Can BBC's Find Happiness In The Far East?

 

With the endless western media Sinophobia, enforced 'invisibility' of our British community, for BBCs who haven't completely embraced multiculturalism, being a 'minority', increasingly depressing economic times, even if you are relatively quite well off financially, if you have an ounce of social observation/sympathy, it can at times be difficult to 'switch off' from negative news around us.

In the East however, things are looking better comparatively, BBC's whose parents are from the New Territories often have village homes they can travel to and from, relatives they can stay with for some time, whilst looking for work, or even just for a break from being here in the UK. 

Culturally, for some BBCs although popular HK/Chinese music TV or Film may not compete in quality with western output, China is increasingly becoming westernised, and in both China and Hong Kong there are many English speaking students, not to mention many who want to learn the English language.

The main problem for some BBC's is the Chinese language, having already integrated with western society or encouraged to continue to speak Cantonese/Mandarin growing up, as well as we ought to,  though it may take some time to get back to a fluent level, if we are lucky to have helpful parents, and sometimes friends/relatives or spouses who do,we can have an advantage when it comes to improving our speaking ability which can obviously help us when it comes to finding work out there.

In the UK, It's clear western media will not tolerate Chinese,except at arm's length, BBC's will never create an independent media, FOBS will continue to run their FOB businesses and create their own exclusive FOB-only circles, all of which will do nothing for British Chinese social identity despite China's growing world presence.

Despite partnering with British Companies, until China buys up western media, which could be some time off, if ever, and British Chinese community takes more social interest beyond 'Self-interest', for BBC's who want to reconnect with our Chinese heritage, looking to the Far East as a serious option for relocation, if not a long extended stay, could be the missing piece in our culture-starved lives.

As an ethnic Chinese living in Britain,  how do you feel, about the fact you and future generations growing up in the UK may never be fully accepted by British society, and only tolerated? And if relocating to the Far East, is an option by contrast, is it one worth considering?

Chinese Plastic Surgery

Being born in Britain, our parents wanted the best start in life for us. Indeed, many British Born Chinese excel beyond their parents’ expectations. Whilst British Born Chinese females get on with life, few feel a need to alter their looks to fit in with the western ideal of beauty. I know no-one that feels compelled to try out the outlets in South Korea or Hong Kong that perform the “double eye-lid” surgery, none that want to buy skin whitening cream, nor spend precious earned cash on calf reduction.

Opening a Chinese gossip magazine or seeing the hordes of fresh faced East Asian female students entering the UK, it’s apparent that many East Asians take their appearance very seriously, their skin is often lightened, their eyes widened, their eyelashes extended and their breasts don’t sit naturally on a slight frame - in many ways they look like a celebration of the western identikit.

In Britain, whilst many of our role models are white, British Born Chinese women do not feel a need to go under the knife to look white. FOBs on the other hand have been marketed to look up to white culture, its not uncommon for East Asian female stars to get by on their looks alone. The way the media markets beauty to East Asian women seems to be about the superficial things in life, especially in Hong Kong and China, this transforms into a copied culture often seen on the internet.

Statistics from The Asian Plastic Surgery Guide showed that in 2009, an estimated 74 out of 10,000 people from South Korea had gone under the knife. Typical Korean plastic surgery procedures include the classic double eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) and jaw re-alignment surgery. Other popular procedures include shaving cheek-bones to create a more smoother silhouette and calf reduction. Surprisingly, breast enlargement was not among the top procedures. Many believe a core is made up of Chinese nationals favouring top rated surgeons in Korea. 

The running theme is altering our natural Asian looks and replacing them with western ideals of beauty. Magazines are filled with western products designed mainly for the western market, but are pushed in magazines for Oriental women and modelled by Caucasian or Asian white mixed Eurasian models. This is the norm.

I believe that for many East Asian women, the competitive nature that has been well documented with the pushy Tiger mother/father upbringing has led to many seeking much more than academic achievement. Those lacking in that department, should at the very least have a presentable and enviable physique. Insecurity occurs when there is no real pride in our natural form. Our parents are ashamed, so we might as well be too. If parents spend more time criticising instead of encouraging us, how can we feel comfortable in our own skin?

