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Are you ever accepted as a local in Hong Kong?

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  1. #1

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    Are you ever accepted as a local in Hong Kong?

    This is the million dollar question.

    How long do you have to live in Hong Kong, to be accepted/treated as a local on the same footing as everybody else ?
    Even if you can speak the lingua franca etc

    After spending close to 50% of my life in Hong Kong, you never really feel accepted as a local, although family did thanks to being married to a local, but elsewhere just another SaiYan.

    I find this strange compared to back home, where you just naturally assume that everyone is local ie is a citizen of the nation, first off.

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  2. #2

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    Lots of folks from all over out here, the guy who details my car is Japanese, a very keen surfer who runs a successful detailing biz with cafe attached why you wait. Never once did I think to ask him where he was from! He is just Aussie like the rest of us immigrants.

    Having spoken with a fair number of different people here, we all seem to share the same appreciation of the locality, and probably why Pauline Hanson's party didn't get one elected seat, during the last Qld state election late last year.

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by Skyhook:
    Lots of folks from all over out here, the guy who details my car is Japanese, a very keen surfer who runs a successful detailing biz with cafe attached why you wait. Never once did I think to ask him where he was from!
    How you know he is Japanese then?
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  4. #4

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    Australia is full of different people so its common to think they are already a local (migrated there / born there) etc
    HK is still predominantly CHINESE so when they see a White / Brown / Black person they are automatically a FOREIGNER and not a local.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mat:
    How you know he is Japanese then?
    Skyhook sees him eating raw fish and slurping noodles LOUDLY lol
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  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mat:
    How you know he is Japanese then?
    Having lived in Japan for a couple of years as a child, when my dad was head of R & D of a Japanese company, who eventually headed the Australian HQ, I knew he was Japanese based on accent and mannerism...experience etc.

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    You must be from down under, to consider everyone you see as a local!

    That said, yes, there is an issue here with non-oriental looking people being accepted, but whether that is because of racial issues or lack of exposure, one can't really say.

    On one hand, people are scared of those who look different to them / have trouble communicating with them; on the other, they just may not have seen many gwei-lo around, and are therefore reluctant to engage the 'foreigners'.

    As you speak the lingua franca, just be comfortable knowing that the longer you talk with a local Chinese, the more accepting they will be of you.

    Last edited by AbhiM; 10-04-2018 at 10:03 AM. Reason: Geographical speculation
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  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by chuckster007:
    Skyhook sees him eating raw fish and slurping noodles LOUDLY lol
    Lol I promise you I didnt see him eat....
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  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by AbhiM:
    You must be from down under, to consider everyone you see as a local!

    That said, yes, there is an issue here with non-oriental looking people being accepted, but whether that is because of racial issues or lack of exposure, one can't really say.

    On one hand, people are scared of those who look different to them / have trouble communicating with them; on the other, they just may not have seen many gwei-lo around, and are therefore reluctant to engage the 'foreigners'.

    As you speak the lingua franca, just be comfortable knowing that the longer you talk with a local Chinese, the more accepting they will be of you.
    My main point is, how long do you have to live in Hong Kong to be eventually accepted as local?

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Skyhook:
    Having lived in Japan for a couple of years as a child, when my dad was head of R & D of a Japanese company, who eventually headed the Australian HQ, I knew he was Japanese based on accent and mannerism...experience etc.
    So despite many many many years in Australia, you know he is Japanese, ie accent, mannerism etc...so not quite local?I am not being a dic* - just trying to understand because it's the same here. You will never really speak like a local (you can speak cantonese but there will be an accent of some sort) and I may spend 30 years in HK at the end of the day I still prefer cheese and saucisson over wantan noodles (I do like Wantan noodles tho) so it will show here and there.More importantly in HK, 96% of the population is Chinese, so you will never look exactly like a "local"/

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