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Hong Kong is not very friendly

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  1. #11

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    Hong Kong is part of the great Motherland of China, the Centre of the World.

    Deal with it mofos.


    (But seriously, London isn't rude. People can be a bit reserved there, sure, but they will help you if you ask them. HK on the other hand, if you ask someone for directions they will look at you like you have just asked them how to figure out meaning of life).


  2. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Watercooler:
    You see the thing with mainlanders. Some of them are "uncivilized" yes, not standing in line or popping at places where they should'nt. This is interpreted as rudeness by locals. And I don't appreciate seeing certain mainlanders deciding to poop in public either. But, they don't do it intentionally to be uncivilized or..."rude". Their background and lack of education made them that way. In fact from what I've experienced, their lack of "civilized" manners notwithstanding, many of them are more friendly and opening to me as a gwailo then many so called-worldly locals.

    You see the thing with local , many of them has at least received high school education (which should in theory give them some basic notion of civility), yet I know many local college grads behave in an appalling way. Unlike mainlanders, there is no excuse for locals.

    I want to asked a local why they seem to be perpetually pissed and rude: stressed from work? Well hell, do you think Singaporeans or Malaysians or Filipinos don't work long hours either? Yet I don't see as many of them adopt a surly attitude as so many locals. Frustrated over unaffordable housing? Locals were pretty darn rude even before the housing bubble came up. Afraid of crime and need self protection? Again, load of crap. HK has one of the lowest crime rate for a city of it's size. Yet it's social trust is not very high. Locals don't trust one another. Anger at being politically helpless? Well how will being an a-hole help you change things? Long Hair's antics in legco notwithstanding, it's gonna take alot more than just throwing a few bananas to change things around here.
    I've always been a vocal supporter of mainlanders over the years here and having lived on the mainland more years than HK and speak a bit of Mandarin and married a mainlander so i know a bit about the culture and how they are but, to be honest, I will never truely understand the complexities of Chinese and the way they are.

    I even had a local here spit right in front of me, about 2 m away, I don't think he was spitting at me or being rude, that is just the way they are. You either accept it (like I did for many years) or not like many HK'ers do.

    But what I really dislike about the culture is the lack of respect on the street, the selfishness of people and the self interest and don't give a shit about others attitude. Most societies are polite to people but Chinese are generally not. You have to earn it.

    And this is what most see on the street in HK which makes all uncomfortable and vocal about mainlanders attitude. Their quest for influence & image of wealth - through what they buy for themselves, friend and family. Their loudness to show how important they are and how much they can influence another through their power plays.

  3. #13

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    HK-born and raised, albeit in the expat bubble. Moved back, learned some Cantonese, and now that I understand how things work here, I want less to do with the vast majority of locals than I did when I moved back at 25. The cultural divide is vast. Worldly my foot...most Hongkongers have very limited interaction with 'foreigners.'

    Speaking Cantonese and being brown skinned means people think I work a low-paid construction job or something...why'd I bother. Now I realize people absolutely take pride in rudeness here and think it's a competitive event or something. If I chewed everyone's ear off for it, I'd never get anything done. Try as I might, I can't see the positive side to their behavior at all.

    I could throw in the towel and act the way locals do, but that's now how I was raised and being incredibly rude to strangers is really not how I want to live my life. No wonder so many people here are unhappy. They clown on Mainlanders, but in my experience Mainlanders are much more polite and friendly on the whole.

    My response is now to laugh at the daily attempts at racism, blatant insults and rudeness I've been getting and stare them down. I don't think a day goes by where I don't come across someone who deserves a good spanking, but my hands are tied by the law, so I have to grin and bear with it as best I can.

    There are some great aspects of Chinese culture that I love (Chinese medicine, cuisine and tea culture among them), so believe me, it's not an anti-Chinese thing at all. HK is a great city, even with the innumerable idiots on the streets.

    Last edited by jayinhongkong; 17-12-2012 at 06:03 PM.

  4. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by pin:
    HK on the other hand, if you ask someone for directions they will look at you like you have just asked them how to figure out meaning of life).
    It's not my experience, when I ask for directions people will help if they know - IF you can break the language barrier.
    Last edited by flameproof; 17-12-2012 at 06:16 PM.

  5. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Watercooler:
    You see the thing with local , many of them has at least received high school education (which should in theory give them some basic notion of civility), yet I know many local college grads behave in an appalling way. Unlike mainlanders, there is no excuse for locals.
    Did your highschool have a class with subject "civility"? Mine surely didn't, so it depends how your parents teach you.
    That being said I don't think your average, uneducated peasant is the typical mainlander that visits HK.

