Xenophobia - a social disease in Hong Kong

I have just finished the annual staff appraisal for my little department. One of my staff is a mainland resident working in Shenzhen office. During the appraisal interview, she said she wanted to learn more English from her colleagues in Hong Kong, since she supposed that we spoke better English. I was somehow embarrassed by that, since we have been complaining about our students' poor English proficiency for quite a long time. Before suggesting what should be done, I believe a fundamental question is yet to be asked by our society: What is language?

A nation's language is a part of its culture. By learning a foreign language, say English, you will gradually learn about the culture of English-speaking people. Once you have acquired a foreign culture, your "world view" will be broadened. Then you will start to question traditional values and customs, and push the society to progress. That helps to explain the passion on learning English amongst Chinese youngsters: they want to learn not only the language, but also the culture. Deep heart, they want to break free from the authoritative social environment. This is exactly the "Smart Power" Hillary Clinton is referring to, and it is working in China before she takes office.

Hong Kong people once did have such passion for foreign culture. That was during the 1960s to 70s. We listened to English songs and watched BBC's TV programmes. However, such momentum no longer exists nowadays. Our usage of English is confined within classrooms, exam venues and workplaces. Our English proficiency will inevitably suffer. What really frightens me is that little by little, our "world view" will be narrowed. We locked our own minds from outside and just care about what happens within this tiny SAR. Just look at all mainstream Chinese language newspaper and you will see that local news occupies more than 70-80% of their space. In short, this is xenophobia - fearing of anything outside our society.

Throughout history, any society showing signs of xenophabia marks its decline and fall. Athens after the Peloponnesian War and Rome after the Crisis of Third Century are fine examples. If we do not cure such a social disease, it will not be surprising to see this self-called "Asia's World City" being surpassed by Shanghai or Beijing in, say, the next century.