Then & now: land of the blimps
The prejudice and snobbery that defined the Old Colonial stereotype have yet to become relics of Hong Kong's past, writes Jason Wordie
The “Old Colonial” stereotype has almost – but not entirely – disappeared from Hong Kong life.
Much misunderstood and misidentified, he – and yes, it is generally a “he” – can still be found if one knows where to look.
These “matured or embryonic blimps”, to borrow from one of Noel Coward’s amusing songs, are not all aged between 60 and a stress-related death. Plenty of younger fossils do the rounds, pontificating loudly on matters well beyond their understanding and speaking as if they personally remember events that happened long before they were born.
Arthur Ransome, editor of The Manchester Guardian (now The Guardian) visited China in the 1920s and afterwards wrote perceptively about what he termed “the Shanghai mind”. Many of his observations could also be transcribed from eavesdropping on the average after-work moan session in Central – or by tuning into water-cooler conversations in any office tower tomorrow morning.
Several markers exist. Probably the most obvious is a complete lack of awareness (or interest) in the most basic aspects of Chinese life, language and culture, even after a lifetime’s residence here; or, in many cases, generations of continuous family residence. The language these people use offers profound personal identity markers.
They go “home” for school and the summer and come “back” to Hong Kong for the working year; they never come “home” to Hong Kong: a small, yet very telling, symbolic indicator of their inner thought processes.
Exactly who was (and was not) acceptable for admission to “the Club” – wherever in the Far East this happened to be – was always a subject of snobbish conversation.