Say No to Hong Kong

Please read the apartheid document before reading this piece. Thanks.

Before we get into it though. It's going to get really messed up here. If you're a local Chinese HKer, you'll probably get defensive. You should know that I didn't write this hoping to change anything because I realize nothing will change. I didn't write this because I wanted to get back at society here if that's what you may think. I wrote this because these are facts, this is reality and I am talking about the truth and my experiences. My truth, and the truth for countless others. If I cannot share my reality because it may make you uncomfortable or you think I'm just trying to shame others then when can I talk about what I go through? If we didn't experience such horrible things in the first place then this wouldn't have been written at all, yeah? So enough is enough. It's 2023.

Another thing, I use a lot of SCMP articles as source. This serves as proof to what I mention. If you don't have a SCMP membership then I'm sorry but you're just going to have to "trust me bro". For what it's worth though, if you enjoy reading about social issues, I can recommend getting a SCMP subscription (lol) cause the articles I mention here are really good. So let's dig in.

So the apartheid reason was not enough to convince you that moving HK is a bad idea. Maybe you don't believe it, then for the love of God I hope you're not South Asian, or maybe you're white, in that case you'll probably think the HKers are the friendliest people on Earth after your stay here. In any case, here are some more reasons you definitely should stay the fuck away from here.

Recently (as of late 2023), after 3 years of lockdown due to Covid, the Hong Kong government is trying to attract potential students and professionals to come study and work here.

This document is intended to give potential students or professionals a real glimpse into life in Hong Kong minus all the fake bullshit of it being "Asia's World City" or whatever charming thing you may have heard.

I suppose you've seen some form of advertisement that showcases HK's glamour. Discard that. You've seen the phrase "Asia's World City". They're good at marketing, that's all.

The majority of the local people here do NOT speak English, either they may not know it at all or feel uncomfortable speaking it. This is not an indictment of course, it is simply stating reality. Just as the French do not speak English in Paris, HK is the same. Same thing in Japan. However those other places do not claim to be a world city and unlike the case of Paris, HK was an English colony so it makes sense to assume people speak English here. If you cannot communicate with others, you really cannot do anything. Good luck forming any sort of meaningful relationship or climbing the corporate ladder.

Now you must be thinking, how come? It's Asia's World City! Surely that cannot be true. This is such a grave and yet genius marketing slogan because implicit in it is the idea of being able to converse freely with everyone, not every city claims to be a world city, so surely the fact that communication issues will arise between others is false. Nope, it's a well known issue here, in fact, here's an article summarising it: https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3240310/if-hong-kong-stay-successful-good-english-essential

The first paragraph from the article is:

The slide in English language skills in Hong Kong has long been a popular topic of discussion in the local community, particularly among companies.

Actually you've probably mixed up Hong Kong and Singapore. Singapore is the city in which everyone speaks English, without any qualms, not Hong Kong. Here's a video of Lee Kuan Yew explaining why Singaporeans came to know English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkYEFeHUGPw

Due to this reason alone, Singapore deserves the title of Asia's World City. Save yourself and consider Singapore instead if you want to scratch your "Living abroad" itch.

Now you may think. but surely this won't impact you, you know English! Who cares if you'll never form meaningful relations?! You'll be soaring the skies professionally while everyone else struggles to keep up. Nope, because you forgot one thing.

Perhaps because the locals do not know English or they do not care to speak it, the majority of the companies here have language requirements which actually ask candidates to know - wait for it - Chinese! (Cantonese, but of course, if you know Mandarin, even better!). This means you're actually at a disadvantage when applying for jobs! Asia's World City! Yayyyyyyyyy!! So what if you have to pay high rent, live in a small space, have no friends, qualify for fewer jobs, face discrimination, you're living in Asia's World City! Get with the program Loser!

People here would be quick to mention that foreigners should learn the local language. That's true. However, can you blame foreigners for expecting people to know English in this city? This document is to inform them in the first place. So AYO IF YOU'RE A FOREIGNER LIVING HERE OR PLANNING TO LIVE HERE, PLEASE LEARN THE LANGUAGE. There.

