Public participation of ethnic minorities due to the official language of Hong Kong

Hong Kong is now adopting both Chinese and English as official languages. Although English is more privileged in many circumstances, Chinese is also critical in public participation in government. It is observed that the current official language policy has prevented ethnic minorities in joining civil service.

Since the handover of Hong Kong, between 1997 and 2011, the Hong Kong civil service did not hire any ethnic minority as new recruits. Before handover, the language requirement for being a civil servant can be solely by English. Therefore ethnic minorities can pass the aptitude test and interview despite they have poor Chinese. However, since the revision of civil service recruitment requirements in 2003 which unified the language requirements for all applicants and raising the required Chinese standards, the door to civil service shut for most of the ethnic minorities. It is not the ethnic minorities wrong to have poor Chinese standard. The local education system is not effective in helping the ethnic minorities who are learning Chinese as a second language to be capable in exercising their civil rights and responsibilities. 

There are around 450000 ethnic minorities live in Hong Kong, which accounts for 6.4% of population. Yet, there is insufficient representation of ethnic minorities in both executive and legislative powers. There is no ethnic minority legislative councilor in LegCo as well as in Executive Council. It is difficult for ethnic minorities to voice out their opinions on policy making and this undermines their participation in public affairs as well.

The government is passive in helping ethnic minorities to adapt to Chinese-speaking environment. Fortunately, there are many non-governmental organizations offer helps and fight for the rights of ethnic minorities. For example, Hong Kong Unison has successfully urged the Hong Kong Police Force to revise the recruitment procedures for police constables and probationary inspectors in 2011. It now consider other language proficiency for ethnic minorities like Indian, Pakistan apart from English and Chinese competency. It has launched a pilot scheme in 2011 to hire ethnic minority youths as Police Community Liaison Assistants in 5 selected police districts. Ethnic minorities is part of our society and they should be inclusive in our society. It is certain that their rights should be protected. I hope that government can really provide flexibility in language policy for ethnic minorities. Only With equal opportunities and hope, ethnic minorities can build their roots and sense of belonging in Hong Kong. 

Reference:

Now TV. (2013). 王惠芬：政府予少數族裔資助用不得其所. Retrieved from http://hk.news.yahoo.com/video/%E7%8E%8B%E6%83%A0%E8%8A%AC-%E6%94%BF%E5%BA%9C%E4%BA%88%E5%B0%91%E6%95%B8%E6%97%8F%E8%A3%94%E8%B3%87%E5%8A%A9%E7%94%A8%E4%B8%8D%E5%BE%97%E5%85%B6%E6%89%80-042601962.html

Hong Kong Unison (2013). Civil Servant Recruitment Policy. Retrieved from
http://www.unison.org.hk/CivilServantRecruitmentPolicy.php