My Take | Politicians must stop abuse of English

If any proof is needed for the decline of English standards in Hong Kong, just take a look at the latest performance of DAB lawmaker Christopher Chung Shu-kun.

I am sure MTR chief executive Jay Walder deserved all the criticism heaped on him in the legislature, but Chung could have done it with better language skills. After all, children and students may be listening. After starting his diatribe in Cantonese, the steward of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong abruptly switched to English.

"Shame! Shame on you!" he said. "You are dreaming on your office or you are not attended at your office. Answer me."

Without giving Walder a chance to respond, he concluded: "I don't think so law."

In Cantonese, we like to end a sentence with la or law for emphasis. In informal settings, we may also mix it with English words and sentences. But in the more august surroundings of the Legislative Council chamber, proper language usage - whether in Chinese or English - should be observed. Actually, Chung didn't quite say shame. It sounded more like: "Shave! Shave on you!"

Walder is almost bald. Was Chung demanding that he shave off everything? Who knows?