Muslims feel free in Hong Kong but left out
New book based on interviews finds that friction is not based on religion, but ethnic minorities' struggle to contribute to society
Hong Kong's Muslims have religious freedoms they cannot enjoy elsewhere in a unique city of hybrid cultures, but have to put up with prejudice and, often, overt discrimination.
These are some of the conclusions in a new book by Chinese University anthropology lecturer Paul O'Connor, 36, who moved from England 12 years ago to study the city's unique relationship with Islam.
"For a social scientist, Hong Kong is this magical laboratory where you can test and look at things that you don't get the opportunity to look at in other places," he said.
Published by Hong Kong University Press, Islam in Hong Kong was based on a five-year PhD about how Islam works as a minority religion in a Chinese environment with no strong national ethos. The book was supplemented by interviews with local Muslims, many 13 to 17 years old.
There are about 250,000 Muslims in Hong Kong, the bulk of whom are Indonesians (148,000). Ethnic Chinese Muslims number 30,000 followed by 17,000 South Asian Muslims, most of whom are Pakistani.
O'Connor found that because there was no strong Christian heritage in Hong Kong, there was no friction based on monotheistic ideals and so religion was viewed separately to race, unlike the situation in Britain.
While there was prejudice, it was not related to religion, and racism was manifested in different ways.