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<h1 class="gmail-title" id="gmail-page-title">Benefits of knowing three languages speak for themselves</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>Latest
controversy regarding the use of Mandarin against Cantonese arises in
Hong Kong that, together with English, should be striving to be
trilingual</p>
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<div class="gmail-node-published" datetime="2018-05-08T05:27:17+08:00">PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 08 May, 2018, 5:27am</div><div class="gmail-node-updated"><span class="gmail-node-updated-date gmail-node-updated-date-hl">UPDATED : Tuesday, 08 May, 2018, 5:27am</span></div> </div>
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<p class="gmail-v2-processed">Intriguingly, an article on the Education Bureau
website argues that it should be Mandarin instead. The issue in
question is perhaps a topic of interest to language experts.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">But debate of such kind is uncalled for,
especially when Cantonese and Mandarin are unnecessarily placed against
each other in an increasingly politicised context. What matters most is
that our official policy of biliterate – Chinese and English – and
trilingual – English, Mandarin and Cantonese – shall continue.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">The controversy arose when the article, written
by a former official of the central government’s State Language
Commission and uploaded to the bureau’s website along with 24 others
some time ago, was singled out for criticism in an online forum
recently.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung
said the article was meant to provide different views of Mandarin
teaching and did not represent the government’s position. But amid
growing tension between the city and the mainland, conspiracy theories
abound.</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:486px;float:none;clear:none"><img title="Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor speaks during the question and answer section at Legislative Council on May 3. Photo: Sam Tsang" class="gmail-caption gmail-lazyload-processed gmail-magic-processed gmail-loaded" src="https://cdn2.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2018/05/08/677c4c48-51b5-11e8-a252-5c54534dd764_972x_052714.JPG" style="width: 486px; height: 324px;"><span style="display:block" class="gmail-image-caption gmail-hover-processed"></span></span></p><div class="gmail-image-caption-text"></div><div class="gmail-image-caption-overlay"></div><p></p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">This is not the first time that Cantonese has
been seen as belittled by the authorities. The bureau came under fire
four years ago with another article arguing that Cantonese was just a
dialect rather than an official language.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">What intensifies the latest row further is the
response of Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. When asked by a
lawmaker at the Legislative Council what her mother tongue was, Lam said
the question was meaningless and did not answer.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">The city’s leader may not have wanted to be
dragged into a row where the language issue was politicised, but her
reply was seen as different to that of Yeung, who agreed that Cantonese
was Hongkongers’ mother tongue.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed gmail-link"><a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2145039/technical-teething-issues-behind-mtrs-ticket-snafu-hong-kong">Technical ‘teething’ issues behind MTR’s ticket confusion on express rail</a></p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">Even when Lam said there was no plan to change
the language of teaching for now, she was criticised by some as
reluctant to defend Cantonese.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">The controversy owes much to the perception of how “one country, two systems” is implemented in Hong Kong.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">There has been growing unease over the shifting
emphasis from two systems to one country. Any perceived threat to our
system, including our vernacular language, will be guarded against. That
does not mean Mandarin should be kept at bay, though.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">Cantonese is unquestionably what Hong Kong
Chinese grow up with and use in their social life. In the business
sphere, however, English remains essential, with Mandarin becoming
increasingly important too. The three are not necessarily in conflict.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">The Basic Law also recognises both Chinese and
English as official languages. It is in the city’s interest to keep up
with the trilingual policy. Instead of dwelling on the linguistic value
and political connotation of the languages, efforts should be made to
enhance Hong Kong as a trilingual city.</p>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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