Is mother-tongue education a failure?

School policy is not a failure, seven-year study shows, but it has let down students seeking university places

The mother-tongue education policy is not helping students gain entrance to university, the author of a seven-year tracking study said yesterday.

Tsang Wing-kwong said his studies on the school careers of the first two years of students affected by the policy showed that English had become the "educationally profitable linguistic capital". He is a Chinese University professor of education and associate director of the Institute of Educational Research.

As students needed to pass the English A-level to qualify for university, those who did not study other subjects in the language were at a distinct advantage, with those who studied in Chinese up to the end of secondary school only around 30 per cent as likely to qualify.

"I wouldn't say [mother-tongue education] has failed," Professor Tsang said. "But my conclusion is that if gaining access to university education is one of the primary objectives of secondary education, then [it] has proved to be not serving the best interests of its clients."

Although Professor Tsang officially released his results from the third round of the study yesterday, the main findings had been extensively leaked and widely reported several weeks in advance.

The study followed the performance of 37,277 students who entered Form One in 1998 and 1999 until they completed A-levels in 2005 and 2006. The latest results compare the students' A-level scores, taking into account the effect of their gender, prior achievement level, socio-economic background, and the average academic performance and social background of other students in their schools.

Although students in Chinese-medium schools performed better in some areas, particularly earlier in school, it was "an uneven trade-off" that was outweighed by poorer English, Professor Tsang said. "You lose more in the use of English A-level but gain less than that in Chinese-language and culture. The trade off in performance is about half."

Students who studied in Chinese-medium schools throughout secondary almost did not display any advantage at all. The only exception was geography, in which students continued to outperform their English medium counterparts right through to the A-levels.

And although those who switched to using English during their secondary school careers fared better, the ones who did so earlier were also at an advantage. "And you can say that changing [to English] at Form Six is basically a disaster," Professor Tsang said. "The indicators are all negative."

The Education Bureau is consulting secondary schools to look at ways to "fine tune" the medium of instruction policy - apparently to blur the clear-cut distinction between English and Chinese-medium schools. The results are expected to be released before the summer break.

The bureau said it welcomed the results from Professor Tsang's study, but it was not appropriate to comment without studying the content and recommendations.

However, it added that the number of students from Chinese-medium schools gaining passes in at least five subjects, including Chinese and English, in last year's HKCEEs was 10.6 per cent higher than in 2002 and up 1.9 per cent on 2006.

SCMP. Mar 15, 2008

NBA - 10 Greatest shooting guards of all time

1. Michael Jordan

Teams: Chicago Bulls (1984-93, 1995-98), Washington Wizards (2001-03)

Titles: 6 (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998)

Honors: 14-time All-Star, 5-time MVP (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998), 6-time Finals MVP, Rookie of the Year (1985), Defensive Player of the Year (1988)

The player: The standard by which all other players are measured.

Air Jordan was the most skilled, most athletic, toughest, meanest, most inspirational and most competitive of all the shooting guards who have ever played the game. He dominated both ends of the floor. He also was the biggest winner and perhaps the greatest clutch player in history.

The credentials -- and pictures -- speak for themselves: six championship rings, five MVP awards, six Finals MVP awards, one defensive POY award. And his career numbers were otherworldly, most notably 32,292 points (third all time) and a 30.1 points per game scoring average (first). Oh, and he averaged 20 points and six rebounds as a 40-year-old! Only his last two seasons in Washington kept him from shooting more than 50 percent for his career.

Continue to read at ESPN

Final Potter film 'split in half'

The seventh and final Harry Potter novel will be adapted for the big screen in two parts, reports suggest.

Producer David Heyman told the Los Angeles Times it had been impossible to cram Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows' 608 pages into a single movie.

"Unlike every other book, you cannot remove elements of this book," he said.

Fans of the series have been left disappointed in the past when key scenes, including Quidditch matches, were excised for the film adaptations.

Star Daniel Radcliffe told the Los Angeles Times that splitting the final book in two was the only sensible option for the film-makers.