Now let's touch upon discrimination. Ah, so you figure, you're not South Asian, and if you are, that you're going to study in University, not one of those designated apartheid schools I come from, so you won't face discrimination!

*BUZZER SOUND* - WRONG!

(Let me preface this for only the South Asians reading this by saying that for the love of god, if you're South Asian, do not come here, don't put yourself through this experience. You're probably a starry eyed highschool student or working professional wanting to step out and explore the world so it breaks my heart to know what you'll undoubtably go through once you're here. Please, please, please ask someone who has done the same - university or work here - and ask them candidly about discrimination, this is not a joke. You deserve better and there are places where you'll find what you're looking for, just not in Hong Kong. Read the apartheid document I've written, it's lived experience man, if not, read this: https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3194463/half-food-couriers-ethnic-minority-groups-experience?module=inline&pgtype=article?module=inline&pgtype=article - this is the treatment you'll get. Oh and it's not limited to just food delivery drivers too, if you got tanned skin, you're a target: https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3239264/hong-kong-must-reflect-its-everyday-racism-deepen-ties-global-south. If a fucking Singaporean journalist gets bad treatment, what hope do the rest of us have? And if after this, you still want to study/work here, then fuck me, cause the whole point of me writing these 2 documents and sharing my experience is to deter people from the "Global South" from coming here to prevent broken hearts.)

Every foreigner faces some level discrimination here. However, I know for a fact that South Asians have it the worst. The local Chinese HK people have a discriminatory slang for all people, gwei lo for whites, monkeys/n-word equivalents for South Asians and people of African descent. Now the issue is not this alone, of course everyone has a way to mock foreigners in their native language, the main issue is that the culture of the local Chinese HK people is xenophobic. They simply do not want you here, again, especially if you're from the Global South. *Cough* Asias World City *Cough*

In fact, you don't even have to be a foreigner to be face discrimination, the local HK Chinese despise the mainland Chinese as well!

Hold on, let's take a minute here. Breathe - wew. Yes you read that right.

Bet this is absolutely unbelievable to you at this point, everything up till now has been believable but this, this is simply absurd! Chinese discriminating against Chinese?! Oh yes; here's proof:

Lol, they call the mainland Chinese "Locusts". The local HK Chinese literally depend on their business - oh yeah, during covid when the border was closed, lots of people became unemployed here, and yet they have this attitude towards the mainland Chinese. Again in case this is lost on you, the local HK Chinese literally depend on the mainland Chinese for their livelihood, and still discriminate against them. Fuckin LOL. Bruh, some poor mainland Chinese students in my university even got beaten up during the 2019 protests.

(Going off topic here a little, but I wonder how many local Chinese HKers took part in the "Stop Asian Hate" Protests across the USA? When it comes to fighting for equality, their stance is clear: equality for me but not for thee.)

Both personally and professionally, you will suffer. This is a guarantee.

Honestly though, there's a nuance here, while I admit every foreigner would face discrimination, they all face different levels of it, therefore I can confidently say that if you're of European descent, I feel you have nothing to worry about. Hell, all of Asia is just a white man's playground and white privilege is a very real thing here. Truth is there is an unspoken racial hierarchy in place here that foreigners who've never been to HK do not know about.

The reason foreigners do not know about this is simple; over here, no one talks about societal issues publicly. It's considered awkward. Also, there is a very smart marketing campaign constantly running by the HK government to sell Hong Kong as Asia's World City.

You'd expect Asia's World City to be diverse, right? That's a fair assumption. It's not. 8% of it are foreigners, of which 5% are Domestic helpers (we'll come back to this in a bit). In fact, society here is so homogenous that they have to trick people about how diverse it is. For example, The Universities of Hong Kong count mainland Chinese students as International students so that is why they rank high in university rankings. Here's proof: https://hongkongfp.com/2018/05/01/living-learning-parallel-foreign-students-feel-left-universities-rush-internationalise/ - an excellent article by the way. Asia's world city strikes again.

