On the Urgency of Decolonizing Hong Kong's Education System

Hong Kong education still fosters what psychologists term a 'colonial mentality': a sense of deficiency compared to anything Western.

"The more English you know, the more superior you are, this concept is rooted in my heart, possibly in other local people's mindset as well...The content of education focuses more on the West and touches little about the Third World and southeast Asia. The Western-centered education, also the superior status of English, is a result of the colonized history."

This searing admission from a local Hong Kong university student lays bare the lingering colonial mentality that still pervades the city over two decades after the supposed handover to China. Despite the grandeur of the 1997 ceremony, Hong Kong remains a prisoner of its colonial past, trapped in a education system and social milieu that elevates Western cultural imperialism as the epitome of progress.

The student's testimony reveals how generations of Hong Kongers have been inculcated with the insidious notion that command of the English language is a marker of superiority. This saddening premise does not merely undermine Chinese linguistic confidence, it strikes at the heart of Hong Kong's own cultural identity and self-worth. It is a mental schema borrowed from former British rulers who employed such ranking not just to ease their governance, but to cement an ideology of Western supremacy.

By design, Hong Kong's education system orients its youths toward the West while systematically disconnecting them from regional contexts. Students emerge with comprehensive knowledge of European history and scant understanding of Southeast Asia, the very region which birthed the Hongkonger diasporas over centuries of migration. This colonial chip on the cultural CPU mirrors the stunted geographic imagination imposed upon colonized minds the world over.

Decolonization must begin by amending these mental schemas that reduce Hong Kong’s history to a peripheral Western outpost, shorn of authenticity and indigenous consciousness. A wholesale curriculum overhaul is required, one that de-centers Eurocentric perspectives and uplifts Hong Kong's historical attachment to the Pacific maritime civilizations that flourished before European contact. Classes must chronicle the millennia of Chinese administrative and cultural roots in the region, as well as the territory's symbiotic relationship with southern Chinese cultures and traditional Lingnan identity.

In stark contrast to its current Anglocentric biases, a decolonized education system would immerse students in Cantonese linguistic roots, regional histories, and anthropologies of Southeast Asian, West Asian, African and South American peoples. The objective is not only the reversal of colonial hierarchies, but the grounding of Hong Kong's identity in a sphere of complex societies too often obscured and neglected under the dominance and centrality of the White European identity.

The deep-rooted colonial mentality in Hong Kong, as articulated by the university student, not only elevates the English language to a status of implied superiority but also perpetuates a pervasive sense of ethnic inferiority among the local population. The enduring legacy of colonialism in Hong Kong has also manifested in deeply ingrained colorism, a form of discrimination based on skin tone that perpetuates the colonial-era belief that lighter skin is superior.

Colorism in Hong Kong, as in many post-colonial societies, elevates lighter skin as a symbol of beauty, success, and social status, while darker skin is often unjustly associated with lower socio-economic standing and negative stereotypes. This discriminatory mindset stems from the colonial period when European rulers, characterized by their lighter skin, positioned themselves as the epitome of civilization and authority. The social hierarchy they imposed was not just metaphorical but was also literally color-coded, with those closer to the colonizers in skin tone often receiving preferential treatment in terms of jobs, education, and legal standing.

Addressing this form of discrimination is integral to the broader project of decolonization. As we work towards dismantling the colonial hierarchies embedded within our linguistic and cultural education, we must also confront and challenge the insidious color biases that continue to divide our society. Only then can we pave the way for a truly inclusive educational reform that acknowledges and values the rich diversity of our community.

The process of decolonization will be intergenerational and will demand the summoning of extraordinary moral and historical courage. But it is a necessary metamorphosis if Hong Kong is to ever emerge from its self-imposed colonial purgatory as a society at peace with its histories and geographies. The starting point is to abolish the English/Western supremacist mindset, for as long as it endures, real decolonization can never begin.