Letter To The Editor

On Monday, the South China Morning Post published my letter to the editor on local educational issues. Here is the letter,

The recent letter, “ESF segregation contradicts idea of diversity,”April 24 is the latest in a steady stream of letters to the SCMP that prosecutes the motivations of international parents and students in
Hong Kong.  It is outrageous and incendiary to claim that these parents  “desire segregated education.”

Parents of international students are making educational choices based on a long term view of what is best for their children’s educational future, given that their schooling and in particular university, lies
beyond Hong Kong.  This logic is no different from that of international parents in any major global city and marks the key difference between the needs of the relocating international student
and the settling immigrant student.

Implying that segregation from local students is a desired outcome presumes a racist motivation that simply doesn’t measure up to close scrutiny.  It may well be that the judgmentalism in these letters
purporting to second-guess the motives of international parents belies a far, far greater threat to Hong Kong’s future as a diverse and cosmopolitan city than any current educational policies.

[tags] SCMP [/tags]