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<h1>What the case of Hong Kong’s star policeman says about city’s language policy</h1>
<p class="gmail-article-header__subhead">Ifzal Zaffar
recently climbed a crane and, speaking in Urdu, persuaded a fellow
Pakistani not to commit suicide. He’s proficient in Cantonese with help
from a government scheme, but a fuller embrace of multilingualism is
still needed</p>
<p class="gmail-article-header__author">By <a href="http://www.scmp.com/author/lisa-lim" title="Lisa Lim">Lisa Lim</a></p>
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31 Mar 2017
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</div><p class="gmail-c1" id="gmail-U101175548439NI">Constable Ifzal Zaffar, a
Hong Kong policeman of Pakistani descent, became an overnight star
after he talked a fellow Pakistani out of committing suicide in
February. The fact he used their mother tongue, Urdu, to communicate was
noted in media reports, which also highlighted his Cantonese
proficiency and lauded Project Gemstone.</p>
<p class="gmail-c1" id="gmail-U101175548439h8">The latter is a scheme
introduced in 2013 to provide Cantonese-language training to
non-ethnic-Chinese young people interested in joining the police force
or entering government service.</p>
<p class="gmail-c1" id="gmail-U101175548439hhF">Also highlighted was a
2014 collaboration between the police and the Centre for Harmony and
Enhancement of Ethnic Minority Residents, which provides interpretation
services through teleconferencing – available in Hindi, Nepali, Tagalog,
Thai, Punjabi, Urdu and Bahasa Indonesia – to support people from
ethnic minorities at police reporting centres.</p>
<h6><a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2079933/hero-hong-kong-police-officer-who-made-headlines" shape="rect" class="gmail-color7">Hero Hong Kong police officer who made headlines worldwide: ‘I was just doing my duty’</a></h6>
<p class="gmail-c1" id="gmail-U101175548439biG">Such initiatives signal a
shift in policy: from one that sees language as a problem – with
multilingualism viewed as potentially leading to conflict and lack of
social cohesion, and minority languages associated with poverty and
disadvantage – to one that sees language as a right that allows for
full participation in society. A third orientation, of language as a
resource, recognises multilingualism as increasing society’s stock of
skills, enhancing the status of groups viewed as subordinate, promoting
local economies and cultures, and encouraging mutual respect rather than
dominance. It also recognises minority groups as sources of expertise –
as with our Urdu-speaking officer.</p>
<p class="gmail-c1" id="gmail-U1011755484390SE">But shouldn’t regard for
diversity cut both ways, with proficiency in more than just Hong Kong’s
dominant languages being acquired by many?</p>
<h6><a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1406231/chinese-second-language-be-taught-ethnic-minority-pupils" shape="rect" class="gmail-color7">Chinese as a second language to be taught to ethnic minority pupils</a></h6>
<p class="gmail-c1" id="gmail-U101175548439i4">Take London, where almost
300 lanrguages are spoken. In 2013, the Metropolitan Police Service
offered its 31,000 officers the chance to learn one of 18 languages
ranging from French to Farsi, to improve communication with the city’s
growing ranks of ethnic communities. The Met’s 2015 recruitment drive
required candidates to be proficient in a second language – one of 14,
including Arabic, Bengali, Greek, Hebrew, Polish, Sinhala, Turkish, and
Yoruba – recognising the skill as an asset for more effectively engaging
with people in the community. Officers of the New York Police
Department speak 75 languages between them.</p>
<h6><a href="http://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2007415/policies-needed-which-give-ethnic-minorities-level-playing-field" shape="rect" class="gmail-color7">Policies needed which give ethnic minorities level playing field</a></h6>
<p class="gmail-c1" id="gmail-U10117554843960C">Occupation aside, ethnic
and linguistic diversity – including the learning of minority languages
by the majority community – have been shown to be valuable economic and
social resources, contributing to societal well-being and
nation-building.</p>
<p class="gmail-c1" id="gmail-U101175548439WpC">Perhaps one day we will be lauding someone ethnically Chinese for their proficiency in a minority language.</p><p class="gmail-c1"><a href="http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2083468/what-case-hong-kongs-hero-policeman-says-about">http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2083468/what-case-hong-kongs-hero-policeman-says-about</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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