Stanford University terminated their only Cantonese lecturer, over 3000 people signed petition to oppose the annihilation of the language

Because of the limited budget, Stanford University in California, US, discontinued their contract with the only Cantonese lecturer in the campus. With the Cantonese programme at the university on the verge of cancellation, over 3000 people has petitioned for the programme. The University has promised to provide 2 Cantonese courses in the coming academic year, but has yet to respond to the petition for lifetime contract for the lecturer.

According to Stanford Daily, Stanford University Language Centre has discontinued their contract with Dr Sik Lee Denning last December, to “lower the budget”. Dr Denning is the founding lecturer of the “Cantonese Programme”, teaching the subject for over 20 years.

The incident raised concern in the Stanford community. Jamie Tam, assistant professor in public health at Yale University, who studied undergraduate degree in Stanford, described the Cantonese Programme as life-changing, allowing her to keep in touch with Hong Kong. “The society is facing a larger issue: people no longer view Cantonese as their mother tongue and tradition, thinking all Chinese people speak the same language.” She said.

#Cantonese #Stanford #SikLeeDenning #HongKong

Source: StandNews #Jan14

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