Ethnic minority community facing language barrier in Hong Kong

As Hong Kong gears up for the Legislative Council (LegCo) election on December 7, campaign posters decorate MTR stations, streets, and public spaces. Among the many voices urging citizens to vote, the city’s ethnic minority community finds itself with limited resources and support.  

The Electoral Affairs Commission has confirmed the installation of 615 general polling stations across Hong Kong, with voting hours extended to 16 hours for the first time. Amid such electoral excitement, two special “ethnic minority-only polling stations” will be operational. However, their operating hours will be a full three hours shorter than those of the general polling stations.  

On the surface, minority-only polling stations are an ideal policy that offers convenience for minority voters. But in practice, they can feel like purposeful segregation. Hussain Muhammad, a 33-year-old ethnically Pakistani Hong Kong resident, said, “We talk about inclusion all the time, but the specific arrangements make us feel like aliens who still need to be treated separately.” This feeling undermines the original intent of the policy.  

For Aruna Gurung, the first female ethnic minority District Councillor in Yau Tsim Mong, the LegCo election represents a pivotal moment. She has been actively encouraging her community to vote, emphasizing that participation is not just a civic duty but a responsibility that allows individuals to choose representatives who voice their needs. “If you’re living in Hong Kong as a resident, of course, not only for yourself, but for your future generation to live here more happily and collaborate,” she stated in a call-to-action video. Her message shows a growing sense of belonging and identity among ethnic minority communities as she advocates for their rights.  

Her determination, however, faces structural challenges within the government. The government and the Electoral Affairs Commission have introduced several measures to assist ethnic minority voters this year, including multilingual election materials in seven languages across eight support centers in the city. However, with these efforts mostly confined to offline networks, questions remain about their effectiveness in spreading information online in a digital age.  

Many minority voters seeking election information that is as timely and detailed as that available to the ethnically Chinese community must either make special trips to the designated service centers or rely on translation centers by secondary organizations. This delayed access to information is detrimental to voting decisions during a fast-paced election. Adding to the controversy, the dedicated polling stations are open for three hours less than regular polling stations across Hong Kong. These subtle differences, while perhaps driven by administrative considerations, can be perceived as marginalizing, which contradicts the intention of inclusion.

As a sentiment shared by Muhammad, true inclusion should ensure that ethnic minorities do not have to make extra efforts to enjoy an equal and convenient voting experience, allowing multilingual support to be seamlessly integrated into all polling stations and service processes throughout Hong Kong, just like accessible facilities.  

According to the “2021 Population Census Thematic Report: Ethnic Minorities”, there are approximately 619,568 non-Chinese residents in Hong Kong, accounting for 8.4% of the total population. They are not a single group, but rather include a diverse range of communities such as over 200,000 Filipinos, 140,000 Indonesians, 40,000 Indians, and nearly 30,000 Nepalese. The census is only conducted every four years, with the next one commencing this year.    

The report also highlighted that younger ethnic minorities demonstrate greater proficiency in reading and writing Chinese. Specifically, 65.1% of ethnic minorities aged 5 to 14 were able to read Chinese. Notably, within this demographic, South Asians emerged as the ethnic group with the highest literacy rates, alongside mixed-race individuals who have at least one Chinese parent. It also said that 8.6% of the ethnic minority people are living in Yau Tsim Mong District. 

A clear trend is that the younger generation of ethnic minorities born and raised in Hong Kong is generally more proactive and proficient in mastering and using Cantonese than their parents. Many young people see Cantonese as a key marker of their “Hong Konger” identity and an essential tool for social integration.

This generational difference has complex causes. Older immigrants may have faced greater difficulties learning a new language due to the nature of their work (such as early-term military personnel or those working in specific industries), relatively closed social circles, or their advanced age upon arrival. The younger generation, on the other hand, grew up in Hong Kong’s school and educational environment, even attending schools with a high concentration of ethnic minorities, and were immersed in the language in their daily social environment.

