“Hi, you’re applying for this programme right?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Can you speak Cantonese?”
“A little bit.”
“Then you aren’t eligible to apply for this programme.”
That’s the phone call conversation that occurred between myself and the one in charge of a programme that I was applying for. A straight out rejection after knowing my “a little bit” Cantonese-speaking skills. But I’m not the only one.
When it comes to employment, only 1 in 5 jobs cater to the language abilities of ethnic minorities. Many (including myself) question whether Cantonese skills are really essential when it comes to the said jobs. Fingers are pointed to ethnic minorities themselves for not trying hard to learn the language. But I ask: is there enough resources to support our language learning needs? Learning a language isn’t one way. It’s reciprocal. One teaches well so the other learns well. And for us, where Cantonese is not only second or third or fourth language, it is difficult.
We are so concentrated in jobs depending on our ethnicity. Filipinos as domestic helpers or in the food and beverage industry, Nepalis in construction work, Indians in small businesses, Pakistanis in Chung King Mansion and so on. Why? Why this continuous cycle?
Because there aren’t any other opportunities or place for us.
You cannot simply say, “Well, go to public libraries and read Chinese books!” What is written in these books are not the same as our level of Cantonese. What we are taught should co-respond to our abilities. Otherwise, if it’s too advance, we won’t catch up, just like how we were taught Cantonese in primary school where there were no English words as a guide. Or if it’s not enough, we just end up settling for survival Cantonese that isn’t enough to get us a job.
I have my Cantonese qualifications obtained from GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) which really caters to Cantonese as a second-language. But it’s not a local-based qualification, it’s UK-based. And even if you get an A* (the highest), your qualification is still equal to that of a primary two student here. But understand this, if local Hong Kong students who are ethnically Chinese and have Cantonese as their first language fail the Chinese exams for university admission, then how about us? If that is difficult enough for them, how about us mastering this language?
I’m not saying it’s impossible because there are ethnic minorities who can speak and write the language at a native level, but what about us who lack the funding to get a private lesson? What about us, whose family still struggle to put food on the table? Those of us who only want to graduate to get into a job to support our family? Even if teaching Chinese as a second language has been passed, how qualified are the ones teaching us?
Stop treating ethnic minorities like they are not part of Hong Kong. We are residents of Hong Kong. We are living in Hong Kong. Some of us are born and raised here, have families here and have been here for generations. We are part of what is Hong Kong. Some tell us to go back to our country, but Hong Kong is our city. Maybe it doesn’t treat us as much, but this where we live our life. It doesn’t hurt for us to be treated like we live here for one, in employment, in education and in political matters. No, we are not disadvantaged people because we have a different ethnicity, speak a different language and have a different face, so stop putting us in the disadvantaged category. We are Hong Kongers as much as you are.
Hong Kong takes pride in itself as an international city. But is it really? These days, ethnic minorities still make the headlines-first ethnic minority woman, taxi driver, registered social worker and so on. It highlights a fact: it’s so uncommon that it surprises the world. Now, the problem of opportunities due to language barrier is growing.
The Racial Discrimination ordinance was just passed quite recently. So actually, before that, you could discrimination someone based on race, legally. Imagine that. But it’s not like subtle discrimination doesn’t exist. Racial profiling, for example. It has become “normal” for ethnic minorities to be checked on the streets. I, myself have been stopped multiple times despite looking like a “normal” student.
Recently, I attended a conference in Canada to present a research paper that I co-wrote with two colleagues on the experiences of ethnic minorities particularly Filipinas in Hong Kong. There, I told the panel about my first hand experience as an ethnic minority in the city. Many of them surprised. Many of them unaware. Many of their jaw-dropped. And these are professors in universities. We have become so invisible not only to the international scene but even towards our own local Hong Kong counterparts despite the fact that we are both local citizens of Hong Kong. Race and ethnicity separate us. When it shouldn’t really.
It’s an international city but where are all the opportunities for us then?
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