Language barriers: some Hong Kong restaurants still cite Covid-19 in turning away Mandarin speakers – but at what cost?
- While many have decried the policy as discriminatory, the city’s Equal Opportunities Commission has been largely powerless to stop it
- Analysts believe the city’s roiling political environment since protests kicked off last June has played a role in the mainlander bans
Among the countless Post-it notes bearing anti-government messages outside Kwong Wing Cafe in Hong Kong’s bustling Tsim Sha Tsui neighbourhood, one notice stands out: “Our staff can only speak Cantonese.”
The sign quickly caught the attention of postgraduate student Huang, who often walks past the cha chaan teng-style restaurant with char siu, spaghetti and toast on its menu. Asking to be identified by only his surname, the 26-year-old Hongkonger says that, because of the notice, he never dines there.
The venue is one of seven operated by Kwong Wing Catering that has maintained a no-Mandarin policy since January 28, when the spread of the coronavirus first provoked calls for a full closure of the city’s border with mainland China. A special exemption is made for “friends from Taiwan.”
While the policy is decried by many as discriminatory towards customers from the mainland, where Mandarin is the official language, the chain has ignored a call by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), the city’s anti-discrimination watchdog, to remove the notice.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Huang speaks perfect Cantonese. But at home he speaks Mandarin with his parents, both in their 50s, who moved to the city about 30 years ago from the mainland.
“So I can’t take my parents to the restaurant because they prefer to speak their mother tongue?” he asks.