Letters | Racism is endemic in Hong Kong, not just the doing of a few bad apples

Readers discuss the systemic problems unveiled by the Cathay Pacific discrimination scandal, the city’s international outlook, and what airlines must do to beat the competition

Reading Time:3 minutes

Commuters walking through the Central MTR station in Hong Kong on March 1. Hong Kong must protect its reputation as an open and welcoming place. Photo: May Tse

Published: 11:30am, 8 Jun 2023

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I refer to the letters on the Cathay Pacific discrimination debacle, published on June 1. Making claims that this is merely the doing of a few bad apples who have already been reprimanded is a reductive characterisation of the general sentiments around discrimination and racism in Hong Kong.

We must acknowledge that these are systemic issues rather than isolated, and that we need to develop more robust solutions rather than just brushing aside these events as the “misbehaviour of the ignorant few”. Dismissing the Cathay discrimination scandal as a one-off event and the aftermath as an “overreaction” harms Hong Kong’s outlook as a truly open and welcoming place.

I say this as an “ethnic minority” who has had to deal with veiled racism from time to time since moving to Hong Kong – from conversations with property agents getting cold right after they learn of my ethnicity (why do they ask for ethnicity, anyway?), to landlords refusing outright to let me rent their flat as they “do not want to rent to foreigners due to communication issues”.

As a PhD candidate who moved here from a developing country, I am deeply appreciative of everything Hong Kong has offered me. From the world-class infrastructure to the stunning natural landscapes, I have nothing but love and appreciation for Hong Kong, and I have every intention of paying it back.

However, these disturbing events, rare as they may be, leave emotional scars on the person being discriminated against. They make the individual (and the group of people who can relate to the individual being discriminated against) rethink their future.