As a British Born Chinese female, criticising and belittling was part of my upbringing. Being tall and pale was a measure of success. This can often lead to rebellion, or caving in to seek what our parents expect of us. Further from that, imagine being self-conscious and then being fed the idea that western beauty is the pinnacle of beauty. Yet, despite that, on closer scrutiny, there is a silver lining, our parents have inadvertently created a more robust British Born Chinese ready to rebel against all this superficial nonsense.

Here in Britain, you are living at close quarters, seeing things with warts and all, it soon hits you, aspiring to look like a white person is delusional. Perhaps in China, society is more competitive, looking like a white person may get you a better job, but here in Britain, you can’t fool the people here. Looks are not the answer, aspiring to look white will not earn you respect.

(By Guest Blogger- BBCNewAgenda is a British Born Chinese Female living in the UK)

In China, English Teaching Is A Whites-only Club

Teaching English abroad is a popular option for BBC's who have become jaded with their UK-based lifestyle,  and for many BBC's with their native homeland in Hong Kong,  in the current economic climate, the switch to teaching English in the Far East is an obvious choice, especially when many have relatives or family members they are able to stay with, before finding more permanent accommodation.

In the following example that compares the application of an East Asian ( in this case, a Korean American ) to a White American, an article that investigates white privilege in English Teaching schools in China only now has been brought to the attention of mainstream press, specifically an American publication, MSN News, but maybe subtly looks at it from a slightly sinophobic angle in that 'Chinese are even racist against their own' without once mentioning 'white privilege'

"The discrimination comes, Evans said, because Chinese parents simply do not believe a non-white person can possibly be a native speaker. Thus, this logic continues, hiring a white person is the simplest and easiest way to ensure that the teacher is truly fluent.
“I was told that it was nice for parents to see foreign or white-looking teachers around the school,” Evans said, adding that he was encouraged to walk outside and greet parents. Advertisements for English teaching positions are up-front in their bias. A search for “English teacher” in The Beijinger’s classifieds section reveals dozens of ads that include language such as “Job requires American or Canadian white teacher” or “white color is preferred.”

As a BBC, who has some experience of being an English teacher, but not in the Far East, I have experienced discrimination, from foreign students, who often expect a White teacher to teach them English.

Funnily during my time I was teaching, there was another BBC who was teaching there, who had developed a kind of invulnerable happy go lucky attitude, so at the time it did make me think that it was probably my own attitude problem than anything else, which made me think that I was probably not cut out to be an English Teacher.

But whilst Teaching in the Far East, is a definite a career option,  does the fault of choosing white English teachers over British Born Chinese teachers lie with the English schools in China, arguably run by white people or white worshipping FOBS. Or with inherited traits of the English language itself and it's Colonial associations with white privilege?

Full Article: http://behindthewall.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/15/11720584-in-china-english-teaching-is-a-whites-only-club

Accidental hero of HK$6000 handouts

Benson Tsang, Nise Sou, Ban Chung and Cyrus Hu.

    A man who spent his HK$6,000 government handout on buying food for Hong Kong's hungry has accidentally created a new movement to help the city's poor.

    Benson Tsang Chi-ho was making a simple personal protest against the government's decision to give all permanent residents cash instead of using the money to help the people he believed really needed it.
   
    He used his money to buy tins of food and hot meals from small, independent stores and restaurants in Sham Shui Po to feed the local poor.
   
    A few of his friends decided to join in, using their HK$6,000 "as it should be used - back into the community".
   
    Tsang, an interior designer, posted some pictures of their efforts on Facebook and then arranged some other "people's handouts" using the social network site.
   
    The turning point came in February, after a government clean-up operation swooped without warning on street sleepers in Sham Shui Po. Their belongings, including bedding, identity cards, phones and clothes were confiscated and thrown away.
   
