Discriminatory language abounds in describing Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities

The city should avoid discriminatory language when discussing ethnic minorities, as it is often “lagging behind” in cultural awareness, an expert believes.

Dr Terence Shum Chun-tat, teaching fellow at the Technological and Higher Education Institute, said: “Hong Kong is a migrant society. We need to have a very strong awareness about the cultural differences, the cultural diversity of ethnic minority groups in Hong Kong.”

When talking about African migrants for instance, Shum said they were sometimes labelled as “black” in a derogatory manner, instead of being referred to as those of African origin.

“They are also human beings,” he said. “How come because of [a] difference in skin colour, we label them as a group of black guys?”

Cantonese slang includes ­racial slurs against African ­migrants such as hak gwai or “black ghost,” and slurs against Indian or Pakistani people such as ah cha or ah sing.

More inclusive language would recognise country of origin over skin colour, such as a Somali person, a Congolese individual, a Sri Lankan or a Pakistani, according to Shum.