'Pounding story'

"There have been compartmentalised subplots in the other books that have made them easier to cut - although those cuts were still to the horror of some fans," he told the paper.

"The seventh book doesn't really have any subplots. It's one driving, pounding story from the word go."

According to film trade paper Variety, the final two films will be shot back to back.

The first will reportedly be released in November 2010, with the second part hitting screens the following May.

The Kill Bill strategy of releasing two instalments will also boost profits at film studio Warner Bros.

The first five movies have made $4.5 billion (£2.2 billion) worldwide - making it the biggest film franchise in box office history, surpassing both James Bond and Star Wars.

Filming for the sixth chapter in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, began in September last year.

It is being directed by David Yates, who will also helm the final two films.

BBC News.

The first MP3 player celebrates its 10th birthday

Odds are, you take your iPod or Zune for granted. You probably don't think about the crazy technological advancements we've made, but take a ten-year look back at the world's first MP3 player -- the MPMan F10 -- and you'll get a sense of just how far we've come. Manufactured by Korea's Saehan Information Systems, the device was launched in March of 1998 at CeBIT, and went on sale in the Summer through Eiger Labs for $250. The player featured 32MB of flash memory (which could be upgraded to 64MB via mail-in scheme), connected to PCs via parallel port, and had a miniscule LCD for playback info -- but it laid the groundwork for the tech we have today. Following the MPMan's release, Rio unleashed its PMP300, which received a warmer reception and all-but eclipsed the F10's status as "first" amongst players, likely due to the company's well-known (and groundbreaking) legal battle against the RIAA. Still, first is first, so help keep the MPMan's rich history alive, and celebrate its ten-year anniversary this month with campfire songs and story-telling. Check out the archived read link of the original Eiger Labs site for a wild and wacky trip through time.

The Register.

Cable TV to show Olympics on Net for free

Internet users will be able to view live and recorded Olympic action free in August, Cable TV announced yesterday.

Cable TV, the official "new media broadcaster" in Hong Kong for the Olympics, said four streaming internet channels would be devoted to the Games, including live coverage of Hong Kong and mainland athletes.

It is also discussing with mobile phone operators the possibility of extending the service to all its users that have a WiFi connection.

"Hong Kong's comprehensive telecommunications network and proliferation of mobile audio-visual devices will provide an effective platform for us to distribute our programmes to everyone at every corner, around the clock," said Cable TV executive director Benjamin Tong. "You can watch the Olympic programmes anywhere, anytime.

"There will be over 4,000 hours of live coverage from the Beijing Games broadcaster, which should accommodate all action with Hong Kong athletes. We have employed a team of sports experts, most of them retired athletes, for live commentary."

Mr Tang said his company had made a significant investment in improving its equipment to avoid congestion on the internet when viewers accessed the programmes.

Charles Mok, chairman of the Internet Society, said with the government opening wireless internet connections in public facilities this summer, more of Hong Kong's 5 million internet users were set to watch the Games through the new media platform.

Of the four channels, one will focus on Hong Kong and mainland athletes and one on other international competitors. The remaining channels will feature highlights. The commentary will be in Cantonese.

Users will also be able to access a library of footage, enabling them to watch interviews and related coverage inside and outside the venues.

Cable TV has also secured exclusive TV and new media broadcasting rights for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

SCMP. Mar 12, 2008

Old Tai O police station to be preserved

The old police station in Tai O is to be given a facelift but its colonial architecture and bullet marks borne from the second world war will be retained under a revitalisation scheme.
Built on a hill at Tai O on Lantau in 1902, the two-storey, concrete-and-brick building offers a clear view of the sea between Hong Kong and the mainland.

The police station was responsible for monitoring safety at sea, especially the activities of illegal migrants and pirates, for more than a century, until it was closed in 1996 because of the low crime rate in Tai O.

After lying idle more than 10 years, the building has been earmarked by the government to be turned into a boutique hotel, cafe-cum-museum or a centre for ecotourism.

