'Empty seat on the bus syndrome'

[shilo507]

Has anyone else experienced the ‘empty seat on a crowded bus syndrome’?

I have lost count of the number of times I am on a crowded bus and the only empty seat on the whole bus is next to me with the HK Chinese passengers preferring to stand rather than risk sitting next to me. I only post this because Expatriate made the same comment this morning and it’s nice to know I am not the only one who experiences it.

Before anyone asks, Let me just say, that i bathe regularly, use deodrant and change my clothes every day and don't eat garlic and have asked non-HK Chinese if I have a body-odour problem but they assure me I don't.

Also, I get really mad when I hear Chinese talking and they call me a gweilo. It happens in shops and restaurants and business etc. This kind of political incorrectness would be unacceptable in the UK and the perpetrator would be suspended immediately if not fired with the victim receiving a massive payout for injury to feelings.

Another rant: the HK Chinese in my office are petrified they will catch ‘something nasty’ from me if I have a sniffle etc. I had a cold a few weeks ago and was told in no uncertain terms by a HK Chinese girl in my office that I should only use disposable cups and not drink out of the normal office china cups. I told the girl that I always wash-up the cup in hot soapy water and that it was not only perfectly safe but also perfectly normal in offices to encounter people with minor ailments such as coughs and colds now and then. How can you avoid it? Very bizarre!

This girl frequently has one of those hacking coughs and clears her throat in the way only the Chinese can (disgusting) and I was struck by the irony of the thought that she thought that as a Westerner any minor infectious (but non-notifiable) ailment I had would be worse than any killer strain of avian flu from China. Weird.

Been here three months. I love it here BUT I just don’t get the Hong Kong Chinese!

[KnowItAll]

Seriously, this has been discussed ad-nauseum .... I really do doubt anyone has anything new to say about this.
What do you want people to say to you, here on the forums?

There is seriously a lot worse that could happen to you than not having someone sit next to you on the bus or ask you to wash your cups.

The washing your cups is a post-sars syndrome ... a MUCH milder case of the UK / US post-911 syndrome.

[Expatriate]

This kind of political incorrectness would be unacceptable in the UK Been here three months. I love it here BUT I just don’t get the Hong Kong Chinese!

Tell you what. Ownership of Hong Kong passed from London to Beijing about 9 years ago. And nobody asked the Hong Kong Chinese.

I guess they are just telling you: If you don't like it here, go home.

Three months is a long vacation. Do you have a job?

[shilo507]

Expatriate - yes I do have a job.

Know it all - sorry i did not know it had been discussed before. If you want to put people off posting you are doing a good job, forum administrator or not. FYI, the girl did not tell me to 'wash my cup up'. She told me to use only disposable cups and to throw it away because whether my cup was washed up or not she did not want to risk catching what I had. And yes, she also told me to go back to UK if i didn't like it here. I simply replied that I Iiked everything about HK except the HK Chinese.

I apologise again for posting a subject already covered ad-nauseam -I did not know that.

[grandcider]

You have to understand that this is a city of hypochondriacs. During SARS, most of the population donned cheap surgical masks despite overwhelming evidence that they are useless in preventing infection and only damage tourism. I got a lot of nasty stares at the time for going without one.

As for the term "gweilo"... I've gotten into a number of discussions about whether it is racist...a lot of people insist that it is not. The point is that being likened to a ghost is offensive to many people so "gweilo" should be avoided out of common courtesy. Even worse is the habit of calling black people "hak gwei" (black ghost).

[shilo507]

You're right - I guess this is a city of hypochondriacs. Pity no-one told them that spitting in the street is not too clever in that respect or picking their nose in public.

I am here for the long term (I hope) on a open contract so am trying to understand what makes HK tick. The only conclusion I can come to is: money. The HK Chinese, IMHO appear an incredibly repressed race. Strangely, in spite of the noise and frenetic pace of life here I am much more relaxed than i was in the Uk. If anything, coming to HK has made me more laid-back.