    Tsang said: "I got so mad about it I started ranting on Facebook. That night, I brought clothes down to Sham Shui Po for [the street sleepers] but they were nowhere to be seen. It was really cold that night."
   
    His outrage saw his actions gather momentum and now, a year and two months since the first "action" last March, 150 to 180 people gather once a month to try to make a difference. Most of them have never met each other before. And as of yesterday, 678 people had indicated on Facebook that they were taking part in the next of their planned events.
   
    Tsang said: "It's completely decentralised and anonymous. No one needs to commit and everyone's encouraged to bring the idea back to their own neighbourhoods, or start their own actions."
   
    Tsang said the aim wasn't just to "feed the poor" but to change the way people see others and to realise how powerful one's decisions can be.
   
    "This is not about being sympathetic - we don't need that. It's about sharing. We are trying to rebuild community and relationships within a neighbourhood," he said.
   
    Nise Sou Lai-sim, who does community development work in a church and has become a regular participant, said: "We don't raise funds, we don't need commitment, we have minimal organisation.
   
    "Rather, we hope this experience will create bridges between people of different backgrounds.
   
    "Our aim is to bring back the sense of neighbourly friendliness which Hong Kong has lost."
   
    Sou became involved last October - at which time about 40 people were taking part - after coming across Tsang's Facebook posting about a "mooncake event", where the group was giving out 800 mooncakes which had been donated.
   
    On Christmas Eve, she added, about 100 people turned up. She said talking to store owners, street sleepers, the elderly or cubicle dwellers was just as important as giving out food. "When you talk to people, your heart will change," she added.
   
    She said it was also important to spend donations within the community itself. "If we buy cans of food from ParknShop and Wellcome, then the meaning is lost.
   
    "This exercise is actually about bringing awareness. I changed the way I see, and so changed the way I consume.
   
    "We want participants to realise this," added Sou, who said the movement had also spread to To Kwa Wan and Kowloon City.
   
    Cyrus Hu Kwok-chum, who joined for the first time in December, said the initiative had made him aware of where food was made, and who would benefit from the money he spent.
   
    "My eyes were opened," he added, saying he now counted street sleepers, local store and restaurant owners as well as the people collecting cardboard among his friends.
   
    Hu works for a food import and export company and his bosses now donate food and drink which is close to their sell-by date and therefore cannot be sold to supermarkets.
   
    Another participant Ban Chung Wing-sze, who works in publishing, was moved to act a year ago after seeing Tsang's pictures of elderly people collecting cardboard to sell in order to be able to eat that night.
   
    "I was looking for a way to serving people, and saw that this was a good one," she said.
   
    Tsang said 80 per cent of the people who indicated they would come to an event turned up.
   
    Without a structure, Tsang said, he had named what was happening an "equal sharing initiative".
   
    There are now around 20 people who help put together events.The next one climaxes on May 26 and is all about "rediscovering your little neighbourhood stalls".People are being asked to purchase five to 10 cans of food from different small, local shops, label them with the stores' addresses and paste pictures on Facebook.

On May 26 in Sham Shui Po, which has the lowest average household income in the city, participants will swap the cans of food then return to their own districts to hand out the tins to the local needy, said Tsang."We will create a network and map of all the local surviving stores all around the city, supporting them, while using our money to ultimately support the needy," added the man who started it all.

Original article: SCMP ( needs subscription)

If Hong Kongers can take time out from their own busy lives to share, what can British Chinese learn from this , in order to improve our own sense of community?

ESF KITCHEE Hong kong Football Match Sparks White Chinese Racism Row

The 10 year old Caucasian boy (#2) arrested on suspicion of assault causing actual bodily harm after violently kicking a Chinese opponent in the head during an under 12's school football match between ESF Lions and Kitchee Escola has been bailed.

The video generated a torrent of 'racist' commentary.

"These are English Men... Shame of mankind!" wrote one viewer on the YouTube website. Others called the coach and mainly Caucasian players for the English Schools Foundation (ESF) team "animals" and "white scum", and demanded the government stop subsidising the English-language school system. "The Hong Kong government should cancel its funding of the ESF. Gweilos should leave Hong Kong immediately," said one user.

