Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. Since then a number of social, political, and economic incidents such as the Asian fi nancial crisis and the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) have an impact on the language use and language policy in Hong Kong. Against this wider social background, this paper traces the history of the complex language situation, reviews the relationships between Chinese Putonghua, Cantonese, and English in various social contexts, and explores the future positions of the languages and language varieties in Hong Kong people’s social life. The research finds that (1) while “biliteracy and trilingualism” is considered as the language policy of Hong Kong, the exact content of the policy is subject to different interpretations, and sometimes leads to debates and dispute; (2) Hong Kong people regard English as a very useful language and believe that it is important for children to learn English from early ages; (3) most Hong Kong people use Cantonese as their everyday language; (4) Putonghua gradually gains ground, but it still takes years to become part of the “mother tongue education”.