The Government's decision to force more than 300 secondary schools to shift to mother-tongue education has outraged many people.
Teachers of schools being kicked out of the English stream system say their morale has been badly affected, nervous parents are panicking and some students are said to feel humiliated. All in all, they have rejected the Government's verdict that switching to mother-tongue teaching is in their best interests.
These strong reactions may be a little unexpected. After all the campaign for mother-tongue teaching has been going on for decades and very few people have come out publicly and rejected such a cause.
But putting the whole question in perspective, the community's muted response in the past and the strong emotions expressed today are understandable.
First, in a community which is predominantly Chinese, it is socially undesirable for anyone to openly speak out against the use of the mother tongue as the main teaching medium.
Second, with Hong Kong under Chinese rule, it would be politically incorrect for anyone to advocate that local schools should continue to teach in English.