Racist snobs indeed thriving in our city
My thanks to Philip Yeung for his recent 'Land of snobs fails to look beyond race' article (Education Post, March 25). He truly hit the nail on the head. Too many Hong Kong people are indeed racist snobs when it comes to English-language teachers who are not Caucasian and aren't blond and blue-eyed.
I have a college degree and took the TESOL course. When I started looking for part-time teaching work, I was advised by a couple of tutorial agencies not to admit to being Filipino. Because I look Latino and have a slight American accent (having lived in the US for many years), I informed those parents who asked that I was Hawaiian. It's a sad thing to have to do, but I needed the work. Telling people about my British husband also helped.
I know of ethnic Chinese teachers, born in the west, who have been turned down for teaching jobs. It's not only infuriating but ironic to find such a pervasively stupid mindset in this so-called world city.
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AD students brave enough to bounce back