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The Status of Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong, 1997 to 2014 report

The Zubin Foundation, a not for profit think tank working on social issues that don’t receive enough attention in Hong Kong, released a comprehensive report on ethnic minorities in Hong Kong today (September 23).

"The Status of Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong, 1997 to 2014" was commissioned by The Zubin Foundation’s Shalini Mahtani and conducted by Puja Kapai, Director at the University of Hong Kong’s Centre for Comparative and Public and Law.

"The Status of Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong, 1997 to 2014" is the first research on ethnic minorities across all areas of life, from crime and health to employment and education, and has been compiled, synthesized and interpreted by author Puja Kapai. What is unique too about this research is that two ethnic minority women, Shalini Mahtani and Puja Kapai, are behind it.

“For many years the Hong Kong government has been asking for evidence of the fact that ethnic minorities are being marginalised in Hong Kong. Here it is.  The research compiled gives us a fairly complete picture. Ethnic minorities are less educated, tend to be overwhelmingly in elementary occupations, have lower income levels and are much more likely to be poor and it’s therefore not surprising that their crime rates are rising. It’s hard to be an ethnic minority in Hong Kong- with discrimination and exclusion. The question is how committed is Hong Kong to address this?” said Shalini Mahtani, Chair of The Zubin Foundation.

The research has also found that there are very big differences amongst the ethnic minority groups and Indians, who for example, are better educated than the average Hong Kong person and have a much higher income level. “Not all ethnic minorities are the same and this research allows policy makers, NGO’s and employers to target their interventions at specific ethnic groups.  Evidence-based interventions are more resource efficient and effective. Education is a big problem but there are other very significant problems too such as the elderly, domestic violence and equal access to services and employment. All of these are connected and what is needed is a complete review by the government. We have a structural and systemic problem”, said Puja Kapai, author of the report and Director of The Centre for Comparative and Public Law, The University of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s history has largely ignored the contribution of Hong Kong’s ethnic minority population. Hong Kong’s Star Ferry was started by an ethnic minority, so was the Ruttonjee Hospital. In addition, three of the thirteen initial members of The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation were ethnic minorities and a significant endowment was given by an ethnic minority to start The University of Hong Kong. The Sikh and Nepalese communities have also played an instrumental role in defending and protecting Hong Kong.

“We appreciate some of the steps the government has taken in relation to the needs of ethnic minorities- but much more needs to be done. We are asking for the Hong Kong government to set up a high level committee that looks at ethnic minorities and consider more ethnic minority representation on government bodies”, Mahtani said.

“And the term ethnic minority is degrading and out of date. Today’s ethnic minorities self define as Hong Kong people. Shalini’s family came to Hong Kong in 1911 and mine in 1953. How much more Hong Kong can we get?” Kapai remarked.

Link to the Summary Report and Full Report: http://www.zubinfoundation.org/index.php/en/2013-12-27-07-21-21/2014-05-13-07-51-61

Media contact (Cantonese, Putonghua and English languages):
Sandy Chan
Programme Director, The Zubin Foundation
Tel: +858 6421 2677
sandy@zubinfoundation.org

About The Zubin Foundation
The Zubin Mahtani Gidumal Foundation (also known as The Zubin Foundation) is a social policy think tank committed to improving the lives of Hong Kong people. Our focus is on issues that do not receive sufficient attention in Hong Kong. Our current areas of work include ethnic minorities, patient care and special education needs (SEN) of non Chinese speaking children. The Zubin Foundation was established by two Hong Kong individuals, Shalini Mahtani and Ravi Gidumal in memory of their son Zubin who died tragically in 2009. See www.zubinfoundation.org.

About Centre of Comparative and Public Law, The University of Hong Kong
The Centre for Comparative and Public Law (CCPL) was established in 1995 as a non-profit virtual research centre at the Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong.  Its goals are to (1) advance knowledge on public law and human rights issues primarily from the perspectives of international and comparative law and practice; (2) encourage and facilitate collaborative work within the Faculty of Law, the University of Hong Kong, and the broader community in the fields of comparative and public law; and (3) make the law more accessible to the community and more effective as an agent of social change. It has over 20 years of experience in conducting contract and other research in the field of public and comparative law. See: http://www.law.hku.hk/ccpl/.