However, the path to language integration for the younger generation is not smooth; they face a systemic and institutional challenge. The core issue lies in the labeling of them by the education system. The Hong Kong education system plays a crucial role in shaping the identity of ethnic minority students, particularly those facing language barriers. Regardless of a minority student’s actual Chinese proficiency, they are usually categorized as “non-Chinese speaking students” and placed in “Chinese as a Second Language” courses, which are significantly different from mainstream Chinese courses and have a lower level of difficulty. Although this approach aims to help these students adapt to the educational environment, it inadvertently isolates ethnic minority students from Chinese speakers.

Thewe Mikfung, a 17-year-old Nepalese student, has been treated differently since primary school due to the “NCS” label. She recalls, “Because schools would group us non-Chinese speakers together, I had very few opportunities to interact with local students. My closest friends in primary school were fellow NCS students who either felt outcasted like me or faced difficulties interacting with locals. So we had our own local band of NCS groups that we could depend on.”

Thewe points out that even when ethnic minority students make efforts to learn Cantonese, the derogatory labels and stereotypical jokes they encounter in daily life continually erode their confidence in using the language. In secondary school, having no choice but to interact with local peers due to the near absence of other non-Chinese speaking students, she often faced racially charged taunts like “ah cha,” “fake Hongkonger,” or “You’re Nepalese, so you must eat curry every day.” These remarks left her feeling misunderstood and uncomfortable, often forcing her to respond with strained laughter.  “This is not a one-time occurrence as well. It happens every minute, every day. I feel like most NCS have adapted to it. We’ve learned to just either ignore it or go along with it. But it really is sad and even when we try to call out their behavior, they will just say ‘oh I was joking, I’m sorry I didn’t mean it that way.’ But they will still continue to do it. So it’s a very vicious cycle in that sense,”she said.

Although ethnic minority students like Thewe identify as Hongkongers, environmental constraints make it difficult for them to fully integrate into society. “Every single time, the activities were always in Chinese… The excuse they gave was that we didn’t need it. So I think it is a universal experience for NCS in local curriculum. We feel left out. We feel very outcasted, even though there are locals that do try to connect with us obviously. But once they are with their local group, it’s like we’re suddenly divided,” Thewe said in the interview.

Beyond challenges faced in school, ethnic minorities struggle to find a stable job in the city. The limitations of ethnic minority communities’ job opportunities are also reflected in the “2021 Population Census Thematic Report: Ethnic Minorities”. The data show that ethnic minority workers are highly concentrated in the low-wage, auxiliary “Miscellaneous social and personal services” sector, with a proportion as high as 69.9%. Their median monthly income from their main job is only HK$4,920, far below the overall Hong Kong median of HK$18,000, and they work longer hours. This clearly demonstrates how the dual barriers of language and social networks systematically confine them to the secondary labor market, making upward social mobility difficult.

   

In an interview with DotDotNews, Gurung explained that many ethnic minority workers in Hong Kong are employed on a project basis, especially in the construction or service industry. She noted that during large-scale projects, such as the construction of Chek Lap Kok Airport’s third runway or Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, ethnic minorities often can secure a relatively high-paid job. However, once these projects conclude, ethnic minority workers often struggle to find a new job. “When there is a project, you (ethnic minorities) can get a higher salary,” Gurung said, “but suddenly the project is finished,” and finding another high-paying job becomes much harder. 

To combat the challenge of finding a sustainable job in Hong Kong, Gurung said language is the main issue. “When you are in Hong Kong, of course, you have to be able to know their own Cantonese language. If you can speak the language, of course, you can easily find a job,” she said. 

Unlike most contract-based foreign domestic helpers, many South Asian families are permanent residents of Hong Kong. They arrived in Hong Kong as early as the colonial period and established intergenerational communities. Therefore, they have deeper considerations regarding living, developing their careers, and raising their children in Hong Kong long-term. For them, mastering Cantonese is not just a work requirement but a long-term investment concerning their children’s education, career advancement, and social acceptance. Therefore, learning Cantonese is seen as a key tool for breaking down barriers, improving their living conditions, and giving the next generation a better starting point. As community members have pointed out, they feel the need to understand Cantonese to better integrate into society.

