CE Dodges 'frivolous' Query On Her Mother Tongue

Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Thursday refused to be drawn into a row about the status of Cantonese in Hong Kong, dodging a question in Legco about whether the language – or dialect – is her mother tongue.

Social Welfare sector lawmaker Shiu Ka-chun raised concerns about an Education Bureau document which quotes a mainland official as saying that Cantonese is only a dialect and therefore it cannot be someone's mother tongue.

Shiu asked Lam during a CE question-and-answer session what her mother tongue is. But she refused to give an answer, saying the question was "frivolous".

Lam went on to say that some people have been hyping up the issue by focusing on just two or three lines of a 2013 Education Bureau document.

She said Hong Kong people speak Cantonese every day and therefore the issue is a non-starter and society should not waste time debating it.

The CE added that the government has no plans to change the city’s language policy in schools.

Lam also said that there is room for improvement in English standards in Hong Kong, urging people to read more books in the language.