Form Stephen Hung:

According to many Chinese language experts, mainlander scholars
included (those who are courageous to speak out), thesimplified Chinese
is a MISTAKE.

The mistake is not about the simplification idea itself. It's about how
it has been simplified. Traditional Chinese writing is based on "xiang
xing 象形" (symbols). While many of these simplified versions may seem
easy to write, but they are confusing if not misleading in many
circumstances as some common "bu shou 部首" (the key part of a word) may
carry completely different meanings. Another hidden problem is, many
embedded Chinese culture will be "lost in translation"(read
over-simplification) and the future
generations (should I say, NOW?) will never be able to understand or appreciate them any more.

Pushing to eliminate the traditional Chinese is a more serious MISTAKE
than adopting the simplified version as supported by a regime which has
just been in power for about 50+ yrs in a civilization which dates back
a few thousand years of history (of which none of the dynasties banned
a certain style of writing)!

If the motivation is about politics, then it's a serious CRIME.

Stephen
(A die-hard traditional Chinese user)