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二手徵求有驚喜
English Language in Hong Kong
早前，一份本地英文報章刊登了一封叫人意想不到的讀者來函。這位讀者雖以Pierce 為名，但從其姓氏「Lam」來推算，相信是位林姓的中國人罷。信中的內容令我反感原因有二：首先，他所述的皆脫離現實；其次，當中內容亦具有誤導成分。
林先生的論點簡單不過，就是香港並不需要英語。事實上， 他認為香港若不再以英語作為其中一種官方語文，更將會是明智之舉。最令林先生感到厭惡的是英基學校協會，這類接受納稅人資助來提供廉價西方教育的機構。簡單而言，英基是一種收取較易負擔的學費，並以英語提供國際化教育的學校。事實證明，這類教育手法廣受本地華裔學生的歡迎，而本地家長看來亦願意不顧一切的為心愛的子女在當中取得學席。
林先生開宗明義的說明自己本身是個民族主義者，正是基於其民族主義者的立場，他對英語被列作官方語文感到不是味兒。他希望任何事情，包括我們子女的教育，均能以中文進行。他指出：「中國語文絕對能夠有效地運用於各項人類成就的持續發展。」相信沒多少人會質疑以上論點。以本人所知，無人打算窒礙中文的應用，亦無人膽敢惡意攻擊中文半句。
這類民族主義的問題是流於偏執，像是帶上眼罩的馬匹，只能見到賽道前端的景物。不管如何，我仍堅信香港的雙語政策只會為社會帶來無可估量的益處。假若政府意圖削弱英語的地位，尤其是教育方面，這只等同以香港市民未來的福祉作不必要的龐大賭注。縱使當中帶點不快及殖民色彩，但正正就是歷史造就了今天的香港，我們亦因而承襲了有利的政府及雙語教育體制。自從九七以後，為了猜度北京的心意而對英語水平作出的損害已夠深了。還記得回歸後的首年，曾經出現過著重普通話應用的趨勢，更不惜犧牲英語作為代價，相信這便可以討得北京的歡心。其後， 香港的英語水平因而下滑，人們開始談論到北京及上海的市民所操的英語甚為靈光。尤幸政府能夠及時懸崖勒馬，重新肯定英語的重要性。
我們務必謹防偽裝為民族主義的偏執及成見。林先生亦應借新加坡及其開國總理李光耀的關鍵政策為鑑，多語體制正是該國成功故事背後的致勝法門。無論如何，若然林先生欲生活於他所鼓吹的環境之中，他又何不丟棄洋名「Pierce」？ 畢竟許多華人皆視之為文化上的侮辱。就以本人而言，縱使早年於英文中學及劍橋大學接受教育，仍未曾為自己起過洋名。
An extraordinary letter to the editor was recently published in a local English newspaper. It came from a reader I presume is Chinese because his surname is Lam, though his given name is Pierce. The content of his letter made me cringe for two reasons. First, what he writes is out of touch with reality and, secondly, is misleading.
Pierce Lam’s contention is that Hong Kong does not need the English language. In fact, he says that Hong Kong would be better off without English as an official language. A pet-hate of Mr Lam’s is the English Schools Foundation, which provides a sort of low
cost western education in taxpayer-assisted schools. The ESF, in short, is a kind of affordable international education conducted in the English language. It has proved highly popular among Chinese students and Chinese parents are seemingly desperate that their beloved children should win ESF places.
Mr Lam makes it very clear that he is a Chinese nationalist, so he dislikes English’s ranking as an official language in Hong Kong. He wants everything, including the education of our children, done in Chinese. “The Chinese language,” he says, “is fully
capable of sustainable development for effective use for all human endeavours.” I agree as does everyone I know. To the best of my understanding, no-one is trying to undermine the use of Chinese and nobody that I know of is saying anything deleterious about Chinese.
The trouble with nationalism of this kind is that it tends to be narrow-minded, much like a horse that wears blinkers so that it can only see the racetrack straight ahead. I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that bilingualism in Hong Kong is of incalculable benefit to our society. If the government was to undermine the use of English, especially in education, it would be taking a huge and unnecessary gamble with the future wellbeing of Hong Kong people. Historical events, albeit unpleasant and colonial, created Hong Kong as we know it and as a result we inherited an advantageous multilingual system of government and education. Enough damage has been done to English standards since 1997, by unnecessary second-guessing of what Beijing would like. I recall that in the first year after 1997 there was a trend to emphasise the use of Putonghua at the expense of English because it was felt that would please Beijing. Then, as English standards fell here in Hong Kong, people started to comment that people spoke better and more flawless English in Shanghai and Beijing. To its credit, our government soon realised its errors and
started to re-emphasise the importance of English.
Beware, I say, of prejudice disguised as cultural nationalism. Pierce Lam should pay more attention to the example of Singapore and a key policy of its founder Lee Kwan Yew that multi-lingualism becomes an essential lynchpin of the Singapore success story. Anyway, if Mr Pierce Lam wishes to live as he preaches, he should change his name and drop that ‘Pierce’ which many Chinese might find culturally demeaning. I am a good example because I have never used an English name despite the fact that I was educated at an Anglo-Chinese school and Cambridge University.
2024專利防護中