Just Saying | Let’s face it, Hong Kong’s law against racism is completely useless
- Yonden Lhatoo struggles to come to terms with the fact that, despite all the evidence of racial discrimination in the city, there has not been a single prosecution under a decade-old law to stamp it out
“Denial is the way we handle what we cannot handle,” the old saying goes, and that pretty much sums up the official attitude towards racism in this city.
Did you know that no one has been prosecuted under the Race Discrimination Ordinance over an entire decade since the law was enacted “to ensure that people of different races are treated equally in Hong Kong”?
Not a single prosecution, yet barely anyone batted an eyelid at the revelation by constitutional affairs minister Patrick Nip Tak-kuen, in a written response to a lawmaker’s question this week.
And as to whether the administration had an explanation for such an astonishing track record, this was Nip’s jaw-dropping reply: “As a victim may make a civil claim in the court directly against the wrongdoer, the government does not normally know about the case unless it is reported by the media or the government is named as a respondent. The government also does not hold records on the total number of such claims.”
In other words, the government doesn’t give a damn because, as far as it’s concerned, racism is not a “prevalent or serious problem” in Hong Kong.