Double standards: 04 (London)

I myself also exercise double standards when it comes to writing in Chinese.

My early days of learning Chinese were in Singapore in the 1960s when the script adopted was the traditional/complex script.  I then spent two years in Taiwan where they use the traditional script.  The evening classes in London that I’d attended in 1977 for my ‘A’ levels used the mainland Chinese simplified script and the pinyin romanisation system — both of which I had to master within the one academic year.

I still prefer the traditional script because it’s the kosher one (well, maybe not all the way to 1,000 years ago…), not a version watered down by the post-1949 mainland Chinese authorities in an attempt to reduce the illiteracy rate.  It’s also more descriptive/graphic (pictographic).  When it comes to writing the characters out by hand, however, I go for the simplified version.  

Sometimes one just needs to resort to double standards to survive.  Same principle as the one adopted by mainland China in simplifying the script.

(London)