Examiner: Candidates, you have 12 minutes for your discussion. You may now start.

Student A: Shall we start the discussion?

Others: Yes, sure, why not.

Student A: Well, it seems that we have to discuss three things today. Shall we first discuss the part of which type of people are being discriminated against in Hong Kong, and the reason why? And we can discuss the other parts later. Personally, I have seen quite a bit of sex discrimination in Hong Kong.

Student B: Yes, I certainly feel that too. Just take a look at the advertisements in newspapers. There are jobs for women which specify things like height, looks, and age. I think this is quite unacceptable.

Student C: I am not agree. I think ... think ... many jobs are women's jobs now. Women easy find job. More easy than men. Like sales girl, models and re ... re ... re ... rece ... rece ...

Student A: Receptionists?

Student C: Yes.

Student A: Yes, I can see your point. It's true that some jobs are more available to women. But the question is, do you think top positions, like jobs in the managerial level, for example, are occupied by men?

Student C: Yes, I think. I think…

Student D: I think people from mainland China are being discriminated even more. Hong Kong People often make jokes of the Chinese immigrants, calling their nicknames, you know, all kinds of derogative terms. In fact, they laugh at their accent.

Student B: But you can't blame Hong Kong people. Mainlanders have different ideas about life. And don't forget, they are a burden to the Hong Kong economy.

Student A: Um ... A am not sure if I understand you exactly. Now, can you explain what you mean by they are a burden to the Hong Kong economy?

Student B: Well, let me out it this way. Most new immigrants to Hong Kong came to the territory with little money and money of them are not very educated. They are not skilled workers, either. So, they are not really marketable.

Student D: Keep some of them are very educated. In fact, not all of them are ... taken from.

Student B: But look at those who cross the border every day, don't you think ...

Student A: Hold on, everyone. I'm afraid we are a bit off the point. We are discussing which groups of people are being discriminated against, not about whether mainland Chinese are educated or not. Should we go back to the point whether mainland Chinese are discriminated against? Personally, I feel that there is some discrimination against them. But I think it is not very serious. Do you agree with me, Miss Wong?

Student D: I agree. I very agree that women are more dis…crim…inated.

Student A: I believe that people who have AIDS are also discriminated against. You know, people have misunderstandings about AIDS and because AIDS is such a deadly disease, even if they understand AIDS, they tend to be a bit uncomfortable when dealing with AIDS patients.

Student B: That's true. Hong Kong people are not given enough information on AIDS, and hence, they are very scared of AIDS patients.

Student D: Yes… AIDS is very danger. Many die from AIDS.

Student C: Not only that, AIDS can be transmitted easily.

Student B: Excuse me, that's totally not true, where did you hear this stuff? AIDS cannot be transmitted through air or daily contact.

Student A: Um… I think what Mr Chan said was AIDS can be transmitted not only through sexual contact but it can be transmitted through blood transfusion. I agree totally that AIDS patients are being looked at as "dangerous" by most people. There was a case in which an HIV carrier was fired from work.

Student D: And speaking of AIDS, I think cancer patients are also being looked down on. Many reports show that cancer patients cannot receive help and support.

Student A: Well, is seems that we all have our say, should we come to an agreement of which group of people are discriminated against in Hong Kong? We have mentioned women… and…

Student B: AIDS patients.

Student D: New Chinese immigrants and cancer patients.

Student A: Good, shall we discuss the reasons why and what the government can do to help these groups of people from being discriminated against? To me, ignorance and bias are the two major factors that cause discrimination. Some Hong Kong people are not very conscious of the society. They don't really care about others. Their utmost concern is money.

Student B: Yes, I agree with you. If a society's success depends on efficient, the sick, the disabled, and the unskilled new immigrants will be looked down on.

Student D: True. I think there is something to do with the government policy. Society lacks a good system…

Student A: And there isn't any social security system, right?

Student D: Right. The less advantaged people are not protected.

Student A: Not only that but the government do not spend a lot on educating the public. What do you think, Mr Chan?

Student C: No… idea.

Student A: Do you think public education is enough?
(SILENCE)

Student A: Do you think that the government has done enough to teach us what is correct?

Student C: No.

Student A: Well, maybe we can suggest to increase public awareness through education programmes. We should start with telling people it is not okay to discriminate against others. And this is not the right thing to do.

Student B: Or we can pass laws to protect the rights of those people.

Student A: But what exactly can we do to protect them?

Student B: We could make firing people with cancer or AIDS illegal.

Student A: Good idea.

Student D: In fact, we could ask the government to increase funding for those organizations which fight for those people.

Student A: By giving funding to privately-run organizations, they can reach out to a wider group of people so as to educate them or to help them. Another thing is, it is difficult to change the traditional social roles of men and women. What can we do about it? Any suggestions?

Student B: Well, it talks time for men to realise that women are not the ones who just stay home.

Student C: Yes.

Student D: Education will help. Start educating the kids about the equality from an early age will definitely help.

Examiner: Candidates, you have two minutes left.

Student A: Well, education will help. Organizing campaigns and exhibitions to introduce the concept of equal opportunity will also help to sweep away people's ignorance.

Student B: I think we have decided quite a few things.

Student A: Yes, now should we summarize what we have discussed so far? We have come to a decision that AIDS patients, cancer patients…

Student B: Chinese immigrants and women…

Student A: Are the groups of people being, in one way or the other, discriminated against in Hong Kong. The reasons are…

Student D: People in Hong Kong are ignorant and materialistic.

Student A: They are affected by some traditional values, which can be quite biased and difficult to get rid of. Besides, Hong Kong has a poor welfare system. This makes it harder to protect the less advantaged.

Student D: Yes, so we think the best way to help those people is to urge the government to set up laws, organize educational programmes and advertising campaigns to educate people about the importance of fairness and equal opportunity.

Student A: Good. It seems we have covered everything. Would anyone like to add something? If not, I think we can end here. Thank you everyone.

Announcer: That's the end of the cassette tape.