2015-08-24 HKT 17:49
Professor John Bacon-Shone (L) Photo: RTHK
A study by the University of Hong Kong has found that the number of trilingual speakers in Hong Kong has risen significantly over the past 20 years.
The university interviewed more than 2,000 people between August 2014 and January this year.
The results suggested that more people can now speak Cantonese, Putonghua and English, as compared to 1991, when the majority only spoke Cantonese.
However, the government has come under fire in recent years for playing down the importance of English by refusing to issue press releases or answer journalists' questions in English.
Professor John Bacon-Shone from the university's Social Sciences Research Centre said this was a step backward.
"Proficiency was a different issue from use", he said.
Citing the Financial Secretary John Tsang as an example, he said "I don’t think anybody is suggesting that [his] English is not good, he just simply chose not to use it".
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1207102-20150824.htm
