Half-Chinese experience in HK

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  1. #21

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    White + Black + Hispanic -- mostly americans of which most do not have a passport.

    Lets not gush over New York either....


  2. #22

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    Doogle

    Seems I'm your neighbour - I do my grocery shopping in Hollywood Plaza anyway. I do see some westerners around this area, though never the same person twice. But you've got a point. I've lived here for half a year and yesterday was the first double western sighting in my neighbourhood.


  3. #23

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    Kameron-

    I've lived here for just over 9 months, and I'd say the the westerners sighted at Plaza Hollywood or anywhere near there don't count. They don't live here - they're just shopping. I credit them with being a bit more gutsy than other tourists to venture so far, but they're probably just looking for the temple (AKA The Monk theme park).

    I don't shop much though - I usually go to a dai pai dong stall near my building - the family that runs it is very kind to me.

    But Hong Kong's multiculturalism is a joke. You notice Black people or Indians in Hong Kong because there's so few. A thousand Chinese could go buy you on the street, but you'll notice that one exotic-looking person. That is NOT diversity.

    But to the point - I don't know if being Half-Chinese adds much or even more to the diversity of Hong Kong.

    But it certainly helps to living in a local area with locals. Or at least it helps half as much. Certainly the best thing for any Overseas-born Chinese to do coming to Hong Kong to learn about culture and/or their roots - live among the locals. Living in the expat-friendly areas does nothing for experiencing Hong Kong, nor does it help your wallet.


  4. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by doogle:
    Taxi drivers, shop owners, restaurants- good luck using your English.
    Doogle, I was speaking of language acceptance. I was saying that if you speak English, you are accepted, and sometimes even respected and admired. And similarly for Cantonese and Mandarin languages.

    Today, all children in schools learn 3 languages (Cantonese, Mandarin and English). Hong Kong will be even better in the future, once these kids grow up (unless they drop out of school).

    And thank god HK has so many Chinese. This is why it keeps it's character and culture. Otherwise, it would be a flavorless place full of violence, like the US. (Chinese people are mild and laid-back.)

    If you are a Westerner, you are welcome in Hong Kong. People love you. Imagine - being a Chinese immigrant in Germany - no ethnic German wants to be seen with you in public. And Chinese in San Francisco - you must speak English, or you'll be confined to San Francisco's China Town.

    There is a critical point for being multicultural and non-cultural. For Hong Kong (or any place) to be multicultural, it has to have dominant culture. The US, for example, it's such a mess, there is no culture whatsover. (And that's not only my opinion - Kurt Vonnegut wrote that too.)
    Last edited by petrm; 01-04-2005 at 08:49 AM.

  5. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by doogle:
    Hong Kong:
    7 Million people.
    95% Chinese.
    Foreign Passport Holders: 500K (7%)
    (of this: Philippines: 136K (2%))
    And did you know that many Hongkies own more than 2 passports?

  6. #26

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    Oh,
    by diversity you meant,
    "Language Acceptance".
    So when you wrote diversity,
    you mean "Language Acceptance".
    Okay. Got it.

    Well I agree with you, for whatever that means.

    But although the kids "learn" Cantonese, Mandarin and English, it's really not saying much. Mandarin and Cantonese are arguable very similar - there's a lot of overlap in the writing and culture. Arguably - differences get exaggerated here. And the English isn't that good. It used to be - my mother and some of her siblings are fluent and they had quite a local upbringing, but the locals kids can scarcely speak a sentence. I'm a leader with the Hong Kong Sea Cadets, and I'm lucky if the kids understand me if I speak even a sentence in English.

    So we're comparing Hong Kong to Germany now?

    Take a trip to my native home of Montreal Canada. There you will see a rainbow of multiculturalism and "Language Acceptance". Many speak English and French, each with its own culture, and a myriad of other ethnic languages, from Chinese, to Hindi, to Arab, to Greek.


  7. #27

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    I totally agree with Doogle... When someone mentioned mentioned Hong Kong as multi-racial to me once, I was totally bewildered...

    Is English really accepted here? Again, I'm totally puzzled, cos my personal experience tells me it's not.

    I think learning all three languages is great! Mandarin, Cantonese and English. But I doubt the locals are competent in all three yet. By the way, in other parts of the world, cantonese is regarded as a dialect, not a language.


  8. #28

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    Please don't start a language/dialect argument.


  9. #29

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    Hey I live in Los Angeles, and I've lived in Hong Kong too. I have to say LA is wayyyy more diverse than HK. You can get around LA with just knowing Spanish (well due to a huge population of Mexicans here since we're so close to the border), but still I walk around LA, and I see people from everywhere. In HK, I see Chinese most of the time, except in Lan Kwai Fong, where I see some Caucasians. I don't think I've seen more than 5 black people during my 2 years living in HK. Is HK multi-racial as say, compared to LA?


  10. #30

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    Quote Originally Posted by petrm:
    Doogle, I was speaking of language acceptance. I was saying that if you speak English, you are accepted, and sometimes even respected and admired. And similarly for Cantonese and Mandarin languages.
    I have to add that this is completely true, in the eyes of some 'open minded' people, but you have to remember that not everyone is open minded. If your a chinese national like me, who at first was unable to speak the native language, the majority will look down at you. If later your able to pick up the main language, start using it for general communication and do it quickly. Most people will re-evaluate you, then they'll start to respect you a little more. I'm speaking from my experience of course.

    Quote Originally Posted by petrm:
    Today, all children in schools learn 3 languages (Cantonese, Mandarin and English). Hong Kong will be even better in the future, once these kids grow up (unless they drop out of school).
    Not only that, there are many Chinese kids in Hong Kong that are learning a foreign language usually it's Japanese, French or Spanish. But they don't just learn it orally but they learn to write it too and some do it with flair.

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