After French red wines and Italian fashion brands, British boarding schools have become the next market targeted and hunted after by avid Chinese consumers. British agents are organizing visits for groups of Chinese parents to British boarding schools, which enjoy a good reputation among nouveau-riche and Communist-Party -official parents because “there are no on-campus gun rampages, unlike in America.”
“Many Chinese parents are deeply impressed by the British education system that offers courses with independent thinking, debating skills and versatility, which are qualities lacking in China,” said a British education marketer who is making quick money out of Chinese Anglophile parents. The number of Chinese boarding school students has grown to 4,000, making Chinese the second-most-common language on campuses.
But what the agent did not mention is the possible threat of “multiculturalism” posed by the growing number of Chinese boarding school pupils. A Chinese boarder stabbed a fellow Chinese student twice with a knife after his request to borrow a bottle of soy sauce was rejected. The young Chinese thug was ordered by the court to complete his education at a British young correctional institute before being deported to China.
This is a worrying sign for most parents in Hong Kong. We are a former British colony, who, in theory, have long departed from such savagism as snatching a bottle of soy sauce at knifepoint, but could be “mistaken” as part of China. When the British boarding schools wake up and think “enough is enough” with the Chinese invasion, decide to turn off the tap and keep their traditions untarnished by soy sauce, Yeung Chow fried rice and Mandarin on campus, we Hong Kong children could be victims in the next round of the silent admissions boycott.
This may happen soon, as the British Home Office is believed to be restricting Chinese students and tourist visas now out of fear of a potential flood of illegal Chinese immigrants. And when Chinese clump together and grow in number even at a boarding school, they have a bad habit of taking their occupied land as a Little Beijing. So it wouldn’t be a surprise if some British boarding schools and GCSE boards are prevailed upon to set up new courses and exam papers, on subjects like “the Studies of Chairman Mao’s Thoughts” under a “multiculturalism” umbrella, so that Chinese students will find it easier to achieve an A grade to get into Oxbridge.
British parents who are also UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party) supporters will soon hold demonstrations at the gates of those boarding schools that allow an extra vacation day on October 1 for Chinese students. So Hong Kong British boarding school students: when you see this column online, you must act now by throwing away your soy sauce and lowering your Cantonese. I have a son who is only eight. I want him to go in a few years’ time.