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Opinion | Hong Kong’s fight for racial equality should focus on Chinese language education
- On International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the city must reflect on its failure to lift the language barrier for racial minorities
- Given the negative impact of the pandemic on second-language learning, new data should be gathered and analysed with fresh eyes
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“One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way,” said psycholinguist Frank Smith. And the absence of language closes many doors.
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As we commemorate yet another International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, on March 21, the language barrier faced by racial minorities in Hong Kong remains an area of grave concern. Despite years of advocacy, activism, policy recommendations and measures, not to mention expenditure in this area, the problem remains.
It is easy to dismiss this issue in the current climate where we are facing more urgent matters related to the pandemic, economic downturn, global relations and trade wars. But March 21 is always a good day to remember a subject that will never go out of date: equality.
It is clear that Hong Kong’s racial minorities would be much better integrated and have access to equal opportunities in every area, including education, employment and services, if only they knew Chinese. However, the solution does not seem to be as obvious, and it is not for want of trying.
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Hong Kong’s ethnic minority groups struggle as city battles Covid-19 and recession
Hong Kong’s ethnic minority groups struggle as city battles Covid-19 and recession
The demographic hardest hit by the language barrier and on whom we should focus our energies is the many young members of our racial minority communities who have been educated mostly, if not entirely, in Hong Kong and yet are challenged by a lack of Chinese skills. It is hard for many in the majority Chinese community to understand how this is possible.
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