He grew up in Malaysia, the then British colony of Malaya, and was educated there, in the UK, China and Australia. Since then, Professor Andy Kirkpatrick's teaching career has spanned a number of different Asian countries and cities. Joining the Institute in January 2006, as a Professor at the Department of English with a major focus on research, he tells us a little bit about himself as well as his views on language policies and their pertinence to Hong Kong.

An unusual upbringing in Asia

SPEAKING IN PUTONGHUA, Professor Kirkpatrick began the interview in rather a pensive mood. “As a child, I saw my parents only eight weeks a year, as it was the custom for expatriate children to return to school in England. It was particularly hard on my mother. In those days, there were few things that expatriate wives were expected or allowed to do.”