[HKChigger]

I simply replied that I Iiked everything about HK except the HK Chinese.

So let me get this straight, you are complaining about what you feel is racism you are experiencing by locals, and you are yourself racist? That sounds pretty racist to me.

BTW the whole cup thing is normal local or not. You ever notice the locals still wear face masks when they are sick? It's SARS fear.

[greenietea]

*yawn* this is so old.

i'm really tired of people complaining everywhere they go. when they're at home, they go, "we don't want them foreigners and terrorists here!", "damn immigrants taking all our jobs", "why are all the asian kids in college taking up all our spots"... blahblahblah.

then they go to another country and cry when other people are not sitting next to them and when they're asked to have better hygiene?

i'm not saying either is right or wrong. i'm just saying to quit the annoying double standarad because it's so old and tiring. maybe those people are really racist, but i'm sure they don't like you mostly because of your own attitude towards them rather than your race.

[grandcider]

I don't think it's racist to complain about the behavioral traits of HK Chinese, although it is stupid to generalize a dislike. I must say that I get along much better with my mainland Chinese friends (most of whom complain even more about the HK Chinese). As an amateur social anthropologist, I think that the behvariors that most people gripe about stem from overcrowding, "nouveau riche" syndrome (people being rich enough to drive a Bentley, but not cultivated enough to allow pedestrians their right of way), younger people being coddled by parents and raised by maids, and pervasive economic insecurity.

[Max]

Dude....you need to relax..., ranting will get you nowhere.

Has anyone else experienced the ‘empty seat on a crowded bus syndrome’?

Yes I have. You're not the only one.

I have lost count of the number of times I am on a crowded bus and the only empty seat on the whole bus is next to me with the HK Chinese passengers preferring to stand rather than risk sitting next to me. I only post this because Expatriate made the same comment this morning and it’s nice to know I am not the only one who experiences it.

Again,...relax...you're not the only one. I get the same thing too. A LOT!

Before anyone asks, Let me just say, that i bathe regularly, use deodrant and change my clothes every day and don't eat garlic and have asked non-HK Chinese if I have a body-odour problem but they assure me I don't.

Fine, but then most of the expats here don't have a similar problem as well, including myself and yet it still happens. Point is,...you're not the only one.

Also, I get really mad when I hear Chinese talking and they call me a gweilo. It happens in shops and restaurants and business etc. This kind of political incorrectness would be unacceptable in the UK and the perpetrator would be suspended immediately if not fired with the victim receiving a massive payout for injury to feelings.

Ooookay,......some people think of it and use it as a term of 'endearment', whereas some would find it offensive. Nothing you can do about it now except hope and pray like crazy that HK does pass the Anti-Race Discrimination bill currently being debated. Till then,...grin and bear it.

Another rant: the HK Chinese in my office are petrified they will catch ‘something nasty’ from me if I have a sniffle etc. I had a cold a few weeks ago and was told in no uncertain terms by a HK Chinese girl in my office that I should only use disposable cups and not drink out of the normal office china cups. I told the girl that I always wash-up the cup in hot soapy water and that it was not only perfectly safe but also perfectly normal in offices to encounter people with minor ailments such as coughs and colds now and then. How can you avoid it? Very bizarre!

It's relative, some locals are anal about this sort of stuff, some not. Hypochondriacs or not, if you practice good hygiene, what have you got to worry about?

This girl frequently has one of those hacking coughs and clears her throat in the way only the Chinese can (disgusting) and I was struck by the irony of the thought that she thought that as a Westerner any minor infectious (but non-notifiable) ailment I had would be worse than any killer strain of avian flu from China. Weird.

Not a race issue, more a 'manners' issue. Instead of ranting, why not set an example? (maybe even put on a very, um.. 'public' show about how hygienic you can be by using tissues and all)

Been here three months. I love it here BUT I just don’t get the Hong Kong Chinese!

Funnily enough, I've been here collectively for 15 years and I STILL don't get them!