By Benedict Lam

Hong Kong history related to cultural diversity

From 1841 to 1997, Hong Kong was under British rule as part of the colonies. During this period, due to the strategic location of the East and West, the British utilised it as a hub for selling and transporting goods to other regions. Consequently, individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds come to Hong Kong for trade and commerce. With the escalating trade activities, more entrepreneurs from various countries established businesses in Hong Kong. This facilitated the exchange of languages and cultures, encouraging people to settle in Hong Kong and thereby promoting cultural diversity in the city. Nonetheless, some argue that Hong Kong lacks cultural diversity as each building typically houses residents of a single race and social status is usually determined by the areas where they live and work. This article will explore how different people view cultural diversity in Hong Kong, including the RC community.

Languages & different races of people living in Hong Kong

The use of English, as part of the British colonisation legacy, exemplifies how different cultures integrated into Hong Kong. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, a culture is defined as behaviour particular to a group of Human beings, including language, beliefs, customs, tools, techniques, works of art, and ceremonies, among other elements. This shows Hong Kong's utilisation of two or more languages is a type of cultural diversity. Moreover, in modern Hong Kong, there is a growing trend of using various languages, such as Mandarin, other Chinese dialects (Hakka, Minnan, Shanghainese), and other international languages (Japanese, French, Hindi, Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese), as reported by WorldAtlas, an online geography research website. This happened mostly due to the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, which increased the cultural influence of China as the interaction with China became possible. This demonstrates that Hong Kong is culturally diverse in terms of language.

Apart from the increased number of different languages that are used in Hong Kong, the number of ethnic minorities also significantly increased during the last decade, as per the 2021 Population Census Ethnic Minorities by the Hong Kong Government. This is understandable, as different ethnicities typically speak distinct languages. For example, Thai individuals speak Thai, while Indians speak Hindi. As mentioned earlier, the increased use of various languages in Hong Kong corresponds to the escalated number of people from different cultural backgrounds. This also supports Hong Kong as a culturally diverse city.

Chungking Mansions & socioeconomic status (Mid-levels vs. Kwun Tong)

Although it is true that the number of ethnic minorities has increased, they are not being accepted by most Hong Kong citizens, even though the government is promoting diversity in Hong Kong. Chungking Mansions, which is located in Tsim Sha Tsui, is a building with multiple guesthouses, restaurants, and businesses that are all served or created by ethnic minorities, mainly from Southeast Asia. This shows most of the people in the building are ethnic minorities. As expected, local citizens and tourists don't really want to go inside, and some are even scared to be inside. This is due to “multiple incidents where ethnic minorities attacked locals,” a person who lives in TST said. “Some of the incidents are killing incidents, some of them are harassment, and some are even illegal drug trafficking”. But this makes people, especially local citizens, have a stereotype of ethnic minorities. They associate ethnic minorities with criminals and are always involved with illegal incidents, all living in the Chungking Mansions. Therefore, most of the ethnic minorities are only able to be themselves freely in the Chungking Mansions. This is also an example of how citizens don't accept diversity in Hong Kong.

The local Hong Kong citizens don't just separate the ethnic minorities themselves; they also separate themselves due to their socioeconomic status. As the governor and high officials typically lived in the mid-levels and the peak at Hong Kong Island in the British colonial period, this made people associate mid-levels with high socioeconomic status. However, on the opposite side of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon is considered to have a lower socioeconomic status. This is because none of the governors had lived there, especially the East Kowloon. This shows a lack of diversity among local citizens. Moreover, due to the British colonisation, the governor and high officials in the British government are from British culture. This made citizens nowadays with British or Western backgrounds more likely to reside in the mid-levels rather than Kowloon. This created a significant division between individuals of Chinese and Western cultural backgrounds on either side of Victoria Harbour.

RC community perspective

Although Hong Kong citizens display a combination of tolerance toward cultural diversity and reluctance to fully embrace other cultures, the RC community holds a distinct perspective on this. According to RCHK's official website, “RCHK is committed to creating an environment where all learners are global citizens who embrace diversity”, showing RC communities are pursuing to be more inclusive, particularly in terms of cultural diversity. In addition, RC also has multiple activities that show they are diverse. One example is Jie Jie Day, which celebrates domestic helpers mainly from the Philippines and Southeast Asia. This can give us an opportunity to communicate with them and exchange our culture and values.

Furthermore, not only does RC support diversity through different methods, but the community also supports it. “I’m really happy that my child’s school is really diverse because it allows me to communicate and learn from each other’s culture,” a parent of a Y8 student said. A Y4 student in our school community also expresses that “I can meet lots of different types of friends to chat with.” This shows that the RC community does support cultural diversity in school and likes to study in this environment. A student from Y9 even suggested, “I really want this environment to be able to spread toward the Hong Kong community.” This shows that a segment of the RC community wants to spread this attitude even more widely, something much needed in the current Hong Kong community.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Hong Kong’s unique historical background has contributed to its potential to be culturally diverse, particularly in terms of language usage and different races. Despite the Hong Kong government trying to preserve cultural diversity, some Hong Kong citizens still continue to split themselves based on different cultural backgrounds. Still, the RC community holds a positive attitude toward cultural diversity, and they are willing to spread this to a wider community, such as Hong Kong. However, overall, Hong Kong is culturally diverse, and it is essential for us to be more tolerant of different cultures and avoid using cultural stereotypes when judging others.