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How much racism in HK?

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  1. #11

    Join Date
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    Regardless of where you live in the world, there is always racism, however the degree varies.

    Experiencing different cultures raises tolerance and understanding of different cultures.


  2. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Jaz Paul:
    Stop being a snowflake. Biggest hurdle to encounter anywhere is a job , and you've got that covered comfortably by the sound of your post. Domestic helper will take a lot of burden off your family's back too for about 450 British quid a month and boarding. I'm a brown bastard too but married to a local if that helps.

    Hang around good /like minded people to vent and you'll get over anything discriminatory you receive. It's life stay strong!

    Stay here for a few years, make your money and leave if you still don't get accustomed to it.

    Best of luck

    Ironically, I'm leaving hk today with my family for good for greener pastures. (hopefully).
    Re being a snowflake, fair comment, but I'm more worried about effect on wife and especially 2 year old son. As adults we can take a fair bit, children are adaptable too, just unsure on the level. I suppose we can always leave if things don't work as you say.

  3. #13

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    2,485
    Quote Originally Posted by eightfivetwo:
    Look, nobody is getting punched in the face or beat up due to their race. The same cannot be said of other major cities like New York, London, Sydney, Toronto, etc...

    And I have to say things have calmed down a lot (by HK standards) since the 80s or 90s. This goes both ways - this means the "white advantage" that many enjoyed from a previous era pretty much no longer exists. This was probably accelerated from the local/expat divide on masks recently.
    Toronto is 51% visible minorities, way more diverse then then the other cities mentioned, Canada, while being perhaps the most multicultural country in the world, unfortunately still struggles with it's racial issues like the rest but at least it's much less segregated than US or UK.

    As for HK, its impact is felt the most by POC as @shri mentioned but still probably the most tolerant in Asia (not sure about SG tho). However, it's still a safe city and rarely would soemone go out of their way to cause harm in daily life.

    Civil/public services should also be fine here compared to other regional nations.
    gigglinggal likes this.

  4. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Catch22guy:
    I am a young brown guy, who is pretty new in HK compared to many users here.

    I have been living here for three years.
    I have had many experiences. They are not subtle. But none of them violent or abusive like those happen in the UK or the US.

    In MTR, I keep seeing some middle-aged, older folks (locals) run away from me as if they encountered a ghost. Some also cover their noses as if I came to steal something from their nostrils. Some are so respectful of my presence that they just get up from their seat and keep standing up when I sit next to them. They also tend leave an extra seat for me even if the train is crowded.

    I have had no such experiences from younger folks. They are very welcoming and jovial. In my university campus, I never encountered such people.

    In the early days, I genuinely thought I scared off those middle-aged, older Hong Kongers (majority of them were women) in the MTR. Lol.
    That is interesting you had experiences where people would run away if they saw you. Strange as surely they would've seen a fair few foreigners in HK (something like 10% foreign I thought) or at least on TV?

    By your estimates, would those be long term HK residents / natives or would that have come from mainlanders or fresh arrivals to HK from other, less cosmopolitan parts of Asia?
    Last edited by wawahi1212; 16-08-2020 at 05:38 PM.

  5. #15

    I assume most of them are long-term HK residents/natives. In one instance, a middle-aged woman asked me (in fluent Cantonese) to move away from her while I was clearly standing four feet away from her. lol. I can definitely say that these are a minority, who are probably frustrated with their own lives.

    Meanwhile, I have met several wonderful local Hong Hongers too; my neighbours, colleagues, local grocery store employees, and the staff of restaurants I frequently visit. I have even encountered some strangers, who greeted me with full-blown smiles during my long hikes.

    The racism is manageable for adults. I am not sure about kids as I do not what happens in schools.

    Hong Kong is an amazing place to live if you have a good job and some nice people to hangout with.

    mokhi6 likes this.

  6. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by wawahi1212:
    That is interesting you had experiences where people would run away if they saw you. Strange as surely they would've seen a fair few foreigners in HK (something like 10% foreign I thought) or at least on TV?

    By your estimates, would those be long term HK residents / natives or would that have come from mainlanders or fresh arrivals to HK from other, less cosmopolitan parts of Asia?
    I assume most of them are long-term HK residents/natives. In one instance, a middle-aged woman asked me (in fluent Cantonese) to move away from her while I was clearly standing four feet away from her. lol. I can definitely say that these are a minority, who are probably frustrated with their own lives.

    Meanwhile, I have met several wonderful local Hong Hongers too; my neighbours, colleagues, local grocery store employees, and the staff of restaurants I frequently visit. I have even encountered some strangers, who greeted me with full-blown smiles during my long hikes.

    The racism is manageable for adults. I am not sure about kids as I do not what happens in schools.

    Hong Kong is an amazing place to live if you have a good job and some nice people to hangout with.

  7. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by Skyhook:
    Top work Jaz Paul, enjoy your new life in the city of churches ( Adelaide ) which also happens to have the largest population of Brits, in Australia...Enjoy ;-) he he
    Off to Adelaide? My inlaws live there. Boring as. If you dislike the size of your electricity bill you can blame me. I privatised the system a few decades back!
    GentleGeorge likes this.

  8. #18

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    Dec 2013
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    Brown "Asian looking" people can get discriminated against. For example, I live in a marina. I have invited many friends over while I have lived here, and if they were white, they just walk past the guards at the marina gate with a smile and perhaps "i'm going to Axx". But my "brown" american friend (of very mixed heritage! But VERY american) was stopped and grilled. But because she is American, she just hit the roof and they backed off and let her through.... (this was before covid and form filling to enter anywhere!).

    So yes. HK is racist. But usually if you stand tall, (particularly, dress well) and push back at it, it seems to just fizzle.


  9. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Catch22guy:
    The racism is manageable for adults. I am not sure about kids as I do not what happens in schools.
    ESF has been in the news a number of times in June/July for racism allegations, but appears to be mostly racism against non-white students and staff.

    https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/famil...-international

    https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/famil...gations-racism

  10. #20

    Join Date
    Dec 2016
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    278

    I'm Brown so this might help ... From my experience, HKers aren't racist (Maybe the old generation are but I have limited interaction with them) but they definitely will discriminate based on your social status so dress well and you shall be fine.

    The only time I've seen people walk away from me on MTRs are usually the older generation. Normally, I wish people would walk away from me as I hate how crowded MTR gets during peak hours.

    Plus I am into cologne so I believe I generally smell inviting

    bak875 and Jillypots like this.

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