Here'a a similar article by an Estonian girl https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/2188883/hku-student-calls-university-out-lack-diversity?module=inline&pgtype=article and basically said she was tricked into thinking the university is more diverse than it actually is because the numbers were like 40% of HKU is just international students. In fact, they even beat ETH Zurich on that metric. LOL. Proof: https://thepienews.com/news/university-of-hong-kong-worlds-most-international-uni/ HAHAHAHAH FUCKIN LOL! Fuckin unreal man. The universities here blatantly fool the rankings and lie. Truly World Class city.

Well you want to know a funny thing that has come up recently? Even the Mainland Chinese students who arrive to study in the universities here are now asking for more diversity on university campuses cause they probably bought the same lie about HK being international. LOL. Well guess what: https://hongkongfp.com/2023/10/25/hong-kong-policy-address-universities-to-welcome-more-non-local-students-in-push-to-become-global-education-hub/ On October 25 2023, the government announced that universities should double their intake of international students. My take on this, don't make the same mistake the Estonian girl made. It'll just be more Mainland Chinese students. Nothing wrong with that, but again probably not what students from other countries would expect.

I swear the Universities and Government have amazing marketing departments.

Okay fuck universities now, let's talk about the society of "Asia's World City". Here is some demographics data: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Hong_Kong

Now let's look at how this self-styled - and frankly, a city undeserving of the title (as if it wasn't obvious already ahahahha, ~I'm losing it bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam ~I'm losing it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u31thuMehjM) - Asia's world city treats its biggest group of foreigners. It's time to talk about domestic helpers.

Domestic helpers here are mainly from Indonesia and the Philippines. They make up about 5% of the population here. They're women who get paid roughly $4,870 HKD. Their food and lodging is provided by their employer with the helper staying at the employers' house. They work as indentured slaves basically and you know what the creepy thing is? You won't see many of them during Monday to Saturday because they can't go out unless running errands. Their only holiday is Sundays which is when you'll notice their presence. Needless to say, some local Chinese HKers don't treat them very well. Here's proof from the International Labour Organization: https://apmigration.ilo.org/news/hong-kongs-hidden-shame - Another great article.

A quote from the article above.

The extreme discrepancy between reported cases and actual instances of abuse may be attributable to a law that prohibits foreign maids from working while involved in a case, putting them in a Catch-22.

Asia's Goddamn World City.

As you may know if you read the apartheid document, I grew up with Filipinos. I heard what they go through. I remember reading a comment by a filipino guy who wrote that they're just viewed as domestic helpers. Honestly fuck that man. Really makes one think, doesn't it?

How can you tell who views you poorly and who doesn't until you see their behaviour? I cannot sit here and say I know for sure that all local Chinese HKers share the same view on Filipinos. As a South Asian however, I know exactly what that actually means. It means you're gonna get shit on in day-to-day life by some asshole you don't even know going out of their way to show you that they dislike you and end up wondering if everyone around you hates you.

From my experience as someone who grew up here (unfortunately), Filipinos are the friendliest people around. And no I don't have a Filipino girlfriend.

Okay we've finally made it close to the end. The last thing, pretty fucked up as well if you ask me: Erasure of historical Non-Chinese Non-White peoples' achievements in the city which serves to further exacerbate their image/reputation in everyone's mind. I'll be using South Asian achievements/contributions to make my point cause it's going to absolutely mad what you learn here.

Guess what: Who do you think founded the University of Hong Kong? It's the city's best university. Everyone aspires to get into it. It has a great medical school. I bet no one, not even its own students would be able to give you the answer. It was an Indian man LOL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormusjee_Naorojee_Mody. LITERALLY LOL.

He didn't just start HKU, he also contributed to starting the Jockey Club, currently one of HK's biggest employers. You think the local Chinese HKers know this shit? Nah. Kind of makes me think whether they just view all Indians as food delivery drivers lol. Well I sure as hell fuckin ain't. Bitches.

Oh wait, it isn't done. You heard of the Star Ferry, right? Yes, The Star Ferry - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Ferry. It's an iconic ferry service between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Here:

No joke - another Indian man started it as well LMAO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorabjee_Naorojee_Mithaiwala. Yo do you think the people using this literal icon and staple of the Hong Kong tourist and local experience know that it was started by a South Asian man? Literally no one fucking knows. This shit isn't spoken of anywhere. Literally millions of people use it every year.

