Kenneth Li says fluency in English is a prerequisite for the city’s professionals if they want to communicate efficiently with international clients.
The proficiency in English of Hong Kong residents has always been a public concern in the city. A recent survey revealed that the proficiency in English of Hong Kong residents aged 18 to 20 has declined significantly over the past three years, casting doubt on the younger generation’s capability to maintain the city’s “superconnector” role.
Maintaining a high standard of English among Hong Kong’s nonnative English-speakers is vital to the city’s future as it can enhance its status as an international city, which on the one hand sustains its competitiveness and growth, and on the other, facilitates the country’s important tasks of attracting foreign investment and investing in overseas markets.
After the 1997 handover, a number of surveys on the English proficiency of local people indicated a declining trend.
In a recent English proficiency survey by Education First, Hong Kong ranked fourth in Asia behind Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia. The survey analyzed data from 2.2 million nonnative English-speakers from across 113 countries and regions on a global scale, and Hong Kong ranked 29th in English proficiency globally, positioning it within the “high proficiency” category.
However, the survey found there had been a significant drop in English proficiency among Hong Kong’s 18-20-year-olds during the COVID-19 pandemic, and attributed the decline to the negative impact of online learning courses, which had greatly affected the students’ concentration.
Whenever there are reports disclosing a drop in the English proficiency of Hong Kong residents, there are always reasons given for it. Among the most frequently cited reasons is the departure of a large number of expatriates and the outflows of foreign capital from Hong Kong due to the political turbulence instigated by external forces after 1997, causing a decline in the use of English in Hong Kong.
Some also blamed the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government’s poor language policy formulation and implementation and people’s increasing tendency to invest more time in learning Putonghua for better job and business opportunities.
Whatever the true reasons, I am convinced that Hong Kong still retains a good English learning environment as it is the most open, vibrant, diverse and international city among all first-tier cities in China. Moreover, advances in computer technology have, in fact, made learning foreign languages, including English, much easier than previously. From an individual point of view, where there is a will, there is a way. After all, individual passion for learning and strong self-motivation will determine the outcome.
A common criticism holds that after the city prospered for decades, the new generation became less competitive and lacked the fighting spirit passed down by their great-grandparents, grandparents and parents that helped create numerous post-war economic miracles in Hong Kong. On the other hand, the great changes in the international arena in the past four decades, including the opening-up of and progress in the Chinese mainland, have eroded some of Hong Kong’s traditional advantages.
Further, the global financial crisis, SARS, COVID-19 and the social disturbances engineered by anti-China forces in recent years have frustrated and flustered many local youths, causing them to lose faith in their future.
In retrospect, Hong Kong has gradually developed into a metropolis, wherein Chinese culture, Western, Asian and other foreign cultures have converged since the city came under British rule in 1842. From then onward, Hong Kong has served as a window as well as a bridge between the Chinese mainland and the rest of the world. Both Britain and the Chinese mainland benefited much from Hong Kong’s internationalization; but the city, nevertheless, has always been the biggest beneficiary.
To reverse the decline in English proficiency, a remedial adjustment of the younger generation’s perplexed mindset about Hong Kong’s future is the crux. They ought to realize that as long as the city remains highly internationalized and its residents have good English proficiency and willingly align with the development pace of the nation, this will best serve Hong Kong’s interests.
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Belt and Road Initiative are the three major strategic plans in which the HKSAR can play an important part by leveraging the privileges of the “one country, two systems” to act as a “superconnector”.
These three mega projects can offer Hong Kong residents enormous opportunities in the years to come. Whether we can make full use of them depends on our dedication to dovetail our development pace with that of the nation to achieve a win-win situation. Obviously, fluency in English is a prerequisite for Hong Kong professionals if they want to communicate efficiently with their clients from different parts of the world.
The HKSAR government placed great emphasis on enhancing Hong Kong’s development of “eight centers” in its latest Policy Address, delivered in October, those centers being: an international Innovation and Technology center; an East-meets-West center for international cultural exchange; an international trade center; an international financial center; a regional intellectual property trading center; an international shipping center; an international aviation hub; and a center for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region.
These are the national tasks assigned by the central government as outlined in the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) to sustain Hong Kong’s competitiveness and economic growth. Again, being able to speak and write English fluently is a must for university graduates and young professionals who want to build up their career on these international platforms.
Economic blocs and projects such as APEC, BRICS, ASEAN, GBA, RCEP and BRI are playing increasingly significant roles in a changing world, and becoming major contributors to the global economy. Hong Kong’s young people should have a broader vision, and equip themselves with the necessary expertise and language ability so that they can cope with the new challenges and seize the opportunities arising within and outside Hong Kong.
English is still the most commonly used language in the world. Moreover, Hong Kong is the only city within China using the common law system (which originated in England) to carry out business with the rest of the world. To maintain a high degree of connectivity with the world, we need to master English, otherwise, the function and uniqueness of Hong Kong as a special administrative region of China will fade away.
Nevertheless, the painful lessons we learnt from the violent social disorder of 2019 should have made us smarter in safeguarding our national security. Learning English does not necessarily mean we have to accept all aspects of Western culture indiscriminately. Some Western intelligence agencies have openly announced that they would invest more resources in strengthening their intelligence networks in China, implying that they would hire more proxies to conduct espionage. This is also the reason why we need to complete the legislation according to Article 23 of the Basic Law soon to complement the National Security Law for Hong Kong, which was enacted at State level in June 2020 to strengthen national security protection.
In other words, while it is absolutely necessary to upgrade our English proficiency, we must also remain vigilant against any suspicious individual or institution that uses English lessons or other cultural lessons as a way to recruit proxies to endanger our national security. The use-and-dump endings of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and Joshua Wong Chi-fung by external anti-China forces are sobering reminders for all of us.
The author is a Hong Kong-based freelance writer and is an adviser to the Hong Kong Association of Media Veterans.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
