Harriette Yapp

Long before English standards became an obvious problem in Hong Kong, Harriette Yapp, 81, was busy at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), attempting to arrest the slide. Originally from Burma, the then Harriette Wong's studies at the University of Rangoon were cut short by the second world war. She escaped down the Burma Road to Kunming in China, where she worked for the British Ministry of Information as 'The Voice of Burma', an English instructor for the Chinese government, and as a translator for the American Office of War Information. After the war, she came to Hong Kong, trained as a teacher and earned her degree in English. In 1957, the mother of four took a postgraduate diploma in education. This was followed by courses at the universities of Michigan in the United States and Edinburgh in Scotland. Yapp spent 35 years in education, 17 at HKU from which she retired as senior lecturer. The long-time activist for women's issues tells her story.

In 1973, I was in charge of a test at the University of Hong Kong for incoming students whose English standards were not good enough for them to complete their courses satisfactorily. The problem, even then, was that the standard of English in Hong Kong was less important. Business was always more important. The emphasis was on the quality of science. Arts went out the window.

Members of the English language faculty tried to stop the deterioration, but money was a big factor. Some of our lecturers couldn't speak English properly. The quality of some lecturers was dictated by the salaries paid. We were unhappy about the situation, but we had no choice. I tried to raise levels by holding drama sessions and training small groups that concentrated on vocals and pronunciation. Poetry helped enunciation and tone. We worked hard on special vocabulary and grammar.

While at the university, I conducted extensive research into the English-speaking difficulties among Cantonese-speaking students and published many articles on a wide range of educational topics. I also built up a collection of reference material for teacher trainee use. I contributed many poems, puzzles and feature articles on educational topics to the Post. Before joining the university, I was involved in teacher training and did broadcasts on radio and TV in that capacity. I also enjoyed visits to schools and lecture tours.

I was born in 1922 in Taunggyi, capital of the Southern Shan States of British Burma, and was studying medicine on a scholarship at Rangoon University when I was forced to abandon my studies because of the war. My father was declared missing during the fall of Burma in 1942 and my mother, brothers, sisters and I barely managed to escape to Yunnan. The Japanese invaders were right at our heels and we were attacked by Shan bandits along the way. We reached Kunming in April that year. Then in July, I started nightly broadcasts in Burmese into Burma for the British Ministry of Information Office.

Although my family is 100 per cent Chinese, I could not speak Putonghua and that was the language of medical schools in China, so I became an English instructor to senior Chinese military and medical men. Although I was only 19, those important men kowtowed to me and I felt like a little Confucius. I realised I had found my vocation. After I came to Hong Kong in 1946, I worked as a shorthand/ correspondence teacher before becoming a lecturer at the Gratham College of Education. I moved around quite a lot before joining the university in 1960 where I held several senior positions before my retirement.