Investigating the racial discrimination situation towards (high-educated) Indians in Hong Kong

 

Dr Guneet Kaur is currently an assistant professor for Biology in Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), professional in biochemical engineering and waste processing. She is from India and she met her Hong Kong husband in the UK. After she finished her studies, she came to Hong Kong to teach in HKBU five years ago.

 

According to Dr Kaur, before she came to Hong Kong, she thought that Hong Kong was an international city with people of different races living together like Singapore, which meant there would be no severe racial discrimination here. She believed that the Chinese-Hongkongers here would be friendly to all races. Indeed, she did not face any racial discrimination, but she does often get gazed at when she goes to high-end stores. The salespeople there always stare at her or scan her from head to toe. Dr Kaur thinks that this action is improper because when it makes her feel uncomfortable and almost guilty to be there. She believes that those salespeople might be wondering if she could afford the products there. She thinks that even there is no serious racial discrimination in Hong Kong, locals still have the mentality that Indians are not rich or educated, and that Indians are at a lower social class. Since Hong Kong had been colonised by the UK and white people ruled Hong Kong for a considerable time, the prestige race in Hong Kong is by default Caucasians but not the local Chinese. This is the reason why Dr Kaur said, “Foreigners of different races will receive different services inside the same shop.” 

 

When I asked her what she thinks about how Hongkongers calling Indians “Ah Cha” and White people “Gwai Lo”, she gave me an unexpected answer. She said she personally has never been called “Ah Cha”, but when she knows the label exist, she did not resist it. She believes that even though the name “Ah Cha” is originally racist, it is also a name that unites a specific race of people together. She personally has nothing against the name. I believe this can also be seen through some Hongkongers as well. For example, teenagers nowadays often embrace the nickname of “Fai Ching” which mean useless teenagers. Also, during the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill movement last year, people who fight against the police and the government embrace the nickname “cockroach”, which was initially given by the police to humiliate protesters. Nicknames like these, though contain degrading connotations at first glance, have then become the representation of a group of people and even been reclaimed as their identity as well. Dr Kaur said that the name itself is a representation of what race she is and can remind her of her origin. She believes in most cases, Hongkongers say the name just because they want to pinpoint someone who is of a different race, instead of trying to discriminate him or her. She thinks that compared to other countries, for example, the US, where people would fight each other just because of their difference in race, calling someone with a nickname is a very mild and acceptable act for her. She thinks that places with different races will certainly create names for each other for specifying them from others, and over time, these name will lose their original colour and become part of the identity of the people who belongs to that specific group.

 

At last, I asked her about what she thinks of herself as a highly-educated Indian who lives and works in a Chinese-Hongkonger-based society. She said that even within the Indian society, there are a limited number of people who can receive higher education. She said that when she compares herself to the majority of Indians, she usually feels like an outsider. Moreover, the educated Indians do not come to Hong Kong, but go to places like the UK or stay in India. As a result, it is really hard for her to find someone who has a similar cultural background here. She further explained that although she is slightly different than the majority of Indians, she is very proud of her ethnicity. She does not think that the difference in the level of education can separate her from her people. They share common living habits and the same origin. In India, people divide themselves based on their religion or where they live. But in Hong Kong, despite the minor differences among Indians, they will gather together and join as one, which leads her to embrace her Indian identity more passionately. Having lived and worked in Hong Kong for 5 years, she has adapted to the culture of Hong Kong and become a Hongkonger, so she is going to stay here. The convenience of Hong Kong and communicating with the people here are what she likes about the city. She believes that the identity of an Indian can be mixed with the identity of a Hongkonger. Hong Kong recruited many talented expatriates from all around the globe, so even though she is Indian, she feels respected and well-treated most of the time. Since Hong Kong is where she flourishes in both family and work for the past few years, she thinks of herself as a Hongkonger while retaining the identity of an Indian with just a slightly higher education level compared to others in Hong Kong.

 

To conclude, Dr Kaur is proud of being an Indian while loves her identity as a Hongkonger. She embraces both identities and calls Hong Kong her home.