English an option for executive authorities

Will English remain an official language of Hong Kong? Article Nine of the Basic Law says English, in addition to Chinese, may be used as the official language by the executive authorities, legislature, and judiciary of the future special administrative region.

It does not say if Chinese refers to Mandarin or Cantonese.

What effect will this have on civil servants who have been using English all these years? They will have to gain a pass in Chinese and English in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination to qualify for entry to the civil service.

Directorate-level officers will have to learn to speak Mandarin.

Will there be Mandarin broadcast on MTR or KCR trains? At present, the KCRC broadcasts in Mandarin at Lowu and Hunghom stations. The KCRC says it will consider extending the service to the other 11 stations if passengers want it. The MTRC says it has no immediate plans to add Mandarin to the existing English and Cantonese broadcast.

Will Pearl and World TV channels be changed to Mandarin programming? Probably not, although TVB and ATV are lobbying for the condition in their licences to be relaxed to accommodate more non-English programmes.

At present both stations are allowed to broadcast non-English programmes for up to 20 per cent of programming time. The two stations use the time slots mostly to show films in Mandarin.