'Expat brats' give their take on growing up in Hong Kong as 'third culture kids'

Jason Wordie’s Post Magazine column “Expat brats: the sad by-products of colonial Hong Kong society” described the stereotypical "expat brat" as having been shaped by privilege, cultural ignorance, transient relationships and too many drugs.

The column sparked heated debate, not least because the characterisation could be seen to apply to the city’s current crop of “third culture kids”. Here, "TCKs" give their take on growing up in Hong Kong, and whether Wordie’s assessment is a fair one …

Nic Tinworth, 40, creative director

(South Island School, French International School and Middlesex University, UK) 

"I’m an 'expat brat'. I call myself that jokingly. To be honest with you, though, I don’t know any true “expat brats”.

Jason Wordie does describe “third culture kids”, however, pretty well. You’re born in one country, you grew up in another, you spent time in a third, and you don’t really feel like you have any roots. He makes some fairly valid points: HK’s always been a very transient city, and when I was growing up here, a lot of my friends did come and go. I did know a lot of kids who grew up and their parents weren’t really there. There was a problem with drugs and boozing, but no more than there would have been in any other culture in the US or the UK.

HK’s always been a very transient city, and when I was growing up here, a lot of my friends did come and go. 

But Jason goes beyond the [normal] description and sort of tars third culture kids. I also know a lot of people who grew up the same way that I did and who have ingrained themselves a lot more than I have (not for lack of trying). I have many friends who have come back to Hong Kong, put their kids into local schools, and made sure that they are learning Mandarin. They themselves speak Cantonese almost fluently.