Are mainland Chinese students 'robbing Hong Kong locals of school places and jobs'?

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Those of us who manage to stay and adapt to Hong Kong’s unique environment have proven our value.

Published: 3:16pm, 3 Jun 2013Updated: 4:13am, 29 Aug 2013

Born and raised in Shanghai, I arrived in Hong Kong to study journalism about one year ago. I don’t consider myself a Hongkonger yet, but I feel I am no longer just Shanghainese or mainland Chinese. Hong Kong has left something in my life.

Resorting to xenophobia is counterproductive, and it makes losers out of all of us

Half an insider and half-outsider in this vibrant international city, I have come to understand why some local students feel concerned about people from the mainland studying here. Increasing competition for better marks at school and for limited jobs naturally makes people nervous. Some may become emotional.

I am not immune to these feelings. But in my opinion, some local youths are overreacting as they try to raise money to buy an advertisement in newspapers criticising mainland Chinese students. Resorting to xenophobia is counterproductive, and it makes losers out of all of us.

In class at Baptist University. Photo: Dickson Lee

Do mainland students “grab the enrolment quota” in graduate schools as the proposed advertisement says?

The truth is, we went through complicated application procedures and passed tough selection processes to end up in Hong Kong.

To be accepted into the master of international journalism programme, one must have a TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score of higher than 92 out of 120, or an IELTS (The International English Language Testing System) score of more than 6.5 out of 9. On top of that, one also needs to pass a qualification test or an interview, or both, depending on the school. The standard will be higher next year because of a higher number of applicants from mainland China, according to my programme director.

I confess that I took the TOEFL test twice, and applied for three local graduate schools for two years in a row until I was accepted by Hong Kong Baptist University last year. So coming to Hong Kong was no piece of cake for me – I worked hard to earn my place.