No plans to extend ‘simplified’ coverage

In response to more than 10,000 letters of complaint delivered to TVB after it began using simplified Chinese characters in its Mandarin news broadcast, TVB deputy director Tsang Sing-­ming clarified that the station has no plans to extend the change to other programs on the channel.
Critics were angered by what they saw as an attempt to increase the mainland’s interference in the local, cultural autonomy of Hong Kong. They argued that, as TVB holds a Hong Kong license, it should serve the people of Hong Kong.
Those opposed to the change had their limits tested again last week after it became known that the Education Bureau’s latest consultation document specified that students in Hong Kong should learn to read simplified Chinese characters.
HKSAR’s Secretary for Education, Eddie Ng Hak-kim, denied any political intent behind the proposal, accusing opposing factions of seeking to encourage dissent. He clarified that the policy had been declared as a goal in the Chinese Language Education Key Learning Area Curriculum Guide in 2002.