On Chinese characters, all in Hong Kong should be on the same page

A small educational institution I am involved with recently received a complaint: it teaches its young students to write Chinese using simplified characters.

There is a lot of controversy about simplified characters. The idea, dating back to the earlier part of the 20th century, was to boost literacy. Scholars are still debating whether the system really is easier to learn and use; some people believe the simpler characters cut Chinese people off from part of their heritage. Nonetheless, the simplified form is now standard on the mainland, as it is in Singapore.

For non-readers of Chinese, the concept is a bit like past - unsuccessful - proposals to simplify and standardise English spelling. The new format is simpler and easier to write in some ways, but in some cases it also lacks features that offer clues to the word's history and meaning.

Some traditionalists dislike the simplified system on aesthetic grounds, while others oppose it because it is linked in people's minds with an authoritarian approach to government in general.

Along with Taiwan, Hong Kong continues to use the traditional script, and the government shows no interest in trying to encourage simplified characters. This is probably just as well, because feelings about this issue have recently become especially strong.

People see the traditional characters as part of Hong Kong's identity and the simplified form as an example of mainland influence taking over our city. It is therefore linked as an issue with the big - and in many ways understandable - fuss about mainland mothers, tourists, property buyers and the complaints about mainlanders being 'locusts'.

Protesters have ganged up on at least one restaurant that used simplified Chinese in its menu to cater for mainland customers. The pragmatic restaurant reasoned that Hong Kong people could understand simplified Chinese or just read the English, but the protesters said they were being discriminated against. Chain stores in tourist areas have come in for similar criticism. In some cases, advertisements in simplified Chinese aimed at mainlanders have ended up with graffiti on them.