A misunderstanding over the government’s apparent ambitions to require taxi drivers learn Arabic has been a hot topic of discussion in recent days, and has even been a target of derision by some in the trade.

But the head of the University of Hong Kong’s Arabic programme, Amjad Refai, says this is actually a great idea for Hongkongers – and learning Arabic isn’t as difficult as some may think.

Chief Executive John Lee had said in his latest Policy Address that relevant sectors should provide service information in Arabic to lure in more Middle Eastern tourists, but officials have since clarified that this doesn’t mean cabbies will be expected to learn to converse in Arabic.

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau said on Monday that they just want more information to be made available in Arabic to help travellers find taxis or Muslim-friendly facilities more easily.

Transport chief Lam Sai-hung also said it would be a good thing if drivers could learn a few simple Arabic phrases such as greetings.

Refai agrees that learning to say hello: أهلاً (ahlaan) or thank you: شكراً (shkraan) isn’t the toughest thing in the world.

“I don't believe there is an easy language or there is a difficult language. There is no such thing,” he said.

The academic, who has written a textbook for people learning Arabic as a second language, says while learning a language that’s very different from the mother tongue of students makes things challenging, it’s far from insurmountable.

“We need to make an easy approach for the students,” Refai said. “I don't think Arabic is a difficult language – it's different… new… so students may face challenges and they need to [make] efforts to be familiar with it.”

Refai said more and more universities and even private schools here have been offering Arabic courses in recent years, and there was a spike in the number of students learning the language between 2016 and 2019.

However, he says since Covid hit, there has been a “shocking” decline in student numbers in Hong Kong in contrast to the mainland, where people seem to be more aware of the advantages of learning a language spoken in countries that are becoming increasingly important trading partners both to the territory and the nation.

“I was expecting that everyone will try to compete to learn Arabic and the numbers are increasing but I don't see this on ground,” Refai lamented.

“In [the] mainland for decades we know the importance of Arabic language and nearly all universities – even the regional universities – teach Arabic as majors, and a lot of students are studying Arabic on the mainland because they can see the potential of the Arab world.”

He says the advent of artificial intelligence may have affected peoples’ appetite for learning new languages, as AI makes translation and communications much easier. But he’s still shocked that people here aren’t seizing the career opportunities that would be afforded by learning Arabic.

“It's still a decent amount of people are learning Arabic, but less than the years I'm talking about – 2016 and 2019 – which has not only surprised me, it shocked me actually, because the Hong Kong and China governments, as part of the initiative of the New Belt and Road, are extending hands towards the Arab world.”

He says the best way to learn a new language is via in-person classes, where teachers can best use the human element to communicate face-to-face with their students.