Prejudice can have deadly consequences
- Those stirring up anti-immigrant sentiment in Hong Kong should reflect on the killing of a family from the mainland by a local man with a psychiatric illness
Anti-immigrant sentiments are reaching a fever pitch in Hong Kong.
Localist and opposition parties have demonstrated against migrants allegedly exploiting public health services. A judicial challenge is being launched to halt the one-way permit scheme, in place since 1982, which is the major source of immigration from the mainland. Every social ill imaginable from schooling to housing has been blamed on them. Immigrants are the new bogeymen.
Perhaps we should all pause for a moment, and remember that what we say and do have consequences. Spare a thought for Huang Zhiqiang, 26, his wife Wu Qianxin, 25, and their three-year-old daughter Huang Yilin.
The Coroner’s Court has found that their neighbour Hui Wai-chung set fire to their flat and his own, killing himself and the family of three on a public housing estate in 2016.
The Hong Kong man, 63, had expressed anti-immigrant remarks when making unsubstantiated complaints to estate management against the Huangs, who came from Foshan.
For months, he had complained about noises from his neighbours and especially the little girl. He had threatened the family, and pointed a loud radio at their flat. The Huangs made attempts to lower any noise, including quieting their young daughter, but still failed to satisfy Hui. The court heard that he suffered from depression and was once jailed for two months for assault.