Prisoners in Hong Kong who read no Chinese or English have few books to choose from behind bars
Authorities reluctant to buy material in other languages due to security concerns, but lawmakers find reasoning dubious
When Willis Ho Kit-wang was assigned to work in the library at Lo Wu Correctional Institution during her early days behind bars, she soon discovered something was not right at the prison.
The 26-year-old activist was shocked to learn an African-language book had been repeatedly borrowed by the same inmate over the past six years.
Ho then realised there were fewer than 10 books in African languages on the shelves. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Book offerings in other languages, such as Indonesian and Vietnamese, were equally scarce, although the prison had housed more than 1,200 women of different ethnic backgrounds, with some serving long sentences for drug-related crimes.
“Libraries in prisons are supposed to play a key role in promoting rehabilitation, as they can provide a lot of resources and learning opportunities,” Ho explained. “But for those who cannot read in English [and Chinese], it’s not unusual to keep borrowing the same books over and over again.”