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Coming to HK soon and was wondering, is there any discrimination against Westerners?

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  1. #21

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    When i walk down Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui with a white friend, the Indians always pester him to buy a suit, but not me.

    If i wanted to buy a suit, i guess i would have to approach them instead.

    Discrimination sucks


  2. #22

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    Call centres hang up on you.
    The train/bus thing is true, people sit next to you last, I like that though.
    Nobody tries to give you flyers!
    Sometimes, people don't notice you're in queue and just walk right in front of you.
    I had a furniture removal business when I first got to HK, 3 times I helped Phillipino people move, the concierges held the doors open for me and smiled, good morning sir, but ignored my clients! One was a DH, one an IT guy at Cathay and another a city architect, lol.
    As a teacher, you are treated either like royalty/pop star or like a leper - no in between!
    Everyone thinks you're rich!
    People will stare at you as though they've never seen a Gweilo before, even though they obviously have.
    You can pretty much do what you want in your car, cross white lines, (locals will scream at you for doing this though, you can drive through red lights at twice the speed limit but don't cross white lines!), the police will just give you a warning, wave you through road blocks, IME!
    When you're out at dinner with your family, people will feel free to walk up to you and ask where your from, how long you've been here, even had people join us with their kids, it can be nice!!
    Another thing, when you're a Gweilo they try not to give you the toy with Happy Meals at McDonalds, you have to ask for it each time! I am being serious!
    My local wife and I routinely get quoted different prices for the same thing!
    All in all, there is dicrimination I suppose but most is amusing or harmless, or can be used to your advantage


  3. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by bryant.english:
    Call centres hang up on you.
    The train/bus thing is true, people sit next to you last, I like that though.
    Nobody tries to give you flyers!
    Sometimes, people don't notice you're in queue and just walk right in front of you.
    I had a furniture removal business when I first got to HK, 3 times I helped Phillipino people move, the concierges held the doors open for me and smiled, good morning sir, but ignored my clients! One was a DH, one an IT guy at Cathay and another a city architect, lol.
    As a teacher, you are treated either like royalty/pop star or like a leper - no in between!
    Everyone thinks you're rich!
    People will stare at you as though they've never seen a Gweilo before, even though they obviously have.
    You can pretty much do what you want in your car, cross white lines, (locals will scream at you for doing this though, you can drive through red lights at twice the speed limit but don't cross white lines!), the police will just give you a warning, wave you through road blocks, IME!
    When you're out at dinner with your family, people will feel free to walk up to you and ask where your from, how long you've been here, even had people join us with their kids, it can be nice!!
    Another thing, when you're a Gweilo they try not to give you the toy with Happy Meals at McDonalds, you have to ask for it each time! I am being serious!
    My local wife and I routinely get quoted different prices for the same thing!
    All in all, there is dicrimination I suppose but most is amusing or harmless, or can be used to your advantage
    Sorry, just to add that I'm quite sure that Chinese people face much worse and negative discrimination in England than Gweilo do in HK. (That's just in advance for the 'oh but it's worse elsewhere brigade' who normally chime in at this point!)

  4. #24

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    hmmm... white woman here...HAVE gotten 2 tickets in hk... once was in central, i didn't see the sign saying that only permit holders could use a certain road and was pulled over by a cop walking the beat...(i mean, there are literally, 50 signs at that particular intersection, it is physically impossible to read them all in the 3.5 seconds it takes you to get through the intersection!)

    the other time was speeding on my way home (i do tend to have bit of a lead foot, i'm afraid)...

    in short, they don't "just let you through with a warning" unless you're very lucky.


  5. #25

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    Most of these are anecdotal stories which simply reflect on a possibility. The reality is that in every given situation, one often get treated differently regardless of where you are in the world. You can choose to think that it's because of race/religion/behaviors or any other factor, sometimes it's true, sometimes it's not and no one really knows unless you can read people's thoughts or they flat out tell you which is extremely rare.

    Just like in any country, there's no typical HK person, there are rich and poor, young and old, educated and uneducated, polite and rude and everything in between...

    What you make of it is really your own choice. In any case, there are thousands of expat happily living here and it's not a hardship for the majority of them.

    I personally feel very well treated in HK, whether it's because of the color of my skin, the language I speak or simply because I try to be nice to people, I don't know. I choose not to get hung up on negative incidents and try put things in perspective.

    Last edited by gilleshk; 29-12-2010 at 03:11 PM.

  6. #26

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    mainlanders coming to HK get some discrimination, westerns coming to HK get some discrimination, chinese going to Australia, US or UK get discrimination, westerns going to China also get some. Hmmm, maybe a pattern here.....

    bryant.english likes this.

  7. #27

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    Quote Originally Posted by virago:
    mainlanders coming to HK get some discrimination, westerns coming to HK get some discrimination, chinese going to Australia, US or UK get discrimination, westerns going to China also get some. Hmmm, maybe a pattern here.....
    Exactly, it has been more positive than negative for me, must admit.

  8. #28

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    Quote Originally Posted by carang:
    hmmm... white woman here...HAVE gotten 2 tickets in hk... once was in central, i didn't see the sign saying that only permit holders could use a certain road and was pulled over by a cop walking the beat...(i mean, there are literally, 50 signs at that particular intersection, it is physically impossible to read them all in the 3.5 seconds it takes you to get through the intersection!)

    the other time was speeding on my way home (i do tend to have bit of a lead foot, i'm afraid)...

    in short, they don't "just let you through with a warning" unless you're very lucky.
    I got a ticket the first day I drove here for speeding, honestly didn't know the limit on Tuen Mun Hwy, caught by camera.

    On the other hand, I have been stopped twice for crossing double whites and let off and also stopped speaking on my cell and let off, I came here from Sweden where it's still allowed but have now broken the habit. At the airport, when I did transfers, I have watched other guys get parking tickets while I have been waved on. I have been waved through many many roadblocks. Like I say, this is my experience.

  9. #29

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    Quote Originally Posted by bryant.english:
    Exactly, it has been more positive than negative for me, must admit.
    Yes, agreed there. Not much of it here for westerners.

    Also mainland China tends to be treated very well from a business point of view but there is plenty of stereotypical attitudes to westerners there AND they all think you are rich!

  10. #30

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    You'll be fine mate!