Do I speak Chinese? Hmm... do you?

Hong Kong is going through a cultural "Great Leap Forward". If you are not aware of it, don't panic. You probably are just like me, belong to a generation when things were a bit different. Want to know how I found out about the GLF? Two incidents:

1. The Cable Guy

I called an internet service/cable TV provider the other day to renew my ESPN / Sports subscription. The other end said something in Cantonese but I couldn't understand. I asked again and the other side repeated the same lines at a slower pace.

Ah! It's the pronunciation! All the "l", "n", "ng", "ch", "c", "s", "sh", "a", "ae" are messed up! The operator asked me to press the "疹色制" (rash colour instead of the orange colour button) on the remote control and to input my "生粉证" (Corn starch card instead of ID card) number to confirm. And it didn't help when they threw in couple "English" words.

2. Miss Hong Kong

I read about a complaint "letter" (if I can call that a letter at all) written by Lucy who tried for the Miss Hong Kong Pageant this year:

QUOTE BEGINS*** 我 是 Lucy, I went to Miss Hong Kong first interview. Wah d judges very not polite and not nice law. Today I see a megazine saying this year's Girls so ugly. I saw many good and pretty girls there but they didn't choose ja ma. Don't choose mei suen law but the judge in first interview -- most very not polite to many young girls and to to me law. I only 18 the judges ask me to "why join Miss HK go and why not study la u only F7 ja wor how can fright with other wor." Also say my English bad … hurt die me.
Ho La, other girl tell me la, she study in University ok ga dou but little fat or short then the judge (woman) said " why you look fat or so short!" wah ho hurt ga ma.
One girl is a 博 士 student ar very high level and very nice ga dou cant get in second interview la. We think she will be in ga but she said no law. You can search her pic and my pic to see la. She gum high level duo ng dak, gum me ng duk duo rite gei but i think the whole choosing is not fair law, choose model mei? young yao inch', high study level yao inch, short yao inch … They onky choose rich girl law so bad.
We don't go and let them inch ga law if they need tall or high level people then why not put in the application form lei.
Waste time !
dou ng fair gei!
u can email me if u want.
Lucy *** QUOTE ENDS

Youngsters in Hong Kong seem to have problems mastering the two official languages. For those who don't follow HK news as frequently as I do, the Education Bureau is fine-tuning the "Medium of Instruction" for secondary schools. (See link: http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200905/29/P200905290241.htm )

What the heck is that? First the Education Bureau wanted schools to teach all subjects in Chinese. Yet, the Education Bureau allow a small group of QUALIFIED schools to continue to use English as the MOI. All parents in HK naturally rushed to the English (read ELITE) schools just like they would have to an egg tart shop at 3:15pm. Parents and kids were in tears when they found out they couldn't get into the English school. What's wrong to learn in Chinese? I don't think there's an issue PROVIDED that students also get to learn English properly as a second languag. In the end, there were lots of complaints and noises and now the Education Bureau is "fine-tuning" the policy. What are the teachers supposed to do? Bin all the teaching material and prepare new ones? What if the honourable officials have a change of mind tomorrow? Will the teachers be able to switch freely between the two languages when they talk about something technical? I speak Chinese with my parents but I cannot present my work in Chinese and I have been doing it for over 10 years without a break! Mind you, I did invest in Chinese lessons and dictionaries.

Now you probably want to ask me, "what about the first case you quoted. It's Cantonese!" It puzzled me at first too. I rarely notice people of my generation (or the older generations like my brother and sister... Kekeke) giving new life to words. I scratched my head and got the answer when I watched a variety show on the plane the other day.

I couldn't really tell who's who on the show but all the people (I cannot call them artists, actors, singers or entertainers as that would be an insult for those who can master their art) on the show share some common traits

- They are all young and look like a stick
- I think their management agent told them it's cool to be ignorant as ignorance is bliss
- They are not fluent in any language

Young people are crazy about them and imitate them all the time! Doesn't matter what is right so long as their idol said "just do it".

How am I and Changunnie going to survive this GLF? I really have no clue. It's about time to apply for kindergarten for Changunnie (that's another long story) and I am very inclined to home school my daughter.