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A class discussion about whether a Chinese cultural class should be taught in Putonghua touched off a broader public debate about one of the central issues critical to Hong Kong’s future prosperity.儲存倉 Timothy Chui reports Few people doubt the statistical evidence that Hong Kong needs “fresh blood” to keep the city growing and its economy flourishing. Hong Kong is pinning its hope for the future on immigration of top quality talent from the mainland. Hong Kong got off to a good start after embarking on a concerted program to attract top-tier students from the mainland. They come with the highest grades and they come by the thousands. The reality is, Hong Kong needs them more than they need Hong Kong, and most don’t stay. “Many [mainland students] are the cream of a huge pool. It’s easy to see why locals see them as a threat [in the job market]. At the same time, an international city like Hong Kong cannot be self-sufficient in talent. We should welcome those who can make contributions to our economy,” Executive Council member Bernard Chan said. There is a real price to be paid if Hong Kong alienates cross border students who come here to pursue their goals for the future. The city confronts a demographic nightmare: an aging population, a low fertility rate that some say is “irreversible”, and a worsening “dependency ratio” with fewer workers supporting more elderly. More people are leaving the work force than joining it, and in just eight years, there will be more people over 60 than under 15. “The reality in Hong Kong is that a lot of companies need workers urgently today. The labor shortage is quite severe in many industries,” said Eddy Li, the vice-president of the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong. “It is the business environment and the talents that have made gigantic contributions to Hong Kong’s economic development. Now, if mainland students are willing to work in Hong Kong after graduation, they can help relieve an intensifying labor shortage and benefit the accumulation of talent in our city,” he said. “Compared to the great importance Singapore attaches to foreign talents, it is sad to see some Hong Kong people adopting hostile attitudes toward mainland students,” he said. Yet, some are determined to foster this hostility. The class discussion that began the latest public debate came about because the professor delivering the Essence of Chinese Culture, a course at the City University of Hong Kong, had taken pains, according to some students, to deliver his lectures in Cantonese and Putonghua. The syllabus stated the course was to be taught in Cantonese. Language discretion The opposition press jumped on the professor’s “transgression” and started whipping up a frenzy about a greater conspiracy to supplant Cantonese as the language of instruction and replace it with Putonghua. The reality proves much less sinister. The majority of the students in the class were cross-border students: mother tongue — Putonghua. The professor merely diverted for a moment from his principal lecture to elaborate cultural nuances that otherwise might be lost on non-Cantonese students. The University of Hong Kong’s School of Modern Languages and Cultures Professor Stephen Chu Yiu-wai advocates greater discretion for professors to select their medium of instruction based on their class make up and their own language skills. “If instructors are Cantonese speakers, it’s best for them to stick to what they know. My Putonghua is not that good. If I use Putonghua, it would be not effective,” he said. Still, the classroom discussion highlights a critical question. What should Hong Kong do to encourage mainland students who come here to stay and become major contributors to Hong Kong’s future prosperity? Competition for talent has gone global and has turned ferocious. A glance at market dominance in the smartphone industry reveals the shifting landscape: Palm Pilot, Blackberry, Sony Erikson, Nokia, Samsung and Apple are like the carriages of a passing parade. Market standing is driven by ideas generated by people of talent. Hong Kong faces that kind of competition too, striving for a place among regional competitors, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Singapore, and global competitors, New York and London. There are underlying economic, social and cultural issues that motivate mainland stu迷你倉最平ents to leave Hong Kong after they graduate. They complain about being lumped as “locusts” and feel socially marginalized. They dislike the cramped housing conditions and the fact that prices are so high the hope of owning their own homes is out of reach. They face discrimination from prospective employers who prefer to hire native Cantonese speakers. Graduates who take high level jobs in New York or London need to speak English. In Zurich, there are four principal languages. Milan, Tokyo, Frankfurt all present similar challenges. So the question is not about Cantonese versus Putonghua. The primacy of Cantonese in Hong Kong is guaranteed under the Basic Law. The question is how to recruit and maintain talent within a competitive global market. So where does the middle ground lie to fulfill Hong Kong’s need for fresh blood while safeguarding the interests of the young people born and raised here? Hong Kong’s universities are nearly universal in using English as the medium of instruction except for a handful of language and cultural courses. Hong Kong’s foreign students are overwhelmingly from the mainland. They made up just over one percent of Hong Kong’s university students in 1997. Fifteen years later, that number stands at 8.78 percent of the 87,604 undergraduate and post graduate students. Their numbers lend weight to the argument that more classes be delivered in Putonghua. Broaden horizon It has become standard practice to deliver a portion of the lecture in Putonghua for classes dominated by mainland students, such as the case of the City University’s one-semester introductory course Essence of Chinese Culture. There is also a skills gap at the teacher level when it comes to offering parallel courses in Putonghua, Polytechnic University Associate Dean Shae Wan-chaw said. “Teachers today are not that fluent in [Putonghua]”, he said. It would be cost prohibitive to offer classes in both languages. Many of the issues confronting mainland students are the issues faced by the society at large. And for many students, though they may be at the top of their respective classes, they come to an alien environment, the first time they are away from homes. “When you study overseas you are expected to learn some of the local language, and for mainland students coming to Hong Kong it is better for them to learn a little bit of Cantonese. Part of paying to study abroad is the cultural experience. So long as Hong Kong is trilingual, it is better to expose yourself to both,” said Stephen Chu If you study anywhere in Europe outside of the UK, you’ll probably need to pick up some of the local language, if not to network better than to feed yourself, he said. “University is supposed to be an experience to broaden horizons and experience diversity and Hong Kong is famous for its’ diversity,” he said. Individual differences and personal tastes aside, Hong Kong still has a part to play to welcome the newcomers. Hong Kong’s ability to attract the offspring of the super wealthy have also given the city’s economy a shot in the arm. More than 235,000 mainland students studying in the US contributed USD6.8b to the economy last year according to the Institute of International Education, which means the average mainland student pumps about HK$228,000 into Hong Kong’s economy every year. The growth has been marked yet there is no reason to assume it will continue unobstructed. Non-local students are facing tuition hikes of up to 20 percent this year to offset a stronger Yuan while fees for locals remain locked. Fundraising, pumping out more academic research and alumni bequests are all valuable channels for extra cash, but foreign students remain among the most lucrative avenues of bolster school budgets. Post-handover, its future lies in attracting and keeping the very same kind of immigrants which have never been better educated and so far, Hong Kong has been pretty successful in attracting some of the best mainland students. Contact the writer at tim@chinadailyhk.com Many [mainland students] are the cream of a huge pool. It’s easy to see why locals see them as a threat [in the job market]. At the same time, an international city like Hong Kong cannot be self-sufficient in talent. We should welcome those who can make contributions to our economy,” bernard chan executive council member 迷你倉