To punish students for speaking Cantonese is a new low for Hong Kong

I refer to reports of teachers at a Hong Kong school punishing students because they used their first language – Cantonese – in class. Neither the Education Bureau nor the public seem to realise how dire the situation is.

Kids are naive, they develop their values based on rewards and punishments. They don’t think critically or question what their teachers tell them. I don’t blame them but rather the teachers who think speaking Cantonese is an offence and that they have the power to undermine the freedom of speech.

For decades, Hong Kong thrived with its democratic style of governance. Freedom of expression and thought give us an edge over our mainland Chinese counterparts. However, when our educators, whom we trust to nurture the next generation, demonise Cantonese, how can we still take pride in our “freedoms”? Students who are indoctrinated with this ideology will resist Cantonese, further diluting our culture and damaging our community spirit.

Since when did speaking a certain language become a problem in a supposedly free society? What can you say about teachers who make students to write lines for speaking Cantonese?

Some might argue that some schools are externally funded and use other languages as the primary medium of instruction. However, students still have as much right to communicate in Cantonese as the schools have in using their preferred language of instruction. Providing students with an environment to learn a language is different from punishing them for not using that language.

I hope the government, especially the Education Bureau, will at least protect students’ right to speak their mother tongues in school, as should be the case in a free society.

Andy Lau, Tsuen Wan