What's in a name? Too much, say some people from ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, who want the Chinese name of a SoHo street changed because it's discriminatory.
Ali Ghazanfar says he's lived in Hong Kong for more than three decades but was only recently made aware of the Cantonese name for Mosque Street - Mo Lo Miu Gai - when he and a colleague hopped into a taxi to go to Friday prayers at the nearby Jamia Mosque. He said Mo Lo Mui Gai roughly translated into Mo Lo Temple Street, with mo lo, from the phrase mo lo cha, being a derogatory term for Indians or Pakistanis, much like gweilo is seen by some as a dig at Caucasians. In Hong Kong, it has historically referred to Sikhs and other South Asians engaged in low-class work.
With the passing of Hong Kong's anti-discrimination law, Ghazanfar, 63, said he thought a name change was in order.
The issue 'isn't actually concerning the Islamic community', said Ghazanfar, a British national originally from Pakistan. 'It is just a concern for the people who are from the subcontinent.'
The street's Cantonese name should read 'Wui Gaau Miu Gai', he said, explaining that wui gaau means Muslim.
His first attempt to enlighten Hong Kong officials was not successful. He was told by a Central and Western District councillor that the Lands Department believed a name change would cause disruption.