HKLNA-Project Newsletter No. 6
Monthly Accomplishments (March 2003)
If you cannot enjoy the detours of life,
what will you be like by the time you finally make it to your goal?
Government Relations
After numerous telephone calls and email exchanges EARTH paid another visit to Hong Kong's Education and Manpower Bureau. There it was learned that government endorsement is still possible pending the submission of further background information. It took a full five months to learn what was needed, but alas, there is still hope.... By the way, EARTH also learned recently that the Assistant Principal Secretary who was present when EARTH first presented the HKLNA-Project has been transferred to another branch of government.
Community Relations
No response appears to be Hong Kong's preferred way of saying "No" to requests that one cannot meet or would rather not. Thus, persistence and follow-up are the only remedy to obtaining a firm answer and possible information about how one might otherwise obtain a more positive outcome. Both appear to be paying off. EARTH has recently teamed up with two other Hong Kong research and consulting firms to examine the issue of Hong Kong Higher Education Reform. More news on this matter will not be forthcoming until money begins flowing. We are expecting something later in April.
Fund Raising
As much of what the HKLNA-Project would like to achieve depends on its ability to assess the degree to which English language attrition in Hong Kong is taking place, further effort to apply for funding without government endorsement may be wasted effort. On the other hand, we are entering one of two seasons in which many donors accept applications. Thus, with the hope that government endorsement will be forthcoming, it may be wise to apply now anyway. EARTH is currently awaiting the outcome of the aforementioned public policy research project before making a decision in this regard.
Website additions and maintenance
Most of the changes that have taken place this past month have not been uploaded yet. EARTH's website, the home of the HKLNA-Project website is the current primary target of this revision. Some changes on the HKLNA-Project website have nevertheless taken place including
- an important reorganization of the section on Data Collection and a new block of data entitled Tourism under Graphs and Tables.
- a new article recently submitted to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post dealing with the issue of English language reform and Hong Kong's tourist trade has also been posted under Viewpoint on the Moogoonghwa website. The article is entitled "Throwing good money after bad".
- an expansion to the section entitled Glossary and other useful references, also under Data Collection. You may like to begin under the heading Acronyms.
As the course of Hong Kong higher education reform will impact on the eventual outcome of the HKLNA-Project, EARTH would also like to refer you to the new HERR-Project website. Once the project has received money, this website will be further developed.
Software Upgrade
Though hardly what EARTH truly needs in order to upgrade its website and perform statistical work for the HKLNA-Project, EARTH now owns its own registered copy of AppleWorks 6. This newsletter was produced with AppleWorks.
Strategy Update
A part of the coming month (April) will be spent on further satisfying the needs of the Education and Manpower Bureau, so as to obtain eventual government endorsement of the HKLNA-Project. Although it was initially feared that the SARS outbreak would hinder these efforts, Hong Kong's Central Library remains open, and limited one-day access to the CUHK Library System has been secured. Should the HERR-Project kick in, the HKLNA-Project will be set on the back-burner for six months, just about the time required for a funding application to be approved. So as to strengthen EARTH's seemingly endless fragile financial situation, EARTH's translation and proofreading service is receiving critical attention. As the HKLNA-Project's utlimate target audience is the much larger native Chinese population, EARTH's management will continue his self-learning of Cantonese in good stead.
Acknowledgments
This month's honors go to Christine LOH, Civic-Exchange, and Peter MANN, PM Consulting Ltd., for appreciating EARTH's potential to provide the Hong Kong community with professional research expertise. Special thanks are also to be given to Doris and Karl STEGEMANN for their continued life-saving financial support. Peter P. BARON and KIMIAKI Takagi must be remembered for their continued interest in EARTH's success. Letters of recommendation from HORIE Yuji, Japan, and Juha I. UITTO, UNDP, were also deeply appreciated. Further thanks should be extended to Colin NG for his willingness to open EARTH's eyes to what it is like to be a secondary student in a Hong Kong government school, and to Nicolaus COLANERO for having introduced him. Anne Suarez, American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, should not be forgotten for having brought EARTH and the HKLNA-Project just a little closer to those in Hong Kong who care. Continued thanks are given to Roger STEWART, Dr. SIU Hin Ho, and OKIYAMA Fumitoshi for their patience with regard to EARTH's outstanding financial commitments. Ms. YEUNG Y. C., Head of Circulation, CUHK Libraries and Dr. Tony LEE, Senior Researcher, Education and Manpower Bureau, are also to be thanked for their flexibility and resourcefulness in the face of tremendous bureaucratic constraints. Continued appreciation goes to the ProZ.com for their helpful hints and Karen CHOI of the German Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong for her spark of hope with regard to EARTH's other businesses. Finally, to everyone else who has found EARTH and the HKNLA-Project worthy of their attention and assistance, "Many Thanks".
Sincerely,
hsmr@pacific.net.hk
East Asian Research and Translation in Hong Kong
Post Office Box #385
Ma On Shan Post Office, Hong Kong, China
Tel/Fax: 852 2630 0349
http://homepage.mac.com/moogoonghwa/earth/