1

Language and decolonisation

The special case of Hong Kong

Stephen Evans

Outline •  Language and decolonisation •  Data •  Contextual background •  The organs of government:

v Executive v Legislative v Judicial

•  Summary

Data •  Census/By-census reports

(1841-2011) •  Government records and

publications •  Corpus of Legislative Council

meetings (1858-2012) •  Lists of Jurors (1855-2011) •  Corpus of English-language

newspapers (1842-2012) •  Unpublished primary sources •  Questionnaire survey (2008)

Language and decolonisation •  Era of large-scale

decolonisation: 1940s-1960s

•  Newly liberated countries had to consider the roles of English and indigenous languages in the public sphere:

v Official / national language(s)

v Medium of instruction

2

Hong Kong: (Chop) sui generis

•  Remained a British colony after the main era of decolonisation

•  Little pressure for independence or return to motherland before handover

•  Returned to China within ‘one country, two systems’ framework

•  Witnessed transformation in global status of English •  One country, two systems, three languages: English

(global), Putonghua (national), Cantonese (regional)

Hong Kong in Britain’s informal empire in China: 1842-1941

Treaty ports

New Territories (indigenes)

Hong Kong Island & Kowloon (sojourners)

Hong Kong’s transitions Economic transitions: • 1842–1860: not Canton • 1860s–1940s: China coast entrepôt

• 1950s–1970s: manufacturing centre • 1980s–present: services centre

Stimuli of development: • Taiping Rebellion: 1850s • Chinese Civil War: 1946–1950

Composition of Hong Kong’s population: 1841-2011

0

400,000

800,000

1,200,000

1,600,000

2,000,000

2,400,000

2,800,000

3,200,000

3,600,000

4,000,000

4,400,000

4,800,000

5,200,000

5,600,000

6,000,000

6,400,000

6,800,000

1841

18

53

1861

18

71

1881

18

91

1897

19

01

1906

19

11

1921

19

31

1939

19

46

1949

19

56

1961

19

66

1971

19

76

1981

19

86

1991

19

96

2001

20

06

2011

Pop

ulat

ion

Chinese Non-Chinese

3

Birthplace of HK’s Chinese population: 1891-2011

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

1891 1897 1901 1911 1921 1931 1966 1971 1981 1991 2001 2006 2011

Born in Hong Kong Born in mainland China Born elsewhere

Chinese population in post-war HK The majority of Chinese in the Colony also had little loyalty to Hong Kong. Like the Europeans, they came to Hong Kong to work until they retired home to China, just as the Europeans returned home to Europe. Not inaptly Hong Kong has been likened to a railway station, and its inhabitants to the passengers who pass in and out of the gates. The Chinese who have lived here all their lives in the Colony and intend to leave their bones there, are a small minority; as are the Eurasians who have no other home. They are the true citizens of Hong Kong, but their number is insignificant. (p. 112) Grantham, A. (2012, first published 1965). Via Ports: From Hong Kong to Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

Luke & Richards (1982)

Hong Kong is a case of societal bilingualism, in which two largely monolingual communities co-exist, with a small group of bilingual Cantonese functioning as linguistic middle men. (p. 51) Luke, K.K., & Richards, J.C. (1982). English in Hong Kong: Functions and status. English World-Wide, 3, 47–64.

HK’s non-Chinese community: 1853-2011

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1853

18

71

1881

18

91

1901

19

11

1921

19

31

1946

19

56

1961

19

66

1971

19

76

1981

19

86

1991

19

96

2001

20

06

2011

Europeans South Asians Southeast Asians East Asians Others

4

Proportion of Britons in HK’s non-Chinese community: 1871-2011

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1871 1881 1891 1897 1901 1906 1911 1921 1931 1971 1981 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011

Per

cent

age

Other non-Chinese British

HK’s ‘linguistic middle men’ Between the Chinese and British merchants there is absolutely no intercourse except that of a commercial nature. Between the two populations there is a gulf almost as wide as there was a quarter of a century or even fifty years ago. It is true that there are more Chinese who can speak English than formerly, but the proportion they bear to the whole is infinitesimal, the large majority of the Chinese being as ignorant of our language as the British resident is of Chinese. Under such conditions as these it is not surprising that knowledge of Chinese, their customs and their peculiar requirements should be a sealed book to the British resident, whose intercourse with the Chinese is of the most limited nature, being almost exclusively confined to a discussion of markets, goods, and prices carried on in a jargon called “pidgin” English. With such a medium of expression an interchange of ideas is practically impossible and is, indeed, rarely attempted. Hong Kong Government (1896). Memorandum by the Acting Colonial Secretary. Hong Kong Sessional Papers, p. 428.

