A recent controversy at one of Hong Kong’s leading secondary schools has reignited the longstanding debate over the role of language in the city’s cultural identity. Good Hope School faced public backlash after issuing guidelines that prohibited the use of Cantonese in graduation video submissions, allowing only English and Mandarin. Students were told that any Cantonese audio detected would be muted and replaced with sound effects.
The school quickly responded to the criticism, activating its crisis management team and issuing an apology to students and the wider community. It emphasized that constraining students’ use of their mother tongue was never its intention and reaffirmed its support for Cantonese, which is spoken by the vast majority—approximately 95 percent—of Hong Kong’s population. The principal explained that the problematic slide containing the language directive had not been properly reviewed before release.
Language policy in Hong Kong has historically been intertwined with politics and cultural identity. For much of its colonial past, Chinese was not recognized as an official language until 1974. Since then, debates regarding the promotion and preservation of different Chinese dialects and scripts have resurfaced periodically. For example, in late 2022, controversy arose when a school permitted the use of simplified Chinese characters in written assessments to accommodate new mainland students. This sparked opposition from figures such as former chief executive Leung Chun-ying, who insisted that students acclimate to traditional Chinese characters, consistent with local norms.
The Education Bureau’s earlier encouragement of simplified characters for primary pupils was also met with resistance, including from political leaders like Jasper Tsang Yok-sing. The city’s official language policy aims to develop biliteracy (traditional Chinese and English) and trilingualism (Cantonese, Mandarin, and English), and many observers warn against measures that might undermine this balance.
As Hong Kong assumes a renewed role as a commercial and cultural bridge with mainland China, the practicality of expanding Mandarin proficiency and understanding simplified Chinese characters is increasingly recognized. Officials including Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, have encouraged legislators to improve Mandarin skills—a suggestion seen as part of facilitating better communication without displacing Cantonese.
Hong Kong’s diverse cultural landscape and its status as an international city underpin efforts to maintain an inclusive society that embraces multiple languages and traditions. Government initiatives continue to promote local heritage, such as culinary customs and historic sites, alongside new celebrations like “Hong Kong Halloween Month,” reflecting the city’s evolving identity.
In this context, experts and community leaders advocate for encouraging Mandarin use as a valuable skill while protecting and respecting Cantonese’s central role in everyday life, consistent with the “one country, two systems” framework that safeguards Hong Kong’s unique linguistic and cultural character.