English or languish - Probing the ramifications
of Hong Kong's language policy

Navigation Guide

• Obsolete software
  
  This website, along with its host sites EARTH and Moogoonghwa, was built with Adobe Page Mill 3.0J. Though I am thankful to Adobe for having made it available when it was purchased, it is now obsolete and lacks many of the more advanced functions contained in current website publishing software. This is not an apology for my mistakes, just a warning to those looking for BMW style and handling from an old, top-line Japanese bicycle.
  
  
• Browser checks
  
  Most pages were checked with Internet Explorer 5.1 and/or Mozilla 1.2.1. On occasion I have forgotten to check with either. If you find an irregular page, please let me know.
  
  Before sending your alert, please copy the page's link (URL) and paste it into the body of your email. Also, please include the words "EARTH - problem page!" in the subject line of your email. No need to explain the error, EARTH will find the mistake on its own!
  
  
• Check before you click!
  
  This website was designed for both the cursory and careful reader. As a result you are strongly cautioned not to click anywhere you find a highlighted word or phrase without first checking to see where you are before you click. You might just want to return!
  
  Cursory reader - If you click and find yourself somewhere that you were not expecting and do not want to be, click on the Back Key in your browser menu. This will take you back to the page where you just were. Having arrived you may have to scroll around a little, but you can rest confident that you are on the right page. In short, if you keep clicking without thinking, your plight is likely to worsen.
  
  Careful reader - If you click and find yourself somewhere that you were not expecting, stop! Have a look around. You will likely find a link that leads you back to the very spot you were -- not just the top of the previous page. If you are unable to find the return link, before hitting the Back Key try looking at the top of the page or current section heading.
  
  Caution: Some links will force you back to the top of the previous page by default. I have noticed this on occasion while verifying with Internet Explorer. This is probably the fault of EARTH's obsolete software and my insufficient knowledge of HTML.
  
  
• HTML links advisory
  
  In general there are two sizes of highlighted text (HTML links) on each page.
  
  Large highlighted text - This text will take you to additional material related to the section in which the highlighted text is found.
  
  If you wish to return to where you just were, look for small highlighted text (in a few special cases large highlighted text) that bears the name of the page, section, or subsection (sometimes word) corresponding to where you just were.
  
  Small highlighted text - This text takes you to a location on a previous page, an index, or a body of material somewhat related to the page you are currently on. In general you should not click on small highlighted text unless you are lost, or you want to get back to where you just were and can remember the section name or the highlighted word from whence you came. Small highlighted text is also used for special pages or sections of pages.
  
  
• Special Words
  
  Highlighted areas with the words new window and/or website next to them open to new windows when you click on them. In most cases they lead to webpages with a complete different domain name (website owner). In some cases they open to new windows for ease of reference -- for example, the link to the Glossary of acronyms on the main index page.
  
  
• Last resort
  
  If you ever get so lost that even the Back Key on your browser does not help, go to the top of almost any page and click on the words data base index. This will take you back to the main index of the site.