Language Matters | What the case of Hong Kong’s star policeman says about city’s language policy
Ifzal Zaffar recently climbed a crane and, speaking in Urdu, persuaded a fellow Pakistani not to commit suicide. He’s proficient in Cantonese with help from a government scheme, but a fuller embrace of multilingualism is still needed
Constable Ifzal Zaffar, a Hong Kong policeman of Pakistani descent, became an overnight star after he talked a fellow Pakistani out of committing suicide in February. The fact he used their mother tongue, Urdu, to communicate was noted in media reports, which also highlighted his Cantonese proficiency and lauded Project Gemstone.
The latter is a scheme introduced in 2013 to provide Cantonese-language training to non-ethnic-Chinese young people interested in joining the police force or entering government service.
Also highlighted was a 2014 collaboration between the police and the Centre for Harmony and Enhancement of Ethnic Minority Residents, which provides interpretation services through teleconferencing – available in Hindi, Nepali, Tagalog, Thai, Punjabi, Urdu and Bahasa Indonesia – to support people from ethnic minorities at police reporting centres.
Such initiatives signal a shift in policy: from one that sees language as a problem – with multilingualism viewed as potentially leading to conflict and lack of social cohesion, and minority languages associated with poverty and disadvantage – to one that sees language as a right that allows for full participation in society. A third orientation, of language as a resource, recognises multilingualism as increasing society’s stock of skills, enhancing the status of groups viewed as subordinate, promoting local economies and cultures, and encouraging mutual respect rather than dominance. It also recognises minority groups as sources of expertise – as with our Urdu-speaking officer.
But shouldn’t regard for diversity cut both ways, with proficiency in more than just Hong Kong’s dominant languages being acquired by many?