Hong Kong-China Tensions

The golden bauhinia flower in the bottom left of the picture was a statue given by the Chinese government to Hong Kong when it was returned to the mainland after the island's 150-year loan to the British. Under its "Special Administrative Region" status (Hong Kong SAR), Hong Kong is legally considered a part of the People's Republic of China, but politically, it is self-governed. Hong Kong will have at least 50 years of autonomy before it is integrated back into the mainland.

It has been 11 years since the handover, and many Hong Kong people are already dreading their island's return to the mainland. Students in the Journalism program at CUHK told me that news in Hong Kong has slowly been changing. News stations are now more politically sensitive and careful when reporting about the mainland because of China's authoritarian and Communist government.

Hong Kong Chinese are also very deliberate about differentiating themselves from mainlander Chinese. There is a certain pride in their voices when they say they are from Hong Kong, and they are quick to point out that they are not from mainland China. In Hong Kong, being from mainland China holds connotations of spitting on the street, squatting, being loud and being dirty. Generally, this is the way the average Hong Kong Chinese perceives mainlanders.

Though many mainlanders are now moving into Hong Kong, they are being met with cultural tension and oftentimes hostility. Many Hong Kong Chinese are frustrated with the inability of mainlander Chinese to speak Cantonese, and they are annoyed that mainlanders are invading and taking over their city. Hong Kong Chinese want to keep their city protected from mainland China, but once its autonomous period is over, there is no telling what might happen to this
island.

The Rise of Putonghua

There is a common saying that you don't need to speak Cantonese to get around Hong Kong. And it's true. Hong Kong is an English friendly city. Street signs are in English. The MTR is laid out in Chinese and English. Hong Kong is a bilingual city.

But now, it's being pushed (maybe even forced) to become a trilingual city: Cantonese, English and Putonghua/Mandarin. With the rapid growth of China knocking on Hong Kong's door and the opening up of the Hong Kong-China border, the city is seeing a huge influx in immigrants from China, and in some places in Hong Kong, Putonghua is the more dominant language.

To cope with the changing language scene, primary schools are putting a greater emphasis on Putonghua education. Whereas before, schools focused on Cantonese and English, they are now placing greater importance on Putonghua. In fact, the "Teaching in Rural Hong Kong" program I'm doing through my school, Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), not only had high demand for English teachers but for Putonghua teachers. All the locals seem to know that Cantonese will die out soon and Putonghua will become the dominant language.

Similar scenes of mainlanders overpowering Hong Kong-ers are happening in other Chinese hot spot cities around the world. Toronto, San Francisco, New York, Vancouver and Los Angeles were once settling spots for Cantonese-Chinese, who are defined as being from Guangzhou or Hong Kong. But now, these cities have become overrun by mainlander Chinese, many of whom are now rich enough, thanks to China's open economy, to move across the Pacific.

Cantonese-Chinese people in the above cities are now being outnumbered by mainlander Chinese, and they have no choice but to adapt to the changing language scene, whether they like it or not. My grandparent's generation refused to learn it, my parent's generation knows a little, and the younger generation in Hong Kong knows enough to get by, most can understand it even if they can't fluently speak it.

But overseas Chinese and Hong Kong-ers aren't the only ones who need to learn Putonghua. People around the world seem to be realizing that, with 1/6 of the world's population, China and Putonghua will probably soon take over the world. The future of business is in China so that's why everyone is flocking there.

China has set up Confucius Institutes, which are centres that specifically teach Putonghua, in many cities around the world in response to the interest and demand in learning the Chinese language. With centres set up in South Korea, Serbia, and Rwanda, amongst other countries, the Chinese government is hoping to teach 100 million non-Chinese the Chinese language and culture. However, another result of these Confucius Institutes could be the growth of China's soft power. Soft power is when a country has influence through its culture and language, and with so many Institutes around the world, China is really building up soft power, which is going to help it in issues of public diplomacy...but could this mean that foreign countries will become less strict towards it, its problems with human rights, and its ignorance of social development?

Surviving the Typhoon

I woke up from my nap...to a level 8 typhoon raging in Hong Kong.

Buses stopped running. Classes ended early. The canteens closed.

How was I supposed to eat dinner?

I've never been in a typhoon before, and I only had a couple apples, some crackers, and coconut bread. Luckily, some local girls invited me to eat with them and we made noodles with lettuce, sausages, and dumplings. It's amazing how good simple food will taste when you really have no other option.

Outside, winds shook up Hong Kong. The strong winds are cool and are actually a nice relief from the humidity we've been having lately. They were so strong I could lean against them, and they almost blew me away (cheu jao). The sky is dark and grim, and there is virtually no activity going on outside. The only sounds are of the trees being tossed and knocked around.


I was scared because the typhoon sounds so powerful, but around me, no one is scared. The locals are used to it; typhoons come three to four times a year and it's no big deal to local Hong Kong people. Me, I thought at least one thing in my hostel was going to break.

Lights and Electricity in Hong Kong

Every night at 8 pm, Hong Kong presents "The Symphony of Lights", a light show at Victoria Harbour. It's best viewed from the Kowloon side because most office buildings are at Central, on Hong Kong Island. The light show mainly consists of buildings lighting up and laser booms shooting across the harbour. It's a pretty sight...the colours are nice and it's fun to see lights criss cross buildings and light up the night sky.

But how much this light show costs Hong Kong. It's done every night, for about 15-20 minutes. And lots of buildings participate in this show, let's say roughly 30 buildings.

30 buildings X 15-20 minutes of electricity/day X 365 days/year X the electricity rate in Hong Kong, which I don't know = a heck of a lot of money

Why do they put their money towards this when they could be allocating it towards ESL, since speaking good English is highly coveted, or environmental programs to clean up their air? Actually, I know the answer to this: aesthetics. Asians are all about aesthetics and making themselves look good to one another and to foreigners. But could they be indirectly hurting themselves by focusing on the way the foreigners and the rest of the world perceive them?

Speaking of which, is this what China did to itself during the Olympics?

Filipinos in Hong Kong

Many Filipinos come to Hong Kong to find work. I heard they need at least a college degree to get out of the Philippines, but most end up working as maids in Hong Kong households. I don't understand why they have such low-level jobs if they received that much education...

Well regardless, Sunday is the only day Filipinos have off work so they congregate at and around Victoria Park (the first picture) and Central Station in Hong Kong (the second picture). In both areas, they bring out blankets or even cardboard, and just sit around, talking with one another, playing cards or napping.



People in Hong Kong are used to them, it's just the way things are here. Being in Central on Sunday means being surrounded by Filipino maids on their day off. Sometimes I compare the way Filipinos are in Hong Kong to the way illegal immigrants are in Southern California. The Mexican migrants are so integral to helping Southern California, particularly LA, run because they do the jobs that no one else wants to do. If they were suddenly not there one day, LA would probably stop running.

So what about Filipinos in Hong Kong? If they weren't here anymore, lots of Hong Kong households wouldn't have caretakers for the elderly or maids for their houses. Lots of the small things would not get done. It makes me wonder whether Hong Kong would stop running...

First Sights of Hong Kong

These pictures were taken when I first arrived in Hong Kong, 12 hours after I was originally supposed to arrive (thank Typhoon Nuri). These were the first things I saw when I landed - a calm and serene Hong Kong after the storm of the typhoon. I don't really know what to expect of Hong Kong, that's ok, it's going to be a crash course.