Jehangir Ruttonjee (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehangir_Hormusjee_Ruttonjee) started a literal Hospital AND the Hong Kong Tuberculosis, Chest and Heart Diseases Association. Hari Harilela (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hari_Harilela) & Girish Jhunjhnuwala https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girish_Jhunjhnuwala - hoteliers. And these are just the people with wikipedia pages. lol.

When such accomplishments are buried for whatever reason, and all people see is South Asians working menial jobs, it becomes easier to understand why people may adopt biased views against South Asians. In my opinion, they should fuckin put up conspicuous Indian flags at all the piers of the Star Ferry. That is what's going to change peoples' attitudes. Not some fucking train banners or whatever little the government claims to do. Okay got a bit carried away there sorry but you see my point. If not a flag then at least something visible commemorating the founder.

Why is that important you may ask? In my opinion, it'll serve as a reminder to everyone that non-Chinese people have contributed to HK and improve Chinese peoples' perceptions of the members of the commemorated person's ethnicity.

Well you think I'm joking when I say the local Chinese of HKers of the city do not know about the contributions of non-Chinese to this city? Have a look at this article: https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3240729/celebrate-hong-kongs-colonial-past-chinese-peoples-vim-and-ingenuity?module=opinion&pgtype=homepage. Here's a quote from the local Chinese HKer author:

But our colonial history isn't just about the wrongs of the British Empire. It is also about the endurance, work ethic and talent of the Chinese (and other ethnicities) that created Asia's greatest city.

Notice the "(and other ethnicities)"? That's what we are. Not even worth mentioning. All the contributions of the Indian men I mentioned above just casually neglected. Imagine if a white American said something similar: "America was built by the Europeans (and other ethnicities)". There'd be a fucking riot. That author illustrates my point of the local Chinese HKers only caring about local Chinese contributions to the city so perfectly without even realising what he's doing. It's so innocent, isn't it? it reveals the typical local Chinese HKer's thinking in my opinion; they either do not know better or don't care.

This is why I think what I've mentioned about South Asian contributions being honored somehow should be implemented ASAP. Not just South Asian though, why stop there, do it for all the things that were contributed by "other ethnicities" (lol) so that everyone can know that they had a hand in building HK.

Sigh...

I'm done. Some Closing thoughts:

How strange it is that Hong Kong and its people protested against Chinese influence when they never cared about the things that made it different from China in the first place - diversity and the use of English.

Herein lies the idiotic irony of Hong Kong: its government wants foreigners whereas its public doesn't and/or cannot integrate with them for whatever reason be it language issues or a persisting archaic colonial mentality which enforced a hierarchy between different ethnicities. They've created a society where the South Asians work menial jobs, the Indonesians and Filipinos are Domestic helpers, and people of European origin are placed in charge. As pointed out in my apartheid document, they enforce this actively via the city's education system so the cycle perpetuates. Strict divisions exist between ethnicities both socially and economically. Thus it is entirely plausible that the local HK Chinese have developed a rigid view of non-Chinese people that is supported by what they see around them.

If you hail from a country in the Global South and are in a Western country at the moment, and you happen to come into contact with a HK Chinese, would you be able to confidently tell whether that HKer thinks you're beneath them or not? This thought alone makes me want to peuk, because is it not safe to assume that they bring their views with them where ever they go. How can anyone possibly know? Sure people from any country do the same, everyone brings their biases with them where ever they go, but then again not everyone is raised in a fucked up place like HK which enforces and normalizes thinking of the people of the world in a hierarchical way based on their nationalities. Call me crazy but I want to avoid racist people regardless of where they're from, be it Southern USA, Germany, or Asia's world city (lol).

The government doesn't care about actively resolving any issues, just getting more suckers in to keep the economy going. In fact the government actively set into motion the Apartheid schools here for South Asians: . Read my article on it if you haven't already to see how Asia's World City treats people from the Global South. Literal Aparthied in Asia's World City. Come right in.

Oh and drop the fuckin "Asia's World City" bullshit. That title belongs to Singapore.