評論文章

The letter, “Ethnic minorities in Hong Kong: how community centres can foster integration” (August 5), rightly questions whether the city has done enough to build a robust multicultural environment.
True integration, however, requires more than symbolic gestures; dismantling the systemic barriers faced by non-Chinese residents demands structural reforms.

Hong Kong’s demographic diversity is too often oversimplified. While 91.6 per cent of the population is ethnically Chinese, the remaining 8.4 per cent encompasses communities with deep roots – some that can be traced back to the colonial era – as well as newer arrivals.

A blanket label like “ethnic minorities” flattens varied experiences and perpetuates stereotypes about non-Chinese groups, South Asian heritage or lower socioeconomic status. This risks turning diversity into a problem to be managed, rather than seeing it as an asset to be embraced.

The 2021 Population Census reveals telling residential patterns: non-Chinese groups are concentrated in districts like Yau Tsim Mong and Central and Western. History explains some of this clustering. South Asians deployed to Hong Kong as colonial-era police and soldiers settled near barracks, creating enclaves such as Yuen Long’s Nepali community and Central’s Muslim cluster. Economic factors further shape these patterns, with low-income families crowding into older neighbourhoods and so on.

Current policies, however, remain reactive. Token language classes or recreational programmes treat integration as a one-way street, expecting minorities to adapt while ignoring systemic inequities. A more transformative approach lies in the framework of redistribution, recognition and encounter, advocated by Australian scholars Ruth Fincher and Kurt Iveson. Redistribution would ensure urban development – like new town projects – prioritises equitable access to housing and amenities, instead of displacing marginalised groups. Recognition means redesigning policies to accommodate cultural differences, such as revising public housing rules that exclude larger Pakistani families. Most crucially, encounter shifts focus from top-down “integration spaces” to organic hubs – South Asian eateries, African barbershops – where cross-cultural exchange already flourishes.

This framework offers more than diagnosis; it provides a blueprint for a Hong Kong where diversity is woven into the city’s social fabric. Integration cannot be outsourced to community centres alone. It requires confronting the visible and invisible barriers that deny non-Chinese residents a sense of belonging. Only then can Hong Kong truly call itself inclusive.

Joyce Pan

Researcher, PoD Reseach Institute

https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3321684/inclusiveness-hong-kong-should-go-beyond-token-gestures