Full Article Here 

BBCZEITGEIST COMMENTARY: Reading western press articles, white journalists considered the term gweilo to be racially offensive by playing the race card. Its an attempt to negate the damage inflicted onto the Chinese boy by turning the issue into a race row, i.e the white boy is victimised because of his Caucasian ethnicity! I have not seen evidence of an actual racism beyond Youtube commenting. Incidently, there are also comments calling Chinese 'chinks,' but the western press conveniently forget to mention that.

Gok Wan Made in China

 China is a manufacturing colossus. Britons are surrounded by products sporting the legend 'Made in China'.

Gok Wan returns to his ancestral home to explore the largely unseen world of Chinese mass production, meeting the people working in the factories that supply the West.

He visits the village his father grew up in for the first time as part of a journey of discovery round a country that now produces one in every four man-made objects on the planet.

Gok goes to 'Jeans Town', 'Bra Town', the factory that makes London cabs, and 'Thames Town', as well as to ultra-modern Shanghai, where he meets a stylist pushing the boundaries in Chinese fashion.

Gok Wan Made In China Channel 4 8pm Wednesday 7th March 2012

Not content with calling Chinese 'Chinks' - CLICK HERE , if you missed his latest programme where the bumbling buffoon Gok Wan calls Chinese People 'Chinaman,' whilst his father calls himself yellow - WATCH IT HERE: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/gok-wan-made-in-china/4od#3298240

Hong Konger or Chinese?

Full article REUTERS


As Hong Kong's outgoing leader Donald Tsang looks ahead to retirement, grassroots resentment has boiled over towards the influx of mainland Chinese visitors on a number of fronts, including healthcare and housing, presenting a twilight challenge for Tsang and his government's legacy of symbiotic integration with China. Twenty-eight million mainland Chinese visited Hong Kong last year, around four times the population of the city, many flush with cash and on the hunt for everything from baby formula to hospital beds and luxury brands to high-end apartments. Cross-border marriages have proliferated and Beijing's leaders have bestowed countless economic sweeteners on the city to cement the mainland's embrace of Hong Kong.

Insults are being hurled across the border, with some Hong Kongers decrying the mainland Chinese as "locusts," while one Chinese professor called Hong Kong people "running dogs" of the British.

FLOOD OF CHINA BABIES

One of the most controversial issues has been that of mainland Chinese mothers flocking to Hong Kong hospitals to give birth, partly to circumvent China's one-child policy and also to gain the right of abode in one of China's most developed and wealthiest cities. A broad provision in Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, grants Hong Kong citizenship to any Chinese born here.

In 2010, of the 88,584 newborns in Hong Kong, around a third, or 32,653 were born to mainland women, up from 620 babies in 2001. The influx has spawned an entire industry of agents shuttling Chinese mothers en masse across the border, hiding them in illegal 'inns' before birth.


This week, a group of aggrieved Hong Kongers placed an incendiary front-page advertisement in the city's populist, mass circulation Apple Daily newspaper, denouncing Chinese women for crowding out Hong Kong's hospitals to the extent that maternity wards are booked solid until September.

"Hong Kong people have had enough!"

The ad proclaimed in large Chinese characters beside a picture of a giant locust on a hill overlooking Hong Kong's skyscrapers and iconic harbour. "Stop the invasion of mainland mothers" it added.

On the other side of the argument, there are signs that more and more mainland Chinese are becoming weary of Hong Kong's favoured status...

"If it wasn't the mainland Chinese treating you like a son, you would have died long ago," a retaliatory advertisement, widely circulated on mainland Chinese microblogging sites in response to the locust slurs.

HONG KONGER OR CHINESE

A confluence of other incidents and issues has also stoked debate, protests and frustration. Many Hong Kongers blame wealthy mainland Chinese for driving property prices beyond the reach of local citizens. Mainland Chinese snapped up around a third of residential flats last year, according to Nomura research, and home prices have risen as much as 70 percent since 2009.

