Top news
There was an important shift in strategy this past month. France must wait.
See Community relations below for details.

Government relations
With close to half of all Hong Kong dwellings subsidized by the state reported earnings account for only a portion of total income for many Hong Kong residents. If a true relationship between one's level of education (EARTH's proxy for minimum English language proficiency) and what one earns are to be understood, more data must be obtained.

After several telephone calls, emails, and finally a facsimile (pdf document - 56KB) EARTH received written acknowledgment from Hong Kong's Housing Department. No data has been forthcoming.

Community relations
Twenty Hong Kong Shatin District secondary schools were contacted. The idea was to introduce EARTH's newly developed supply teacher and tutoring service, discover how well HKLNA-Project statistics match-up with the social and educational reality of Hong Kong secondary schools, make some friends in the Education and Manpower Bureau at the grass-roots level, and introduce the HKLNA-Project. Full-email boxes, dysfunctional fax-machines, secretarial roadblocks, and language barriers resulted in only a single telephone interview with a secondary school principal. No one was hired, and the HKLNA-Project was never introduced. Twenty Shatin District secondary school principals will receive their first copy of the HKLNA-Project's Newsletter this month.

• Reaching Out Across the World-wide Web - Twenty new personalized letters of introduction and invitation were sent to twenty Hong Kong Shatin District Secondary School principals.
  
• The EPSON Foundation - EARTH is still waiting for a response to its invitation and request (pdf document - 60 KB) for funding from the EPSON Foundation. Receipt of EARTH's request was confirmed.
• CLARITY Hong Kong - Andrew Stokes, President, was asked to entertain a proposal (pdf document - 96 KB) of collaboration with regard to the development of Cantonese language software development. Though willing to make his staff available for software development consultation, no further interest was shown.
• Citations - The HKLNA-Project has been cited on the internet! Download this December 2003 report (pdf document - 216 KB) on Technology and Globalization by Team NEO under the guidance of Professor LEE Jae Seung, Department of International Economy and Trade Affairs, Seoul National University and the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security.
  

Website additions and maintenance

New additions

• Quality - Section IV entitled Language and Society was started this month. See Hong Kong's Principal Trade Partners for the first addition to this new section. The need for the English language in Hong Kong is even less than previously estimated.
  
• Tsong Kit - Chapter 2 of Part II was completed and uploaded.
  

Maintenance

• Additional minor changes.

Software update

• No new updates.

Strategy Update
EARTH's first priority with regard to the HKLNA-Project is to continue development of the section entitled Quality Assessment. Who knows, if Hong Kong's Housing Department keeps its promise EARTH might very well be able to complete its study on the relationship between income and Hong Kong's minimum secondary school language reqirements, as well.

Acknowledgments
This month special thanks go to my mother who enjoyed her 79th birthday on February 26. Professor Dr. Peter P. Baron also came through with another translation project for EARTH. To everyone else, EARTH is still waiting for your support of the HKLNA-Project.

Closing Remarks
If you would like to provide support to the HKLNA-Project but are unable to donate to the HKLNA-Project Fund, then at least hire EARTH to provide you with the best in telecommuted translation. Surely many ProZ.com translators would also be grateful. See EARTH's translation services' promotional material or better yet visit EARTH's homepage.

Sincerely,

R. A. Stegemann
hsmr@pacific.net.hk