After Liberal Studies having been taught at school for ten years, its merit was wiped off at a stroke, which is lamentable. Yet, interestingly enough, the Education Bureau did not simply rescind the subject. Though the academia criticized the government early on for removing Liberal Studies de facto, the Bureau refused to admit “rescinding the subject”. It seemed that it was possible for Liberal Studies to be preserved. Before long, the Bureau hurried over renaming the subject, disbanding the Liberal Studies Curriculum Committee, and replacing it with a newly established commission named “Committee on the Retitled(重新冠名) Subject”. By common sense, if Liberal Studies is to be preserved without much change, what it takes is just slight amendment to the name of the original committee, and the body does not have to be disbanded. But the Bureau decided to rescind both the name and the committee! Whether Liberal Studies is going to be preserved is pretty bemusing!

What is also interesting is the novel name - “the Committee on the Retitled Subject” - given to the commission. What does “title” (冠名) mean? I have heard of “title sponsorship”, but have never seen an academic subject associated with “title”. Can the word be used this way?

According to my elementary knowledge of the word, it means a rank or status of a person, championship, being the first or in the lead. For example, the name a woman wants to be addressed after marriage is her title, like “Chan Fang On-sang”, in which her husband’s surname is put before hers. Commercially, there is this “title sponsorship”, which came into being quite late, but is heard very often. It is called “title sponsorship”, quite a high-profile propaganda campaign, if sponsor’s brand name is placed before the name of an event or programme, such as “XXX carnival”, “XXX football match”, etc. Since a brand name is put before an event name, it is called “title”.

Baidu online encyclopedia explains “title” this way: “It is a specific form of advertising, and usually refers to an enterprise making use of phased propaganda strategy in order to raise public awareness and influence of itself, its products and brands.” When elaborating on “title sponsorship”, it specifically mentions: “putting certain name before another”. Obviously, “title” means placing a prefix before a name.

Now that Liberal Studies needs to be “retitled”, please don’t tell me the Bureau is looking for a sponsor, then going to rename it as “XXX Liberal Studies”. If this is really the case, potential sponsors will queue up for it, as it is a compulsory subject for all senior secondary school students! Of course, I ‘ve been kidding. The truth is the actual English name of the commission is Committee on the Renamed Subject. Rename simply means giving another name. It has nothing to do with “title”.

Chinese language is wide-ranging and profound. If “title” carries any profound meaning I am ignorant of, comment and criticism by the Education Bureau is welcomed. However, if it is a careless mistake made by officials, the Bureau is advised to amend it, and stop using this novel yet improper name, lest the public and a great number of students might be misled.

(Ip Kin-yuen, former LegCo member)

Click here for Chinese version

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