Last year, mainland mothers, spooked by China's toxic melamine milk powder scare, bought up massive stocks of tinned milk powder from Hong Kong stores, leaving bare shelves and anxious Hong Kong mothers scouring shops citywide for formula.


The gripes found another lightning rod last month when a heated argument between a Hong Kong man who castigated a mainland Chinese visitor and her daughter on the city's subway for eating a bowl of noodles, went viral on YouTube.

The feud spurred a Peking University professor, Kong Qingdong, to call Hong Kong people "dogs" for their cultural superiority. His comments incensed many in Hong Kong and triggered a media backlash as well as protests outside China's Hong Kong liaison office.


Results from one of Hong Kong's most respected public opinion surveys suggested growing resentment towards mainland China. A December poll on the extent to which Hong Kongers identified themselves as Chinese citizens first or as a Hong Konger first dropped to 17 percent, the lowest level in 12 years.
                                                             -------------------------------

Excellent Blog covering the latest Hongkonger v Mainland issues http://badcanto.wordpress.com/tag/china/

Mainland Chinese Televsion: Hongkonger are dogs

 The above video speaks for itself - its the age old antagonism between HK and China, this time presented by a mainland professor.

However when it comes down to BBCS and Chinese in the UK, despite sharing the same country, UK, the non-communication /differentiation still exists.

Then here is an interesting comment i found on this article

http://bbczeitgeist.blogspot.com/2011/12/flowers-of-war.html

Her response is  in bold italic, and in response to a previous anonymous poster and the discussion is whether the CCP are contributing towards the IR of our culture.

Assuming she is new to this country, Chinese, and female, and presumably a mainlander as opposed to HK Chinese, here is what she says:.

anonymous 3 January 2012 01:24 writes:

Allowing more female Chinese students abroad (65-35 according to a British survey on unis and foreign student intake - China was the only country with majority female);

That's nothing to do with the Chinese politics and governments, that is highly depend on the uk universities and whether the uk governments are willing to send out the visa or not. so in your opinion, what should the government do? forbid female to study abord?

allowing Chinese women to leave China as soon as a white man wants to marry her and "take her back";

it's same for man. if a Chinese man marry a western woman he of course can leave China too. and i think the policy applied in other countries like US as well.

allowing billboards and media to have mixed race/white man-chinese woman appearances as if it were the norm;

well, you should definitely watch taiwan and japan tv show. as a matter of fact, i can't even think of one mixed race celebrity that is based/famous in China now. where did you get the idea that it was 'the norm'?

allowing mail order bride "services" to operate in China;

never heard of that

allowing unwanted Chinese girls to be adopted by foreigners, who will adapt a white surname and become "white" in upbringing

so what should the government do? forbid female to be adopted by westerns? and from what i know the orphan can only be adopted by foreigners if no chinese family/individuals want to take over.

and the people you talked about is less than 1% of the total Chinese population (i guess), how the fuck will these 1% chinese damage Chinese race or demographics? and why 'race' matters to you anyway? japan has lots of mixed raced people and full of westerns, and i don't think there're anything wrong with it.

Today mainlanders increasingly emigrate to the UK, a better life, not unlike the previous commonwealth generation.

But why is there still antagonism between BBCs and mainlanders that spills over into the UK? Isnt the debate in the video suggesting that one is less Chinese than the other when the real truth is that both have sold out their chinese cultural pride for western hi-culture?

Here is another comment i found from a commentor on the topic of Chinese culture

http://bbczeitgeist.blogspot.com/2011/12/chinese-classical-music.html

anonymous 13 December 2011 04:02 writes:

The problem is that white influences are so intrinsic in the world today, it is impossible to do without being "restrictive", which the kids are only too aware of nowadays. Back when China was actually a world leader and the whites were still fighting each other for fun, Chinese culture simply did not have enough influence to affect white countries' own... it was seen as distinct and recognised, sure... but kept seperate from the native white cultures.

