The two languages are equally important on the school curriculum because Hong Kong is a bilingual city. Road signs are bilingual. Legal and financial documents are bilingual. Government officials answer questions or make announcements in both English and Chinese. In fact, an estimated third of the world’s population speak either English or Chinese, if not more. This already makes Hong Kong students more competitive compared with their counterparts in China and the United States.
Chinese has become an increasingly important language in the world because China has grown into a world economic power.
This economic power needs money to boost its development. That’s why the Hong Kong stock market is important for mainland China. You see more and more legal and financial professionals in their Central offices using two working languages.
A more recent opportunity is that with China and the United States reaching an agreement to audit Chinese companies listed on the US market, Hong Kong will host the audits. A large amount of translation work between Chinese and English is expected to be done in the city. Hong Kong is full of these opportunities.
If you want your children to be more competitive, they must learn Chinese well. There is no city better than Hong Kong where you can learn both Chinese and English at a low cost and with little effort.
The world is changing fast. What worked for our generation may not be true for our kids. They must be more competitive than we are. So get them ready for their future by having them learn both English and Chinese well first.
Raise all-rounders with different skills
I am with your correspondent on the need to give Hong Kong students a global education (“Give Hong Kong students a global education to ensure city’s competitiveness”, August 26).
The education system mentioned in the letter could also be described as “education culture”. If it is done right, all moving parts will grow and multiply positively, a symbiotic effect. And culture gets passed down from generation to generation.
Between the ages of 35 and 50, I worked for two multinational corporations headquartered in New York and briefly, Bologna, Italy. After leaving a cushy corporate life, I ventured into angel investment targeting small start-ups in North America, hence I was blessed to be able to see the two sides of the commercial world.
Working and travelling in different countries for over 30 years, I met and worked with many graduates at home and abroad. Here, I’d simply describe them as “Hong Kong graduates” or “world graduates”. Some in the Hong Kong group were bright with solid academic backgrounds. They were polite, mild-mannered, law-abiding young people – all great qualities. What they lacked, however, were some of the qualities that could help them advance in their jobs.
Local secondary schools and universities place way too much emphasis on book knowledge to the neglect of things outside the classroom, including English skills, soft skills, public speaking skills (both Chinese and English), knowledge of world affairs, geopolitical issues, history, and arts and culture, and the ability to think critically and independently.
May I suggest that parents should not push their children to get a college degree. Chasing after some letters behind one’s name is a foolish act.
Kids have many different talents. I still remember what my school principal, the late Dr S. Young, told us at the graduation ceremony 55 years ago: it is far more rewarding and fulfilling to be a successful woodworker than a miserable banker.
Philip S.K. Leung, Pok Fu Lam
