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<h1 class="gmail-title" id="gmail-page-title">Mother-tongue language policy: how Hong Kong failed where Singapore succeeded</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>Regina
Ip says the effectiveness of Singapore’s bilingual education should be
credited to Lee Kuan Yew’s foresight and sound policies, which Hong
Kong – now caught in a row over the status of Cantonese language –
sorely needs</p>
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<div class="gmail-node-published" datetime="2018-05-19T09:15:50+08:00">PUBLISHED : Saturday, 19 May, 2018, 9:15am</div><div class="gmail-node-updated"><span class="gmail-node-updated-date gmail-node-updated-date-hl">UPDATED : Saturday, 19 May, 2018, 7:39pm</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/2146704/mother-tongue-language-policy-how-hong-kong-failed-where#comments" title="Comments" style="display:block">Comments: <span class="gmail-icon gmail-scmp-icon-comment"><span class="gmail-addthis-counter">38</span> </span></a></p>
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<img alt="" title="Students read at a pop-up library run by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, in April. Hong Kong parents want their children to be proficient in both English and Chinese, but in the public school system, it is hard to find teachers, let alone students, who are truly proficient in both official languages and in speaking Mandarin. Photo: Jonathan Wong" class="gmail-lazyload-processed gmail-loaded" src="https://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/980x551/public/images/methode/2018/05/18/e08842ec-5a50-11e8-a7d9-186ba932a081_1280x720_132810.JPG?itok=ITxzWavM" width="980" height="551"> <div class="gmail-swiper-slide-overlay"></div>
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<div class="gmail-scmp-v2-author-image gmail-author-image"><a href="http://www.scmp.com/author/regina-ip"><img alt="Regina Ip" title="Regina Ip" class="gmail-lazyload-processed gmail-loaded" src="https://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/70x70/public/regina_ip.jpg?itok=IqnwfSpL" width="70" height="70"></a></div><div class="gmail-scmp-v2-author-name"><a href="http://www.scmp.com/author/regina-ip">Regina Ip</a></div></span></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-panel-separator"></div><div class="gmail-panel-pane gmail-pane-panels-mini gmail-pane-share-widgets-article gmail-pos-1">
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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/2146704/mother-tongue-language-policy-how-hong-kong-failed-where#comments" style="display:block"><span class="gmail-icon gmail-scmp-icon-comment"><span class="gmail-addthis-counter">38</span></span></a></p>
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<p class="gmail-v2-processed">An article written by a Chinese University
consultant, Song Xinqiao, on the implementation of Mandarin education in
Hong Kong and uploaded onto the website of the Education Bureau <a href="http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2146238/any-attack-cantonese-language-will-only-strengthen-hong-kong" shape="rect" target="_self">reignited a firestorm</a> on the status of Cantonese as the mother tongue of Cantonese people in Hong Kong. <span class="gmail-c1 gmail-text-only">In
his article, Professor Song argued that “mother tongue” should be
defined as the language of the Han (Chinese) race. By that token, the
mother tongue of the Chinese people, including Cantonese in Hong Kong,
should be Hanyu, taught in modern China as Mandarin, but also known as
Putonghua in Hong Kong. </span></p><div class="gmail-scmp-inline-newsletter-subscription" style="height:83px"><form class="gmail-scmp-newsletter-subscription-form element-processed-processed gmail-newsletter-322279 gmail-ajax-form-processed" action="https://www.scmp.com/api/rest/public/v2/newsletter/subscribe.json" method="POST" id="gmail-scmp-newsletter-subscription-form-322279">
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<p class="gmail-v2-processed">Song’s thesis is premised on his vision of a
hierarchy of languages in China, with Mandarin, the lingua franca, at
the pinnacle, and superior to all dialects. </p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">Song’s view runs counter to to linguists’
definition of “language”. Under their definition, Cantonese would be
regarded as a separate language because it is not mutually intelligible
with Mandarin or other dialects of China. However, while technically
justifiable, such a view would no doubt be deemed unacceptable by those
cagey about the <a href="http://www.scmp.com/topics/hong-kong-localism-and-independence" shape="rect" target="_self">advocacy of Hong Kong as a separate political entity</a>. </p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed gmail-link"><a href="https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2144817/mandarin-may-be-king-it-cant-sideline-cantonese-hong-kong" shape="rect">Mandarin may be king, but it can’t sideline Cantonese in Hong Kong</a></p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">As had happened with the aborted effort in
Guangzhou some years ago by then Guangdong party secretary Wang Yang to
launch a Mandarin promotion campaign, Professor Song’s nationalist model
reopened old wounds about the rising dominance of Mandarin in Hong
Kong. At the root of the resentment lies deep-seated fears about the
displacement of Cantonese – both the language and the people – by the
mighty mainland. </p>
<div class="gmail-methode-html-wrapper gmail-v2-processed gmail-no-float">
</div>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">Both Chief Executive <a href="http://www.scmp.com/topics/carrie-lam" shape="rect" target="_self">Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor</a> and Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung tried to <a href="http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2144578/should-mandarin-replace-cantonese-hong-kong-says-no" shape="rect" target="_self">shrug off questions</a>
on their mother tongue. But issues relating to the status of Cantonese
are likely to rear their ugly head any time debates on languages
surface. </p><div class="gmail-connatix" style=""><div id="gmail-cnx-adUnit-overlay" style="background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0);width:100%;height:100%"></div>
<a href="http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2146704/link">
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<p class="gmail-v2-processed gmail-link"><a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/2130419/how-compulsory-mandarin-course-caused-chaos-hong-kong" shape="rect">How a Mandarin course caused chaos at Baptist University</a></p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">The sensitivity surrounding language debates is
not hard to understand, as language is closely related to race, culture
and identity, and impinges on politics as well as education. In handling
these issues, Hong Kong should have taken a leaf from the policy
decisions of <a href="http://www.scmp.com/topics/singapore" shape="rect" target="_self">Singapore</a>. </p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">Being a multicultural and multilingual society,