‘Usual’ language in Hong Kong: 1911-2011

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1911 1961 1966 1971 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011

Per

cent

age

Cantonese Other Chinese Dialects English

Language in Hong Kong: 1991-2011

5

Official languages 1842 - 1974 English

1974 - 1997 English and Chinese (Cantonese and written Chinese)

1997 - present Chinese and English

Crown Colony Special Administrative Region

Civil disturbances in mid-1960s

‘… two matters emerged as tending to create a gap between Government and the people which might well merit closer attention: (a) difficulties arising from the fact that the language of the law and of much of the administration is not understood by the bulk of the population …’ (pp. 127-8)

Commission of Inquiry. (1967). Kowloon Disturbances 1966: Report of Commission of Inquiry. Hong Kong: Government Printer.

Language trends in the organs of government

•  Executive Council

•  Civil Service

•  Legislative Council

•  Judiciary

Executive Council: 1843-2016

6

Executive Council: 2015 Both Chinese and English are used as the spoken languages for Executive Council meetings. Chinese (Cantonese) will be used under normal circumstances. On occasions where non-Chinese speaking officers are in attendance, the discussion will be conducted in English and simultaneous interpretation services will be provided, if necessary. Relevant meeting documents are also prepared in both Chinese and English. Personal Communication from Assistant Clerk to the Executive Council (19 August, 2015)

Civil Service Directorate: 1963-2014

Purported diminution in English use in public administration: 2015 South China Morning Post cover story reported the apparently increasing tendency for ministers to deliver public speeches in Cantonese and to write blogs in Chinese without English translations. ‘I have a feeling that the government is trying to shut down the use of English in order to emphasise the fact that Hong Kong is a mainland city and that English is just a second language.’ (Claudia Mo) ‘It’s ridiculous to see the SAR government which on the one hand claims to be promoting a biliterate and trilingual culture, and Hong Kong as an international and financial city, but on the other hand is cutting down on the use of English for public communication.’ (Joseph Wong) Yau, C. (2015). ‘Biased’ officials shun use of English. South China Morning Post, 8 June, 1–3.

Language use in civil service: questionnaire survey (2008) •  Completed by 2,030 professionals.

•  Focused on …

v  Language choice

v  Use of English

v  Views on workplace language use

7

Background of participants Written Communication

Please indicate which language(s) you use when reading or writing each text type at work: letters, reports, etc. Scale:

1 = Always in English 2 = Usually in English 3 = English & Chinese equally 4 = Usually Chinese 5 = Always Chinese

Written communication: Civil servants

1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0

Letters

Minutes

External email messages

Memos

Reports

Internal email messages

Mean

Spoken Communication

Please indicate which language you are most likely to speak or listen to in the following situations: formal meetings, presentations, etc.

Cantonese

Putonghua

English

8

Spoken communication: Civil servants

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Job interviews

Seminars

Presentations

Staff training/development

Formal meetings/negotiations

Appraisal interviews

Telephoning

Informal meetings/discussions

Cantonese Putonghua English

Perceptions of importance

How important are the following languages in your current job?

Cantonese Putonghua Written Chinese Written English Spoken English

1 = completely unimportant < > 6 = extremely important

Perceptions of importance: Civil servants

3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5

Putonghua

Spoken English

Written Chinese

Cantonese

Written English

Mean

Changing composition of the Legislative Council

Sir George Bowen 1883-85

Martin Lee 1985-2008

‘Long Hair’ 2004-present

Ng Choy 1880-82

9

Composition of Legislative Council: 1843-2012

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1843 1850 1865 1896 1929 1946 1956 1964 1973 1983 1985 1991 1995 2000 2012

Per

cent

age

Chinese Non-Chinese

Categories of councillor: 1843-2012

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

26

28

30

1843

18

44 18

45 18

50 18

57 18

58 18

65 18

84 18

96 19

29 19

46 19

47 19

51 19

64 19

66 19

73 19

76 19

77 19

80 19

83 19

84 19

85 19

88 19

91 19

95 19

98 19

99 20

00 20

03 20

04 20

08 20

12

Official Unofficial / appointed Elected Election Committee

Elected Functional Constituency Elected Directly elected

Data collection and analysis •  Corpus of Legislative Council proceedings from Hong

Kong Hansard (1858-2012): 91,100,432 words

•  Aim of analysis: to determine relative proportions of English and Cantonese used between 1971-72 (when Cantonese first permitted) and 2011-12

•  Method of analysis: v name of each Councillor searched using Wordsmith

Tools 5.0 v Number and language of contributions counted

Language use in LegCo: 1971-2012

10

Lexical trends in LegCo: 1860-2010

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

0.40

0.45

0.50

0.55

0.60

0.65

0.70

0.75

0.80

1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Sta

ndar

dise

d fre

quen

cy

democracy democractic politics political

Lexical trends in LegCo: 1969-2010

0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70 0.75 0.80

1969

-70

1971

-72

1973

-74

1975

-76

1977

-78

1979

-80

1981

-82

1983

-84

1985

-86

1987

-88

1989

-90

1991

-92

1993

-94

1995

-96

1997

-98

1999

-2000

2001

-02

2003

-04

2005

-06

2007

-08

2009

-10

Sta

ndar

dise

d fr

eque

ncy

democracy election political prosperity stability

Tracking the lexicon of English in HK

•  Hong Kong-related words in the Oxford English Dictionary’s March 2016 update of new words, phrases and senses

