Introduction:
Hong Kong has always been an international, cosmopolitan community that is as tolerant as it has been vibrant and pluralistic – a fusion point where the East meets the West. There are currently 265,000 non-ethnic Chinese living, working, and studying in the city and among them, 86,000 are South Asians. Yet, social issues attributed to immigration, such as unemployment and terrorism, have made multiculturalism an untimely scapegoat. This post, in an effort to promote awareness, discusses the current model of multiculturalism in Hong Kong and explores the means through which it can be promoted.
What is multiculturalism?
Multiculturalism emphasises the appreciation of varying cultural values, traditions, and lifestyles, and is argued to be an ideology, and likewise an assumption to protect, maintain and promote cultural diversity. It is, however, not to be confused with colour-blindness assimilation, which ignores cultural differences. Multiculturalism ultimately concerns two modern, abstract concepts, namely freedom and survival, the former being the pursuit of the social ideal that is equal freedom and the latter being a guarantee for the survival of each individual.
There are two styles of multiculturalism: protective and offensive. Protective multiculturalism is the ideal approach that governments usually adopt, which protects cultures from discrimination and allows for the rights to self-expression. Offensive multiculturalism, on the other hand, is considered a kind of combat liberalism and communalism which posits that individual approval and common cultural heritage are hinged upon social group sense. There are also a number of societal models for intercultural contact: mosaic (or multiculturalism), complete assimilation, cultural fusion, and segregation.
How multicultural is Hong Kong?
The detrimental legacy of colonialism, through dispossessing the colonised of their identity, traditions and self-representation manifest in a number of ways. It is crystallised in the assimilation of the colonised elites into the coloniser’s culture, or in some cases, the mobilisation of the colonised through nationalist narratives, which then homogenises the culturally diverse and heterogeneous masses. What results, then, is a trend of marginalising unassimilated groups that misrepresents their cultural values and ignores their contribution to the fight against colonialism. In the ex-colonial state that is Hong Kong, the legacy of colonialism is often not only cultural but also demographic, and is exacerbated under globalisation, which induces the entry of non-Chinese ethnic groups.
Undeniably, the promulgation of the Race Discrimination Ordinance represents a first step in achieving true multiculturalism, but efforts remain symbolic. Most notably, the Security Bureau did not consider a more lenient requirement on the Chinese language level to provide higher opportunities to ethnic minorities, and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority did not negotiate with banks that refused to open accounts for Pakistani Muslims. In other words, there has been progress, but more must be undertaken to justify the label of a truly multicultural society.
Though Hong Kong is considered multicultural in a descriptive sense, this idea can only be considered a self-positioning exposition. By proclaiming to be truly multicultural, we deny the presence of certain instances of social exclusion, ironically rendering the term self-defeating by making it more difficult to achieve true multiculturalism.
How to promote multiculturalism: a Coordinated Effort
On a personal level, individuals can encourage conversations on individual experiences and identities, as well as celebrate diversity through events held in school or the workplace. Role modelling is also important, and individuals, in particular parents and leaders should use inclusive language that signals valuing diversity and difference.
Appreciation of multiculturalism must be promoted in local education to improve ethnic and racial tolerance. Educators, by adjusting teaching styles and curriculum content, are able to encourage multiculturalism in the classroom.
A number of other stakeholders should be accounted for in government policies and NGO initiatives. Government-funded research that examines the composition of neighbourhoods, town-planning strategies, the efficacy of education policies and cost-benefit analysis would help identify areas lacking support, whilst mobilising NGOs through working with the Social Welfare Department such that services focus on outreach would circumvent cultural and language barriers. Since policies and programmes that support cultural diversity directly affect societal norms, values, and power structures, stakeholder participation from various sectors is essential. More importantly, policies should not be top-down but require a bottom-up approach. They also cannot be driven solely by elites or concern only a matter of law and its implementation in the short term, but involve its intended beneficiaries and institutional changes in the long term.
Conclusion:
The social exclusion of ethnic minorities and shortcomings of policies on multiculturalism is not uncommon across ex-colonies within East Asia. To ensure the true integration of ethnic minorities into the wider community without compromising upward mobility, the community as a whole must discontinue the legacy of colonialism by critically reviewing the plight of ethnic minorities through the framework of multiculturalism.
References
Writing: Angela Chan
Editing: Gaille Su
Graphics: Joyce Liang
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