href="http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2041642/politics-and-english-language-why-singapore-ahead-hong-kong#comments" title="Comments" style="display:block">Comments: <span class="gmail-icon gmail-scmp-icon-comment"><span class="gmail-addthis-counter">12</span> </span></a></p>
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<img alt="" title="A Gucci store in Tsim Sha Tsui. A recent census report shows that Putonghua has replaced English as the second-most spoken language by residents after Cantonese. Photo: Reuters" class="gmail-lazyload-processed gmail-loaded" src="http://cdn2.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980x551/public/images/methode/2016/10/31/d925a02a-9f45-11e6-b05c-0413422fb257_1280x720.JPG?itok=bNb96ui_" width="980" height="551">
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<div class="gmail-scmp-v2-author-image gmail-author-image"><a href="http://www.scmp.com/author/weiyi-lim"><img alt="Weiyi Lim" title="Weiyi Lim" class="gmail-lazyload-processed gmail-loaded" src="http://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/70x70/public/default_images/author.png?itok=hDu29UdT" width="70" height="70"></a></div><div class="gmail-scmp-v2-author-name"><a href="http://www.scmp.com/author/weiyi-lim">Weiyi Lim</a></div> </span>
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<p><a class="gmail-scmp_button_comment gmail-count-processed gmail-popup-processed" title="Comments" href="http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2041642/politics-and-english-language-why-singapore-ahead-hong-kong#comments" style="display:block"><span class="gmail-icon gmail-scmp-icon-comment"><span class="gmail-addthis-counter">12</span></span></a></p>
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<p class="gmail-v2-processed">More than 10 years ago, I took part in a
student exchange, coming to the University of Hong Kong. As a
Singaporean, I was amazed by the liberalism on campus, where students
led protests on matters of concern and held memorials for events such as
the June 4 protests.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">While impressed by their political activism, I
had another culture shock in my classes. Used to English as a medium of
instruction, I was surprised when I had to engage in a discussion on
political theory in Cantonese during my tutorials. I was happy to
immerse myself in this environment, as it was a chance for me to pick up
the language. However, this practice definitely didn’t help students
who already lacked confidence in English and needed more exposure to it.</p>
<div class="gmail-blockquote-quote gmail-v2-processed">Hong Kong may well be wise in its policy to pursue Putonghua, given China’s rise</div>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">Despite both being former British colonies and
successful financial centres today, Hong Kong and Singapore took
different paths in setting their language policy. In an <a href="http://media.ef.com/__/%7E/media/centralefcom/epi/downloads/full-reports/v5/ef-epi-2015-english.pdf" shape="rect">English proficiency index in 2015</a>
compiled by EF Education First, a training institution, Hong Kong
ranked 33rd among 70 countries and territories. Singapore was 12th.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">Singapore had a more immediate reason to use
English. Due to the different ethnicities on the island, Singaporeans
had to learn English as the lingua franca to communicate with one
another. In comparison, there was no such need for Hong Kong to do so.
However, Hong Kong was also behind Shanghai, Beijing, South Korea, Japan
and Taiwan in the index. So what happened?</p>
<h4 class="gmail-v2-processed gmail-link"><em><a href="http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2017660/why-hong-kongs-worsening-english-standards-are" shape="rect">Why Hong Kong’s worsening English standards are nothing new</a></em></h4>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">The priority given to English by the government
has played the major role. English was given top priority right from the
start in Singapore. Schools using Chinese as a medium of instruction
were phased out in the 1970s. The country’s political will in ensuring
the standard of English is seen best in its tackling of citizens’ use of
Singlish, or Singapore English, through campaigns such as the <a href="http://goodenglish.org.sg/" shape="rect">Speak Good English movement</a>.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed gmail-image gmail-no-float"><span class="gmail-image-caption-container gmail-image-caption-container-none" style="display:inline-block;width:660px;float:none;clear:none"><img title="In post-handover Hong Kong, Putonghua is seen as more valuable than English. Photo: SCMP Pictures" class="gmail-caption gmail-lazyload-processed gmail-magic-processed gmail-loaded" src="http://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/660x385/public/images/methode/2016/10/31/65f87a72-9f46-11e6-b05c-0413422fb257_660x385.JPG?itok=PgPPB-A0" style="width: 660px; height: 385px;"><span style="display:block" class="gmail-image-caption gmail-hover-processed"></span></span></p>
<h4 class="gmail-v2-processed gmail-link"><em><a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1982327/its-no-more-efficient-cantonese-putonghua-still" shape="rect">It’s no more efficient than Cantonese, but Putonghua still the long-term objective for all Hong Kong schools</a></em></h4>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">By contrast, in post-handover Hong Kong,
Putonghua is seen as more valuable than English. A recent census report
shows that it has replaced English as the second-most-spoken language by
the residents after Cantonese. As Civic Party lawmaker Claudia Mo
Man-ching noted last year, English is seen as a <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1875254/mother-tongue-teaching-policy-blame-hong-kong" shape="rect">“nightmare” for many students</a>.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">For what it’s worth, Hong Kong may well be wise
in its policy to pursue Putonghua, given China’s rise. Singapore is
playing catch-up now as it tries to increase young people’s interest in
the language.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">Still, if Hong Kong wishes to connect with the
world outside Greater China, the government needs to work harder at
getting people to like and use English in their daily life.</p><p class="gmail-v2-processed"><a href="http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2041642/politics-and-english-language-why-singapore-ahead-hong-kong">http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2041642/politics-and-english-language-why-singapore-ahead-hong-kong</a><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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