[lg policy] Who, really, are Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities?

Wed Apr 5 14:09:54 UTC 2017

 Who, really, are Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities? No policy can work without
understanding

Chura Thapa says the government policy for social integration not only
lacks finesse and focus, but also does not take into account the importance
of preserving the cultural identities of the groups
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 04 April, 2017, 2:12pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 04 April, 2017, 9:02pm

Comments: 25
<http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2084614/who-really-are-hong-kongs-ethnic-minorities-no-policy-can#comments>
[image: Chura Thapa] <http://www.scmp.com/author/chura-thapa>
Chura Thapa <http://www.scmp.com/author/chura-thapa>
0Share
<https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=http://sc.mp/Xfih41&title=Who,%20really,%20are%20Hong%20Kong%E2%80%99s%20ethnic%20minorities?%20>
<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http://sc.mp/Xfih41&text=Who,%20really,%20are%20Hong%20Kong%E2%80%99s%20ethnic%20minorities?%20&via=SCMP_News>
<https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=http://sc.mp/Xfih41&title=Who,%20really,%20are%20Hong%20Kong%E2%80%99s%20ethnic%20minorities?%20>
<https://www.linkedin.com/cws/share?url=http://sc.mp/Xfih41&title=Who,%20really,%20are%20Hong%20Kong%E2%80%99s%20ethnic%20minorities?%20>
<https://plus.google.com/share?url=http://sc.mp/Xfih41&title=Who,%20really,%20are%20Hong%20Kong%E2%80%99s%20ethnic%20minorities?%20>
<http://service.weibo.com/share/share.php?url=http://sc.mp/Xfih41&title=Who,%20really,%20are%20Hong%20Kong%E2%80%99s%20ethnic%20minorities?%20>

25
<http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2084614/who-really-are-hong-kongs-ethnic-minorities-no-policy-can#comments>
Print
<http://www.scmp.com/print/comment/insight-opinion/article/2084614/who-really-are-hong-kongs-ethnic-minorities-no-policy-can>
Email
<http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2084614/who-really-are-hong-kongs-ethnic-minorities-no-policy-can>
Related topics
Ethnic minorities in Hong Kong
<http://www.scmp.com/topics/ethnic-minorities-hong-kong> Hong Kong schools
<http://www.scmp.com/topics/hong-kong-schools>
Related Articles
[image: US Consul General Kurt Tong says visa applications from Muslims in
Hong Kong will be treated with utmost fairness. Photo: K. Y. Cheng]
<http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2080164/hong-kong-based-pakistanis-planning-study-america>
* Education & Community
<http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community> * Pakistanis worry
about situation in America despite reassurance
<http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2080164/hong-kong-based-pakistanis-planning-study-america>
18
Mar 2017
[image: Constable Ifzal Zaffar received plaudits from throughout the world.
Photo: Facebook]
<http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2079933/hero-hong-kong-police-officer-who-made-headlines>
* Education & Community
<http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community> * Meet the hero
Hong Kong police officer who became a global sensation
<http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2079933/hero-hong-kong-police-officer-who-made-headlines>
18
Mar 2017
[image: Chief executive candidate Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor meets members
of the non-ethnic-Chinese community to understand their difficulties, at
Hong Kong Unison in Tai Kok Tsui on February 18. Photo: Felix Wong]
<http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2077116/hong-kong-needs-do-more-make-its-non-chinese-residents-feel>
* Insight & Opinion <http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion> * Next HK
chief executive must heed non-Chinese voices
<http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2077116/hong-kong-needs-do-more-make-its-non-chinese-residents-feel>
10
Mar 2017

In Europe, the drive for social integration rests on two clear principles:
one, to provide immigrant and minority groups with economic opportunities;
and, two, to preserve cultural and linguistic diversity. To this end, many
European governments allow minority children to be educated in their own
language, on top of learning the dominant one. For example, Turkish
minorities in Germany are allowed to run Turkish-language schools in the
areas where they live in large numbers.

ADVERTISEMENT

In Hong Kong, by contrast, the debate on how to integrate ethnic minorities
into society has largely focused on the learning of Cantonese language
skills. While it is important to develop Cantonese competency, the debate
misses a few critical issues.
*Is the diversity drive working for Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities?
<http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2059977/diversity-drive-working-hong-kongs-ethnic>*

First and foremost, it is important to recognise the rights of minority
groups to choose a medium of instruction and to preserve their heritage
language.
The government has failed to adopt defined criteria in identifying ethnic
minorities for integration

Ostensibly in Hong Kong, the government encourages ethnic minorities to
learn Chinese as a second language. Yet, at the same time, it promotes an
assimilationist agenda by pushing minority students into monolingual
Chinese-langauge schools, in the name of Cantonese learning and social
integration. This may have an adverse impact on these students’ cultural
identification and overall educational development.

Second, the government has failed to adopt clearly defined criteria in
identifying ethnic minorities for integration. At present, South Asians
appear to be the only minorities targeted in this way, without regard to
criteria such as their different socio-economic, linguistic or educational
levels. Meanwhile, other minority groups such as the British, Australians,
Japanese and Koreans are excluded.

For example, the Indian community is the most affluent among South Asian
groups, with a poverty rate of 9.7 per cent. As a comparison, the overall
poverty rate in Hong Kong is 15. 2 per cent, and that of the Pakistani
community is 50.2 per cent. Further, a majority of Indians in Hong Kong are
professionals, managers and administrators. Thus, in terms of
socio-economic circumstances, they are similar to the Australian, British,
Japanese and Korean communities here. Yet, they are treated differently.
*Discriminatory language abounds in describing Hong Kong’s ethnic
minorities
<http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/2060050/discriminatory-language-abounds-describing-hong>*

Opinion
Get updates direct to your inbox
E-mail *
By registering you agree to our T&Cs <http://www.scmp.com/terms-conditions>
& Privacy Policy <http://www.scmp.com/privacy-policy>
*Hong Kong needs to do more to make its non-Chinese residents feel at home
<http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2077116/hong-kong-needs-do-more-make-its-non-chinese-residents-feel>*

Thirdly, it appears many Hong Kong Chinese do not respect or recognise the
value of ethnic diversity. The way District Court judge David Dufton was
verbally abused for jailing seven police officers convicted of assault
during the Occupy Central protests, with much of the criticism heaped on
his non-Chinese background, showed how murky the picture is when it comes
to the city’s embrace of cultural diversity.

The government should do better. First, it should clearly define ethnic
minorities. If it considers all non-Chinese people ethnic minorities, there
should be a clear mechanism to include members of these various communities
in different sectors of government structure.

Secondly, before it draws up a policy for social integration, the
government needs to take into consideration the different socio-economic
and educational backgrounds of the groups.

Despite its assimilative language policy, cultural diversity will remain in
Hong Kong. As such, in addition to its Chinese-language education policy,
the government needs to recognise the cultural and linguistic diversity of
the different ethnic groups, and come up with clear strategies for
maintaining their cultural identities. The complex dynamics of language
practices and teacher resources should not be ignored.

http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2084614/who-really-are-hong-kongs-ethnic-minorities-no-policy-can

-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its
members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or
sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who
disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write
directly to the original sender of any offensive message.  A copy of this
may be forwarded to this list as well.  (H. Schiffman, Moderator)

For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
listinfo/lgpolicy-list
*******************************************
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20170405/0ff5326d/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list