In a survey done by KELY Support Group, which interviewed 509 ethnic minorities aged 16 to 25 in Hong Kong, only 17 percent of respondents spoke Cantonese as their first language, with an additional 15 percent who spoke Cantonese as a second language. “I would suggest all the ethnic minority communities to learn the language first,” Gurung said in the interview.

However, Cindy Ng, KELY Support Group’s senior manager, said that the language barrier is only one of the biggest challenges ethnic minorities face. Instead, she suggested a lack of career resources and opportunities for ethnic minorities as the biggest challenge.

In the same survey done by the NGO, it found that 82 percent of respondents had no internship experience. Ng said that many ethnic minority youngsters lacked mentors to guide them during their careers, which exemplified a lack of confidence when finding a job. To alleviate the problem, she suggested that the government develop friendly policies for better employment opportunities and career choices within the community.

The government launched a series of plans between 2010 and 2020 aimed at supporting ethnic minority communities and encouraging social inclusion. However, the overall effectiveness and transparency of these policies are highly questionable. Taking the “Project Gemstone” as an example, its goal was to recruit ethnic minorities into the disciplined services since 2013. However, according to official data up to 2023, only 39 individuals had successfully joined through this project, 23 joined the police force, and the remaining 16 were distributed among departments like Customs and the Fire Services.

 

Also, the actual total number of ethnic minorities within the various disciplined services have not been fully disclosed. Despite authorities launching several programs, the Government Flying Service and the Immigration Department still lack targeted special recruitment programs for the ethnic minority communities. 

While there are improvements that can be anticipated in the government, there is hope for ethnic minorities in the job market. In Cheung Sha Wan, a tutor center named FUNtastic hires a majority of ethnic minority tutors. Nancy Ng, owner of FUNtastic said “I hire them because of their ability to create an authentic English environment.” Ng also said their hardworking work ethic and humble attitude deserve to be recognized in the industry. 

Areesha Advani, a 26-year-old Pakistani tutor teaching English at FUNtastic, recalled her previous experience working at another tutor center, where she was paid a lower wage due to her inability to speak Cantonese with her employer. According to a 2022 government survey, unemployment among ethnic minorities was 48.9 percent while the overall unemployment rate in Hong Kong was around 5.4 percent. For many like Advani, the opportunity to find a reasonable salary remains closely tied to their Chinese proficiency. “When I worked in a tutor center in the New Territories, I got paid very little because I couldn’t speak Cantonese with my boss. But to be honest, I don’t understand why I had to know Cantonese because my purpose in that job was to teach children English.” 

Fortunately for Advani, she left the job in 2023 and started teaching at FUNtastic. “I was very impressed with the reasonable pay here (FUNtastic), which shouldn’t be the norm, you know, because we deserve reasonable pay too,” she said. 

Advani’s job experiences reflect both the challenges and opportunities ethnic minorities face in the city. While Hong Kong has attempted to provide support and services for ethnic minorities in our city, the lack of transparency and effectiveness in government programs targeted at ethnic minorities continues to limit opportunities for the community in Hong Kong. But there is still hope, as examples like FUNtastic show how private businesses can bridge the gap by valuing their unique skills. 

What is important for the city now is to break the barrier between people. As Thewe says, “I don’t think including more languages in election brochures makes us feel more inclusive. I think it’s more important for fellow Hongkongers to make us feel more included emotionally and psychologically.” 

Jeffrey Andrews, a Bangladeshi-Hong Kong social worker, echoes this sentiment. He suggested HongKongers not to demonize Chungking Mansion and the ethnic minorities that reside within it. “Parents always tell their kids not to go inside the Chungking building right. I see it differently, there’s a lot of life and stories that are interesting to learn once you step inside it,” he said, “I’d ask people not to be fearful of the building. Just go in and perhaps you’ll realize all the fear was unnecessary.”