The Hongcouver | If the name of the ‘Hongcouver’ blog is racist, what about the ‘VanChina Monologues’ instead? Discuss
Dear reader: Is the name of the Hongcouver blog racist?
I know … it’s probably a bit late to be publicly posing this question. This blog, first published by the South China Morning Post in November 2013, last week enjoyed the milestone of its 100th edition.
But many (most?) readers who are members of the Hong Kong diaspora in Vancouver, or returnees in the SAR, will have already been familiar with the Hongcouver portmanteau. It emerged in the 1990s with the wave of Hong Kong immigration to Vancouver in the lead up to the 1997 handover, and it wasn’t generally meant nicely: it was a wink-nudge pejorative for the “Asianisation” of the city, from a supposedly white stronghold into an emasculated vassal state of Hong Kong.
And for some unreformed knuckleheads, the term in that context still holds currency, implying who belongs here and who doesn’t, who is a legitimate Vancouverite and who will always be an “other”. Asides from anything else, this neglects the fact that thousands of Hong Kong immigrants have been flooding OUT of Vancouver: from 1996 to 2011, census data shows that the number of Hong Kong immigrants present here fell more than 16 per cent, to 72,235. There was inflow, but it was far outstripped by outflow (and deaths).
For some knuckleheads, the ‘Hongcouver’ term implies who belongs here and who doesn’t, who is a legitimate Vancouverite and who will always be an “other”
But when I was asked to choose the name of the blog, I didn’t hesitate. Hongcouver it was.