Of course there was no internet, media back then. Children were taught by the teacher and their parents alone, no-one else. The time to create a race's own unique brand identity is over, because mass modern media will no doubt "make it white" by default

So if we are to assume the above comment is true, what is the answer?

Culturally it wont make a difference whether you are a BBC who lives in the UK or a BBC or FOB who lives in China... if Chinese culture is not moving forward, it's preservation can only be renewed by the constant arrival of more FOBS to the UK, but never developed, especially if BBC'ers maintain the rift between HK chinese and mainland Chinese.

There has been suggestions that Chinese culture 'sold out' a long time ago, and it can be argued that the selling out of mainlanders is an inevitability.

So what does this have to do with overseas Chinese or British Born Chinese?

BBCS are in the perfect position to be ambassadors of Chinese culture? Why?

Because we know what its like to be demonised as being 'different' and the realities of not being accepted into mainstream ....and rather than taking the divide and conquer that is demonstrated in the video, in the UK, we British Chinese / all Chinese in Britain should work together.

If we know our culture is at its best being preserved by renewal of immigrants, despite the constant demonisation
and perversion of Chinese culture by elites, shouldn't mainland FOBS and commonwealth BBCS look to set aside our differences and start to work together ?

Occupy Central Hong kong

Occupy Central Hong Kong Anti-Capitalist Protest 佔領中環

The sight of Hong Kong Central Exchange Square occupied by local Hong Kong Chinese anti-capitalist protesters was rather strange, one rarely sees this from the apathetic Hong Kong Chinese, rather its usually a few ageing mavericks in the form of the long haired hippy, Che Guevara T-shirt wearing, 'egg throwing' Leung Kwok Hung and his entourage that cause an occasional stir.

In theory though, one should not be surprised as the South China Morning Post last year reported that Hong Kong's richest households earn 27 times more than the poorest households, Hong Kong as a free market economy  should be challenged, so there are legitimate concerns for protest. However, it is bizarre their protests have taken on very western perspectives.

Although the Anti-Capitalist movement and the Socialist movement are both international, they remain heavily driven by western Caucasians. I wrote an article last year on the student riots in London, in consideration that 90% of British Born Chinese are in higher education, surely BBC would be affected by student funding issues, yet there were no ethnic East Asian students protesting. By the same token, if one takes the International Socialist movement in the UK, one has never seen ethnic Chinese  involved in these organisations, its predominately a White Caucasian movement.

The Hong Kong Anti-capitalists are all highly influenced by western thinking as such there were a number of westerners attending the protest.

 There was a young Chinese guy sitting on the floor with his guitar singing in English - the song "Imagine" by John Lennon, be it with a noticeable bad Chinese accent.

Several others wore Guy Fawkes masks from the western anarchist film 'V for Vendetta.'

 Some bizarre influence from South American Mexican Ricardo Flores Macon.

Christianity - Homage to British colonialism

Chinese lack an authentic East Asian or Chinese philosophy behind their protest, merely trudging on the back of western ideals, indeed this protest at the weekend was in solidarity of its  leader - Occupy Wall Street. We need to address the original problem, Chinese are just not innovative enough nor leaders but followers of western ideals and western culture. Still, kudos for protesting, if the Hong Kong Chinese who are undoubtedly as apathetic as it gets in terms of politics (surpassed only by the British Chinese for apathy), isn't it about time the British Chinese (who are more westernised than their Eastern counterparts) asserted their own political presence in the UK?

By BBCZeitgeist in Asia
Photo Source: http://www.facebook.com/OccupyCentral

Filipina Hong Kong Residency

Filipina Hong Kong Residency Rights

By BBCZeitgeist in Asia

Today is Chung Yeung, a public holiday in Hong Kong, whilst the Chinese have a day off to pay their respects to the dead, Filipina are out in force, the pavements are paved with Filipinas. Filipina have been hot news all week with their equal rights court ruling.

