Language and a Hong Konger Identity

by Phoebe Ng

Language is a symbol of a civilized society; Hong Kong is no exception. Hong Kong is well known of its diversified culture, we could easily see tourists or visitors with different nationalities on the street, especially in some popular districts like Tsim Sha Tsui, Mongkok, Causeway Bay and Central. Hong Kong as well is an international commercial center where businessmen around the world would come for investments.  Therefore, it is very common to hear “你好” (Cantonese), “ni hao”(Mandarin) and “hello” in greetings as well as the three languages in railway (MTR) announcements. 

In the recent decades, the competitiveness in education industry in Hong Kong has increased greatly due to the fact that there are more people coming from Mainland, trying to get a seat in Hong Kong institutions, including kindergarten, primary, secondary and even tertiary sectors. Living under a more competitive environment, parents are believed to start training their children to be more outstanding. Learning a second or third language is one of their strategies. People who was born after the 1900s are encouraged to study more than one language in order to avoid elimination and to cope with the fast pace of the advanced society. Children in primary schools, and even kindergarten have started learning a second language besides their mother tongue—Cantonese. It is believed that people who learn more than one language in Hong Kong is more well-educated and may be able to get a well-paid job. English and Mandarin are therefore some of the top choices to be the second and third language of Hong Kong students. 

Our Mother Tongue

What about Cantonese?

Cantonese is a dialect rather than a language, it is used in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau at present. It is the mother tongue of most Hong Kongers after the handover since 1997. There are Cantopop developed later on. Apparently, Cantonese is the mother language that a Hong Konger must learn. Due to the fact that Mandarin is being heavily promoted in different parts in Mainland China after the communist had taken over in 1949, as a result, people are no longer familiar with Cantonese. To pass on the culture of Cantonese, as a Hong Konger, we have the responsibility to preserve Cantonese as a part of our daily life. It can A fun fact on Cantonese: Many Hong Kongers agree that using Cantonese, especially on foul languages can better express themselves and is succinct enough to express that specific feeling. Although Cantonese is a dialect, it is powerful as of a language that it also includes different kinds of sentence structures, its pronunciation may even be more complicated than other languages in most the worlds that includes 9 tones of a word. Cantonese does not only perform to be the symbol of local identity in Hong Kong but also the preservation of Chinese Language history. 

Why English?

It is no doubt that English is the international language of communication. By learning English, we can communicate and connect with people around the world easier, for example, Japanese, Australian, Canadian etc. Take a daily example, we can provide help for foreigners on street easily if we know English. We may also make friends with different backgrounds by communicating in English, especially in international schools and universities. Furthermore, English is the language of Business. As a part of the commercialized community, Hong Kong people should surely possess the ability to speak fluent English as their second language which would at the same time, enables Hong Kong businessmen to cooperate and make transactions. Moreover, most Hong Kong people also believed that learning English can help to find a well-paid job such as teachers, doctors, lawyers, translators…These all resulted that English is another language which a Hong Konger should master. 

Why Mandarin (Putonghua)?

After the hand-over in 1997, the HKSAR government has implemented the concept of “Bi-literacy” and “Tri-lingualism”. “Bi-literacy” includes Chinese Language, English Language while “Tri-lingualism” includes Cantonese, English and Putonghua. Other than English, Putonghua is another language that a Hong Konger should possess. Geographically, Hong Kong is very near to China where Mandarin is the main language used there. According to the Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1997, Hong Kong is being returned to the China. As a part of China, the HKSAR believed that it is necessarily for all Hong Kongers to be able to speak fluent Putonghua. In the recent years, under the government policies, there are more and more mainlanders coming from Mainland China to Hong Kong for visiting and receiving education mainly. With the influence of the immigrants, schools are opening classes to suit the needs for Mandarin speakers, sooner, Putonghua becomes one of the common languages that one may come up with in daily life. With the reasons above, it is proved that Mandarin is a language that a Hong Konger should equip. 

References:

https://www.elc-schools.com/blog/4-reasons-why-learning-english-is-so-important/