I believe that Hong Kong is slowly and surely turning into just another Asian and, in particular, Chinese city and can no longer claim to be an international city.
This saddens me as a Hong Kong citizen who was once proud of being part of a truly cosmopolitan city. The reason for our decline, is the gradually deteriorating standard of English.
People have to try to look on English as an international language, rather than associating it with the colonial days under British rule. We have to have a good command of English if we want to be truly cosmopolitan and international and if we want our economy to flourish.
Hong Kong was a unique city, made up of different cultures and nationalities and people from all over the world used to come here, because they felt it was a place full of opportunities. But without a good standard of English, we will be seen as just another uninteresting Asian city. We do not have much in the way of history or culture to offer tourists, compared to our motherland, China. Shopping and restaurants are expensive, real estate is impossible and lots of big corporate firms are reducing the number of expatriate staff they employ in Hong Kong, because it is proving too expensive to keep them here.
I am not saying we should not be proud of our Chinese heritage, but can't we, at the same time, maintain an international image? Hong Kong has strived for years to build up such an image, but now it is under threat.
Although Hong Kong is predominantly Chinese, there are still a minority of non-Chinese who have lived here all their lives and who feel very much a part of this city. We should respect all citizens, regardless of their race and language.
Such respect was not shown by some candidates at last month's Legislative Council elections. Out of 10 election leaflets I received in the mail, six were in Chinese, with no English.