It seems to me the Hong Kong Chinese are to blame for their own predicament. If Hong Kong Chinese weren’t so snobbish in wanting to hire a maid from the Third World at such low rates of pay, to perform duties that lazy Chinese tai-tai’s should be performing for themselves, then Hong Kong Chinese only have themselves to blame when the ‘fei hung’ start fighting for their Hong Kong residency rights. Many workers from the Developing World will want to stay in a richer country, its common sense, they’re economic migrants. Did the Hong Kong Chinese seriously not think this would happen?

Hiring a maid isn’t only about practicalities in terms of help around the house, it’s a statement of class and status, having a maid presents you with a higher class status - especially as Filipinas speak English, speaking English is very important to those who want to get a head start in raising their children to be bilingual in privileged elite International Schools. Undoubtedly lazy Hong Kong Chinese women in particular those who have a kitchen phobia have to look at themselves as to why this is happening, there are many Hong Kong women that haven’t cooked a meal in years.

Its quite simple, stop hiring maids, get off your lazy backside, start cooking and raise your children yourself. This is something I’ve never understood, why would anyone want a complete stranger to raise their own child?

British Born Chinese Discrimination

British Born Chinese Discrimination 

Differences in Hong Kong Chinese treatment of Mixed Race Chinese vs BBC’s

By BBCZeitgeist in Asia.

Whenever I visit Hong Kong, my first thought is... how long will I have to wait until someone insults me? I don’t remember one single trip I’ve made to Hong Kong where I haven’t been insulted, I didn’t have to wait long, the first person I spoke to was a taxi driver, low and behold, he commented on my Cantonese sub-dialect –

 “What are you saying? Where the hell have you come out from? No one in Hong Kong speaks that dialect any more.”

Minority dialects and sub dialects such as Hakka etc are becoming extinct to Cantonese, but ironically for modern Hong Konger’s, Cantonese is under threat to Mandarin as Mainland China becomes a super power, the future of the Cantonese language will depend on the relationship between the owners of capital in Hong Kong and Beijing, though Cantonese Chinese as notorious trend followers are unlikely to go down fighting.

So I speak an ‘out-moded’ dialect do I? Being raised in the west among other rural Hong Kong migrants from the New Territories who also spoke the same minority dialect was normal, many British Chinese did not follow the Hong Kong trends in the Far East. This is one of the ironic things about Hong Kong, in its fast paced quest to be modern...many Hong Kongers no longer recognise its indigenous cultures or languages.

More huge more gasps of astonishment by the taxi driver that I, as a British Born Chinese, was entitled to the government’s 6,000 HKD, he obviously doesn’t believe overseas BBC’s should be entitled to it), these are problems largely faced by BBC’s or FOB’s of my parents generation returning to the homeland, yet Chinese would not dare to openly speak to a white person or a mixed race person that way, but just because BBC are ethnic Chinese, British Born Chinese are open season. FOB Chinese seem to get off on the fact that BBC’s are ethnic Chinese and can understand what they’re saying, so they can insult BBC’s even more.

There is undoubtedly a lot of disrespect and discrimination towards BBC, in my opinion far more so than is directed at ABC, CBC or mixed race.

The other evening, TVB’s low budget chart JSG show featured MC Jin (ABC) and BOY'Z (Steven Cheung is Eurasian) they looked so American they wouldn’t have looked out of place in a red neck wrestling ring. A few days earlier, the early evening TVB entertainment news programme SCOOP reported that one of the American born mixed race Eurasian  male actors Michael Wong AKA Michael Fitzgerald Wong (he speaks Cantonese with the same terrible accent as a white person, his Eurasian brothers Declan Wong and Russell Wong are also actors in Hong Kong) completed his helicopter training and was greeted by a bevy of famous women and models, some white, some mixed race, some ethnic HK Chinese.

Next up on the entertainment show was an interview with Cecilia Cheung (mixed heritage), Linda Chung, a CBC Canadian Chinese cosmos pageant winner) and Kevin Cheng (ABC). So where are the BBC’s? 

