HONG KONG - With China's entry into WTO expected to
bring about more opportunities, the use of Putonghua (Mandarin) is becoming
more widespread within public and private sectors in Hong Kong.
Against this backdrop, the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Legislative Council held its first
meeting ever to discuss how the use and teaching of the language can be
promoted.
Participating government
officials and legislators, who are used to speaking either English or the
Cantonese dialect in delivering their speeches at the council, were speaking in
Putonghua for the first time in the Legislative Council setting.
Fanny Law, Hong Kong
secretary for education and manpower, told the council that the government is
contemplating promoting a workplace Putonghua campaign to offer tax-free
incentives to those who pay from their own pockets to undergo training in the
language.
She also called for
employers and professional bodies in Hong Kong to provide their employees with
Putonghua training appropriate to the industry concerned.
"In order to
capitalize on all the opportunities brought about by China's accession into the
WTO, there is urgent need for Hong Kong people to upgrade the standard of
Putonghua," Law stressed, calling on legislators to use Putonghua more at
the council in future.
The government is also
considering making Putonghua a compulsory subject in senior forms in secondary
schools, she said, noting that the Education Department is set to invite
experts and Putonghua teachers from the State Language and Literary Work
Committee next year to give a series of seminars on how Putonghua can be
promoted.
Meanwhile, the University
of Hong Kong's School of Professional and Continuing Education is considering
re-starting courses teaching Putonghua using English as the medium of
instruction.
The move came after the school
has received calls from Hong Kong's expatriate community expressing such needs,
according to the public relations office of the school.
The Hong Kong Putonghua
Vocational School, a privately run school which has been offering Putonghua
courses in Hong Kong for about 30 years, told Xinhua that recently the school
saw more foreigners in Hong Kong enrolled in their courses using English as the
medium of instruction. (Xinhua)