Singapore has long had to grapple with similar issues, ranging from the
technical issue of language acquisition, to the ultra-sensitive
political issue of deciding which of the many languages and dialects in
Singapore should be “first among equals”, without upsetting the social
and ethnic groups closely identified with their different mother
tongues. </p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed gmail-link"><a href="https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2145075/benefits-knowing-three-languages-speak-themselves" shape="rect">Benefits of knowing three languages speak for themselves</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="The memoirs of the late Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding father, show that he had thought hard about the issues of language and culture, and provided solutions which were politically viable and practically sensible for a developing Singapore. Photo: AFP / The Straits Times" class="gmail-caption gmail-lazyload-processed gmail-magic-processed gmail-loaded" src="https://cdn4.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2018/05/18/c5628264-5a4d-11e8-a7d9-186ba932a081_1320x770_132810.JPG" style="width: 660px; height: 385px;"><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">The memoirs of the late <a href="http://www.scmp.com/topics/lee-kuan-yew" shape="rect" target="_self">Lee Kuan Yew</a>,
Singapore’s founding father, show that he had thought hard about these
issues, and provided solutions which were politically viable and
practically sensible. For Lee, whose mother tongue was English by virtue
of the English-language education he received growing up, he found
English to be his “stepmother tongue” rather than “mother tongue – “not
completely accepting the values of a culture not our own”. </p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">Deciding that English is the international
language of business and commerce, which would connect Singapore to the
US, Europe and the English-speaking world after Singapore became
independent, Lee decided to adopt a policy of “one language, many
tongues”. He designated English as the official or working language, and
Malay, Tamil and Chinese as the “mother-tongue languages” of the Malay,
Indian and Chinese people of Singapore, leaving the Chinese people to
adopt the dialect of their own province or locality as their mother
tongue. </p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed gmail-link"><a href="https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2041642/politics-and-english-language-why-singapore-ahead-hong-kong" shape="rect">Politics and the English language: why Singapore is ahead of Hong Kong</a></p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">From 1978 onwards, sensing that the US and China
would be the dominant powers in the next 50 to 100 years, Lee launched a
campaign to promote Mandarin. The campaign was not without controversy,
but it was pushed with such efficiency that the percentage of the
population fluent in Mandarin rose from 26 per cent in 1980 to over 60
per cent in 1990, and continued to increase.</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="People walk through a shopping mall in Singapore, which launched a campaign to promote Mandarin in the late 1970s. Though controversial, the campaign helped lift the percentage of the population fluent in Mandarin from 26 per cent in 1980 to over 60 per cent in 1990. Photo: EPA-EFE" class="gmail-caption gmail-lazyload-processed gmail-magic-processed gmail-loaded" src="https://cdn1.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/images/methode/2018/05/18/33e87784-5a4e-11e8-a7d9-186ba932a081_1320x770_132810.jpg" style="width: 660px; height: 385px;"><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">Hong Kong faced situations similar to
Singapore’s in many respects – the need for children to acquire
proficiency in both English and Chinese, but with mixed results. In the
public school system, it is hard to find teachers, let alone students,
who are truly proficient in both official languages and in speaking
Mandarin.</p>
<div class="gmail-blockquote-quote gmail-v2-processed">Large numbers of Hong Kong students trail their Singaporean counterparts in their mastery of English and Mandarin</div>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">Affluent parents vote with their feet and send
their children to international schools to equip their children with
better English. Parents pay a premium for international schools that
offer rigorous courses in Chinese language and culture, taught in
Mandarin. </p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">Even more troubling was the launch of Hong
Kong’s misguided “mother tongue” policy in 1998, which restricted the
adoption of English as the medium of instruction to 100-odd schools
whose teachers and students were deemed capable of teaching and learning
in English. This led to a significant decline in the English standard
in schools that taught in Chinese. </p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">A mounting outcry from parents led the
government to “fine-tune” (in effect abandon) this policy in 2008. The
irony is that it was the policy’s failure to help children acquire
proficiency in languages deemed vital to their future – English and
Mandarin – that resulted in a backlash and the ultimate demise of the
mother-tongue policy. </p>
<div class="gmail-methode-html-wrapper gmail-v2-processed gmail-no-float">
</div>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed gmail-link"><a href="https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/2117719/how-hongkongers-benefit-speaking-many-languages-and-we-dispel-few" shape="rect">Lifelong benefits of speaking many languages – and the myths</a></p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">If the success of Singapore’s language policy is
to be adopted as a measure of our own efforts, Hong Kong should be
regarded as having failed on both the technical and political fronts. In
terms of educational attainment, large numbers of Hong Kong students
trail their Singaporean counterparts in their mastery of English and
Mandarin, the languages on which we increasingly rely for a living.
Politically, our government does not seem able so far to wrap its head
round all the contentious language and identity issues that continue to
simmer in Hong Kong. </p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed">The existence of many tongues should not be an
impediment to a unified vision of our future and destiny but, in Hong
Kong, a lack of foresight and policy mistakes mean that language debates
will continue to engender discord.</p>
<p class="gmail-v2-processed"><strong>Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee is a lawmaker and chairwoman of the New People’s Party</strong></p>
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<div class="gmail-print-head-label">This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: <span class="gmail-print-head-title">Lee’s mother tongue wisdom</span></div> </div>
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<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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