“The trilingual former colonies of Hong Kong and Macau, all of 440.7 square miles (1139.9 km^2) of land, are now the final lifeline of Cantonese’s quasi-official status.
Hongkongers know that their language is surviving on borrowed time, which, until very recently, was protected by the freedoms of thought, of speech, and of the media. Influencers and young people would openly mock Mainland Chinese loanwords, and high school graduates take the Hong Kong Diploma for Secondary Education (HKDSE), which has the only compulsory Cantonese-based oral examination in the entire world. Even though science courses are taught in English at HKU, the defiant establishment of Cantonese footholds has crept into the science scene.
Enjoying more creative input, spurred by contemporary issues, and egged on by popular demand, Dr. Mak and her fellow show writers steered the RTHK show to confront the intersection of science and society. They started bringing in experts to discuss the science behind crowd suppression tools and the bone trauma that may or may not have resulted from them. The series was renewed in early 2020, and they immediately set off writing scripts involving discussions of the science behind plagues, freedom, resistance and, given the delicate U.S.-China relationship, the curious case of America’s scientific dominance.
While most of the experts on the show were sympathetic to the protestors’ cause, Dr. Mak did not see this evolution as the politicization of science but instead, a necessary return to its essence. “We can’t detach science from daily life. Science not only is an intellectual pursuit but addresses the needs of the world.” “
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