•  Collaboration with OED in Oxford in 2015

•  Sharing of diachronic corpora and research findings, including LegCo corpus

Hongkonger: March 2014 update

11

Hong Kongese: March 2014 update Hongkonger : March 2014 update ‘The inclusion of Hongkonger and Hong Kongese in the dictionary is definitely prompted by the city's 'anti-mainlandisation' campaign which has raised international attention over the past years. We are trying to differentiate ourselves from mainlanders - not just the people are different, but also our cultural spirit and political identity.’ (Claudia Mo) Lam, J. (2014). Word power: Dictionary helps Hongkongers define their identity. South China Morning Post, 19 March. ‘Sir, together with South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore, Hong Kong is often referred to as one of the four economic tigers in the Pacific Region. And because of our hard work and achievements, we Hongkongers accept with a measure of pride Hong Kong being labelled as an economic tiger.’ (First appearance in Hansard, 18 November 1987)

Hong Kong-related additions to OED: March 2016 update

1852

18

62

1872

18

82

1892

19

02

1912

19

22

1932

19

42

1952

19

62

1972

19

82

1992

20

02

2012

compensated dating

milk tea

dai pai dong

siu mei

char siu

yum cha

lucky money

wet market

Hongkonger

guanxi

sandwich class

sitting-out area

kaifong

shroff

Hong-kongian in Friend of China and Hongkong Gazette (1842)

12

Judiciary •  Language of courtroom

•  Composition of juries

High Court Court of Final Appeal

Chief Justice

Proportion of criminal trials conducted in English and Chinese in the High Court: 1997–2014

Magistrates’ Court: Charge Cases

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

English Chinese

Judiciary: 1953-2013

13

The significance of the jury For many jurisdictions, the jury is a core political institution symbolizing the commitment of the state to democratic, representative and participatory forms of government. The jury constitutes a force for laws which are understandable to ordinary people and in keeping with their sentiments about fairness and justice. Michael McConville. Preface to Duff, P., Findlay, M., Howarth, C., & Chan, T.F. (1992). Juries: A Hong Kong Perspective. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

Eligibility of jurors A resident of Hong Kong is eligible if he/she: •  has reached the age of 21 but is not yet 65; •  is of a sound mind and has no disabilities such as hearing

or visual impairments that might prevent him / her from serving as a juror;

•  is of good character, and •  has sufficient knowledge of the language of the court

proceedings (Chinese or English as the case may be).

Sources •  Lists of jurors: 1855 – 2011

v 1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1925, 1935, 1941, 1955: every name counted and classified

v 1965, 1975: every 10 pages v 1985: every 20 pages v 1993: every 30 pages v 2011: every 100 pages

Length of lists: 1965-2011

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

1965 1975 1985 1993 2011

No.

of p

ages

14

Jury lists: 1855-2011

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1855 1865 1875 1885 1895 1905 1915 1925 1935 1941 1955 1965 1975 1985 1993 2011

Non-Chinese Chinese

Proportion of names on list: 1965-2011

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1965 1975 1985 1993 2011

European & Anglo-Saxon names Chinese names Chinese with English names Asian names

Proportion of Chinese community on list: 1855-1955

0.000%

0.020%

0.040%

0.060%

0.080%

0.100%

0.120%

0.140%

0.160%

1855 1865 1875 1885 1895 1905 1915 1925 1935 1941 1955

In search of the ‘linguistic middle men’: Chinese jurors (1890-1940)

15

Lau Chu Pak

(Queen’s College and Watson & Co.)

‘Declining’ English

standards

Hong Kong Hansard (31 October, 1916)

‘Turning to the question of the teaching of Chinese boys in English, we also agree that the methods in vogue may well be looked into and improved. Given the same length of time for schooling, and the same standard of education, the Chinese boys learning English nowadays do not as a rule speak and write the language so well as the students of a decade or two ago.’ (p. 76)

Summary •  Executive Council:

v  Written communication: Chinese and English v  Spoken communication: usually Cantonese

•  Civil service: v  Written communication: mainly English v  Spoken communication: mainly Cantonese

•  Legislative Council: v  Proceedings: Cantonese v  Documents: Chinese and English

•  Judiciary: v  Cases in higher courts conducted mainly in English v  Increasing use of Cantonese in higher courts since 1997 v  Cases in lower courts conducted mainly in Cantonese