Hong Kong

Speaking the same language

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-01 08:31

Byline | Zou Hanru

On the historic midnight of June 30, 1997, Hong Kong entered a new era, shedding its past as a borrowed place living on borrowed time under the British Empire, and returned to the embrace of the motherland.

The world watched as the Union Jack was lowered, then the Chinese flag hoisted. Moments later came another precedent-setting moment, as principal officials of the first government of the Special Administrative Region (SAR) were sworn in, using putonghua instead of English. After 150 years of British rule, Mandarin was spoken for the first time in the corridors of power in Hong Kong.

Many of the officials taking the oath were better versed in English. Reading out the pledge of allegiance in putonghua proved a bit of a challenge, as many were heard mumbling and stammering over the words, along with the SAR's first chief executive Tung Chee-hwa.

Principal officials today are much more conversant in putonghua. The national language is rapidly gaining in importance and popularity since the handover 14 years ago. Its influence is heard not just among members of the civil service but in every trade and profession, spanning all aspects of city life in the SAR.

Retail and catering industry workers were among the first to take up the national language - with good reason. Growing numbers of their customers were free spenders from the mainland, wining and dining until closing time; snapping up designer clothes, high-tech electronic gadgets, haute couture and top of the line beauty products. Fluency in putonghua had become a huge asset for local service people.

Last year, a record 22.7 million people from the mainland visited Hong Kong, nearly three times the size of the city's population - that accounted for 60 percent of all tourist arrivals. The mainlanders spent an average of HK$12,000 per stay ($1,500).

The spending was not confined to small, portable items either. Those from the mainland came in search of luxury properties valued at HK$10 million and above. Almost one in five luxury flats sold in Hong Kong last year was purchased by a buyer from the mainland, according to Centaline, Hong Kong's largest property agency. Estate agents caught on quickly - and seeing where their future profits lay, embraced the learning of putonghua.

Job-seekers are busy polishing up their Mandarin skills as well. Mainland enterprises have moved ahead of foreign firms in creating job opportunities in Hong Kong. With nearly HK$7 trillion in combined assets, more than 3,000 mainland-invested companies employ 1.32 million people, or over one-third of the city's workforce.

To prepare the younger generations for Hong Kong's greater integration with the mainland and the advent of a global marketplace, the SAR government devised the "Biliterate and Trilingual" policy for all schools. Students are expected to be proficient in both written Chinese and English, and speak fluent Cantonese, putonghua and English.

In this new sociolinguistic environment, Cantonese will continue to serve its traditional role as the language embodying cultural identity, while English will remain the language that makes Hong Kong a truly international city. The growing popularity of putonghua, if anything, is another demonstration of the extraordinary adaptability that is typical of the Hong Kong people.

Zou Hanru is deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily Hong Kong Edition.

(China Daily 06/01/2011 page67)