    I want to asked a local why they seem to be perpetually pissed and rude: stressed from work? Well hell, do you think Singaporeans or Malaysians or Filipinos don't work long hours either?
    Ever lived in Malaysia and experienced road rage there? Face to face confrontations might be rare, but once they sit behind the steering wheel they are different people.
    Same in Taiwan where they usually hide behind their tinted windows and mirrored visors.

  6. #16

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    I actually find HK people on the whole quite friendly and have felt welcome the whole time I have lived here. You get the odd arsehole here and there, but the same could be said about any location that one lives in. I don't subscribe to, nor do I expect everybody to get along etc. Having lived here so long, I feel I have a pretty good handle of the Hongkie culture and often get people saying hi, or good morning to me, when I walk around my neighbourhood, or crack jokes with shop keepers that I regularly patron. To be honest my experience here is a pretty positive and well received one..

    I will give our mainland cousins a bit of a pat on the back, I recently had to train it in an hour away from Lo wu to get a custom made 1 foot high stainless steel, backlit house number made for the street side wall of our house. Try as I might, I gave up trying to get it sourced/made in HK as it was like trying to build a pyramid, they either couldnt do it or couldn't assure me on quality.....so i subsequently gave up looking in HKG.. I eventually found a very large company on the outskirts of Shenzhen to make it for me instead.

    My experience with dealing with that SZ company was amazing, very professional, they picked me up from the metro station in their brand new VW passat, drove me to their factory 15 minutes away and to be honest, they put HK business to shame as to how easy they were to deal with. Once they were clear about what I wanted, I paid them in full in RMB, and they delivered the completed item a week later, all pre wired ready for me to install on my wall, with a drill location template included and everything required to bolt it to the wall. I was SOOOO happy with what I received !!!! The quality was top notch and once it was installed, it looked a million bucks! I also noticed that things have really come along in SZ, just noticing the obvious improvement in how people dress today and the overall behaviour, compared to when I last visited 5 years ago, the obvious financial improvements to peoples lives there really has made a positive impact...

    So, for a small percentage of you, you can continue to sledge mainlanders/Hongkies, if you like, ( I liken that personality trait with picking a fist fight with the weakest kid in the playground ) but in my opinion, I have never been treated badly often enough ( very rare ) for it to faze me to be honest. I have no problem with the respect is earned ideology either, as I live by the same rule, which is probably why I get on well in this dynamic city...

    I am sure when we move to France full time, we will have to adapt to how things are culturally there, and will enjoy every minute of it, regardless of what those that scream the loudest about, racism, discrimination, the inequities of the world blah blah blah, I find it is those people who shout it the loudest, are far too expectational, if not just plain snippy/demanding as people ... Water off a ducks back in my view..

    Last edited by Skyhook; 17-12-2012 at 08:10 PM.
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  7. #17

    'Hong Kong is not very friendly'. In other news, water is wet.


  8. #18

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    1st world problems

    Ohhh the locals are so rude, i don't understand a word they say, they should speak English and accept my way of life.

    It's a trade off if you want rudeness and safety then you'll have to put up with it. You can always goto other "friendly" countries. There they mug you, beat you up in the middle of the street for being a color, creed, religion, sex or just cause they feel like it, but you can't have both.

    Safety and rudeness=everyone minds their own business
    Friendly and violent=They ask you for a cigarette/change and then stab you in the face cause i want the whole pack/wallet.

    HKpplWellyFenly likes this.

  9. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by MovingIn07:
    Really? I was born there and I hate returning.
    Same here, hate going back to London
    Miserable buggers

  10. #20

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    I don't think Hongkongers deliberately set out to be rude but in general they are selfish and inconsiderate to those around them. It is again to do with class and snobbishness. Anyone with brown or dark skin is considered a construction worker, poor or uneducated. Any one who is a mainlander is by nature a scrounger or country bumpkin. Anyone who is poor is frowned and looked down upon. Rich people are considered demi gods.Whites are considered clean, healthy and should be emulated. Dark people are considered dirty and should be avoided like the plague.
    Hong Kongers are by and large obnoxious with a feeling of superiority... just because they were part of a colonial elite.
    By and large Mainlanders are more friendly and a large proportion of students very educated but of course Hongkoners feel threatened by this preposterous display of "aping their betters"
    But basic manners are definately lacking here in HK. Opening doors for people without even a courteous glance of thanks, store assistants who don't even knowledge your presence even when receiving your money. They say "welcome" as a matter of routine and not from the heart. I once walked in and out of a shop 3 times within a minute with the same welcome and "standard greeting" each time (She hardly knew I was the same person as she wasn't even looking!).

    Yes, HK is an unfriendly place even for locals.

    Londoners are nice people. French are also very surly.


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