Ten NGOs yesterday visited the site as potential operators of the building after renovation.

The successful applicant will receive a government subsidy of up to HK$5 million.

Fione Lo Sau-lai, curator of the heritage and museums division of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, said the operator would have to preserve certain features of the building.

"This building is very typical of British colonial architecture," Ms Lo said.

"Its platform was raised several feet from the ground because of the humid climate of Hong Kong.

"And for defence purposes, steel or extra-thick wooden window bars and screens were installed on every floor. These features have to be maintained and revitalised."

She said the bullet marks on one of the steel window screens were said to have been made by Japanese soldiers who tried to take over the police station in the second world war.

Other features to be retained and revitalised include the armoury, two searchlights, the lookout tower, arched corridors, verandas connecting the main building with the rest of the complex, the two cells in the report room, wooden ceilings and floors, and the fireplaces in every room. Rooms were furnished according to the rank of the 17 or so police officers stationed there, said Carmen Wong Ka-man, assistant curator of the Antiquities and Monuments Office.

She said in the colonial era there was a clear differentiation between classes, based on race. Most frontline jobs went to Indians, clerical work to the Chinese and senior roles to Europeans.

The senior staff rooms that occupied the upper floor were larger and had a bathroom, fireplace and French windows. There was also a clubhouse, known as the Parrot's Nest with stained glass French windows, carpets and a bar.

Ms Lo said any changes made to the building after the renovation would have to be approved by the government.

Other sites in the scheme to revitalise buildings are the old Tai Po police station, Lui Seng Chun tenement building in Mong Kok, Lai Chi Kok Hospital, North Kowloon Magistracy in Sham Shui Po, Fong Yuen Study Hall in Ma Wan and Mei Ho House in Shek Kip Mei.

SCMP. Mar 11, 2008

Disney will Animate for Japanese TV

Entertainment giant Walt Disney Co. will team up with several Japanese companies to produce animation for television in Japan, a leading market, a Disney official said Thursday.

Disney will work with Toei Animation Co., Madhouse Co. and Jinni's Animation Studios, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity to comply with company rules.

The move was aimed at localizing contents of Disney products for a wider audience, she said.

"We need to make contents which fit the Japanese market to further boost the popularity of Disney in Japan," she said.

With Madhouse, Disney will produce a 30-minute TV program Stitch!, an offspring of the Lilo & Stitch series, to be aired in Japan, the official said, adding that the company has not decided when the show will go on air.

A Japanese girl named Hanako will play Stitch's sidekick in the new show and the imaginary story will take place in a southern Japanese island, instead of in Hawaii as in the original, the company said in a statement.

With Jinni, Disney will make a short animation Fireball, which will go on air in April on Disney's cable channel and Tokyo Metropolitan Television, according to the official.

Disney will produce a short animation Robodz for television with Toei Animation, expected to be aired in June, she said.

The company had announced a tie-up with Toei Animation in 2006, but the partnerships with Madhouse and Jinni were announced for the first time Thursday, she said.

The moves allow Disney, based in Burbank, Calif., to tap local talent and computer graphics technology to produce programs in Japan. Disney has no immediate plans to air the programs in other countries, but it is eyeing overseas markets, she said.

Disney has its own animation and movie channels in more than 100 countries, including Japan, where it launched Disney Channel in 2003. The company also started offering a cellular phone service here this month.

The company said that it has produced TV series and films in other countries, denying reports this was the first time Disney has gone offshore with the core production processes for major programs.

Disney could expand partnerships with other companies, the official said.

Time.

Limited iPod Nano "Exploded" Edition

A user at Niketalk forums posted up these images of an iPod Nano that went up in smoke. The forum user, MJair was awoken at 2a.m. by the fire alarm going off. On a quick panicked inspection of the room, an "orange glow" near his PS3 was seen. That orange glow was nothing less than a fire, approximately a foot wide in length, which was said to be rapidly spreading. Luckily, neither MJair or his PS3 were harmed, but the source of the fire seems to have been his first gen iPod nano.

Gizmodo.com