Please mind the gap
We are all racists, a fact we must face before there can be any meaningful discussion about racism. Anyone who insists there is not a racist bone in his or her body is a liar. Racism's range is wide, from derogatory language and exclusion based on skin colour - both common in Hong Kong - to the hate crimes we see elsewhere.
There have been enough letters to this newspaper from readers recounting unhappy experiences with immigration officials, on public transport, and while looking for jobs or flats, to confirm that racism is rampant in Hong Kong. I was struck by one recent letter from someone who described himself as a white European. His complaint that the locals would not sit next to him on MTR trains is a common one, but only among darker-skinned people. It made me wonder why the Chinese, who try hard to look European with expensive treatment on their noses, eyes and breasts, would shun the real thing on the MTR.
As an Indian, I too have been shunned by locals who prefer to squeeze into less comfortable seats elsewhere. But whenever this happens, I feel thankful for the extra space, rather than slighted. If only they could avoid me on planes and in cinemas, too. Imagine having an entire row of plane seats to yourself, or no one near you in the cinema talking or making disgusting noises.
Does saying all this, even in jest, make me a racist? Of course it does, simply because I harbour such thoughts. I asked Chinese colleagues at work why the locals avoid Disneyland when mainlanders swamp the park during special holidays, and was told: 'They spit, they push, they jump queues.' Does that make my colleagues racist? Of course it does.
While researching racism as a US correspondent, I talked to a Chinese woman who had been campaigning against bigotry towards Asians. As she talked, in Cantonese, about how Chinese-Americans are often called 'chinks' and passed over for top jobs, she freely used the term hak gwei (black devil) to describe African-Americans. I realised then that this woman, who felt so aggrieved about racist treatment towards her and her kind, would think nothing of calling me mo loh cha (slur for Indians) behind my back.
What does that make her and other Hong Kong immigrants who complain about bigotry against them in their adopted western countries but openly act out their prejudices while here?
I was reminded of that woman while on the MTR recently when a well-groomed African man had an entire row of seats to himself on a packed train.
Clearly uncomfortable with his situation, he finally chose to stand instead, and all the seats instantly filled up. Had I asked him how he felt towards the locals, and had he answered truthfully, I am sure he would have said: 'They don't like my skin colour, and I don't like theirs.' Does that make him a racist? Of course.
Why do you think film distributors say Hong Kong people are not interested in movies like the award-winning Crash which focuses on racism in the United States? And why do locals, who always cry foul when portrayed in an insulting way, find it amusing when our advertising industry routinely depicts Indians as doormen, using only caucasians and Chinese to play high-end consumers, when there are so many rich Indians in Hong Kong?
When government officials and legislators take years to admit there is racism here, and still delay acting, you can't help but wonder if it is also bigotry that makes them listen to the bigots who say we must be careful with new laws because racism is not a big issue.
But I am sure that even if laws are finally enacted, they will do little to change the nature of our society, just like even tougher laws elsewhere have failed to reign in bigots, which we all are.
Michael Chugani is editor-in-chief of ATV English News and Current Affairs
