‘The future of Hong Kong is not ours’: Minority groups feel shut out of one of Asia’s richest cities
Government should urgently address the disenfranchisement of South Asians in particular, campaigners claim
Lifelong Hongkonger Prem Chandr Tamang was shocked to watch television footage of police firing shots at a Nepali gang attacking another Nepali in Yau Ma Tei on October 2 this year.
The 44-year-old Nepali company director, whose engineering construction business is based just two blocks away from where the machete attack took place, has also been a victim of Nepali gangs in the last two years.
On one occasion, they broke into his office, demanded he hand over HK$100,000 and slashed his neck – an injury that left him struggling to eat for 14 months. In a separate terrifying attack in March this year, they cornered him at home, hitting him across the head as he tried to protect his one-year-old son.
“They said they would destroy me and my office if I did not pay,” Tamang recalled, adding that no one had yet been prosecuted for the crimes despite him making seven reports to police.
By contrast, the Yau Ma Tei attack in October has so far seen the arrest of five local-born Nepali men. It also drew massive public attention, reigniting the debate over the status and treatment of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, who have historically been marginalised in the city.
“Having such an attack in a big city like Hong Kong is unacceptable,” said Tamang. “But it is not the first time. The gangs have always been here, causing trouble.”