Bureau defends use of ‘critical thinking’ following ANM criticism

Local democrat group New Macau Association’s (ANM) disagreement with the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau’s (DSEJ) word choice in referring to the Chinese term for “critical thinking” is among the numerous opinions the bureau has so far obtained, a bureau official has told the media.
The remarks were made by Cheong Man Fai, head of the bureau’s Department of Youth, on the sidelines of a seminar on non-higher tertiary education and youth affairs. The department head was asked for a comment on the word choice.
Led by the DSEJ, the public consultation period for the Macau Youth Policy (2021-2030) has recently ended. The public consultation text formed the basis of the debate on the Chinese term for the concept.
In the current public consultation text, the education regulator has opted for a lighter Chinese term to refer to “critical thinking” which, the ANM considers, trivializes the idea. The ANM even worries that the trivialization will, at the end of the day, raise up “slaves and robots” in the future.
To support its argument, the association emphasized that independent thinking and critical spirit are the core essential elements of the cultivation of innovative thinking, diversified development, and a global perspective.
The current Chinese term, according to the ANM, has no direct connotation with the English counterpart. The Chinese term used by the government is “the ability to examine and distinguish.”
Cheong explained that the decision was made when the bureau was compiling the public consultation text, as it heard comments that the Chinese term mostly used as the equivalent to the English term “critical” carries “implications of negation, opposition, defiance and conflicts.”
For decades, the English term has been translated or referred to in Chinese with implications of practicing question and judgment. The government’s word choice, according to Cheong, is “more accurate.”
Cheong further explained that the government’s Chinese term “focuses on enrichment of knowledge and independent thinking, which has no conflict with the term ‘critical thinking’.”
“Prudence and distinguishment between right and wrong are the premise of independent thinking,” the education official further explained. She added that the change was made necessary as progress has been seen in society.
The government had opted for the decades-old version in its consultation text eight years ago.
In contrast, the education official considers the decades-old Chinese term “[having] restricted the thinking of youths,” implying that the government sees itself as liberating future youths’ mentalities.
Stressing that the government’s word choice has strong support, the education official put off the debate and requested members of the public to focus on the overall picture instead of “getting too obsessive with and stuck on a particular term.”
Furthermore, Cheong was not worried about the impact caused by the argument raised by the ANM, as it is one of many opinions obtained by the education bureau.