 Well, British Born Chinese are nowhere to be seen. One is certain there’s never been a British Born Chinese fictional character represented in TVB dramas, whereas there is usually a splattering of mixed race or North American Chinese characters etc. Nor am I aware of any famous British Born Chinese TVB stars or famous British Born Chinese singers in Hong Kong, nor a British Born Chinese winner of a UK Chinese cosmos pageant – that’s an indicator of the level of discrimination and exclusion faced by BBC’s. Yet the Australian Chinese Cosmos Pageant winner in 2010, was a mixed race Eurasian Polish Chinese Catherine Piotrowski. Similar to most mixed race, she wasn’t raised to be Chinese, however since winning the Chinese pageant, out of pure self-interest to take advantage of the money opportunities in the Far East for their fetish of the exotic Eurasian mixed race looks of the Maria Ozawa variety- she decided to jump on the ethnic bandwagon and ‘turn Chinese’ – by taking lessons in Mandarin.

There is a fundamental difference between mixed race and BBC’s in terms of linguistics. There have been surveys and studies of British Born Chinese in which they were asked why they learned Chinese? The most common reason was to be able to communicate with their parents, grandparents, relatives etc in Chinese. Mixed race however, don’t have such obligations, they were raised by a white parent to speak English, mixed race usually cannot speak Chinese or if they learn Chinese Mandarin, it’s usually for financial or career gain. Why don’t mixed race learn Hakka instead of mandarin? For the same reason why do White people always learn mandarin and not any other Chinese dialect? There is no financial gain nor career gain nor personal gain from learning languages such as Hakka.  

It’s a tripartite network of Whites, FOB’s and mixed race Eurasian's based on high social class and privilege, as such Mixed race Eurasian’s in particular rarely encounter racism or discrimination these days, there is a book for sale on the Guardian newspaper website called on Eurasian’s in Hong Kong titled 'The Eurasian Face' by Kirsteen Zimmern, it contains many interviews and profiles of Eurasians, many state they lived in Hong Kong for over 20 years, they can’t speak Chinese and have ‘NEVER encountered any racism.’ 

So where does this leave BBC’s? Well, the following day, I caught up with another British Born Chinese for lunch in Hong Kong, he informed me that he had applied for several jobs in Hong Kong, he was rejected because he couldn’t read and write Chinese characters, being able to speak Chinese simply isn’t sufficient, he’s competing with literate Hong Kong Chinese natives for the same job, it’s extremely unlikely most BBC’s will be able to read and write Chinese to the same standard as a native. Consequently, BBC’s are treated rather like white foreigners in that they’re usually forced to teach English to Chinese schoolchildren, however BBC’s are ethnic Chinese, therefore BBC’s don’t carry ‘white privilege,’ teaching English is a job reserved for White people so BBC’s are intentionally refused English teaching positions in Hong Kong schools for policy reasons. 

Welcome to Hong Kong...the land of no opportunity for BBC’s.

Mainland Chinese Give British Chinese a Bad Reputation?

British Chinese seldom make the front pages of the UK press, but with daily new developments in the Northampton Chinese murder investigation into the death of the Ding family, Anxiang Du has arguably become the most famous Chinese in Britain. Although there is a propensity for the western press to publish inimical articles on China and the Mainland Chinese, (i.e British Chinese crime related news reports  revolve around Chinese Mainland immigrants), it is doubtful Crimestoppers UK could be accused of racial bias too.

According to Crimestoppers, the number one most wanted criminal in the UK is Anxiang Du, he takes his place in Crimestoppers historic 'most wanted criminal list' alongside the 2005 London terrorist bombers. Should we congratulate him as the first Chinese to be made Britain's most wanted criminal? 

An xiang Du is not the only Chinese on the current Crimestoppers 'wanted list,' there is another Chinese, also of Mainland origin.

For the past decade, conceivably a legacy of the Dover lorry deaths, Mainland Chinese  criminal  activity has become a feeding ground for the British press, with new mainland immigration came mainland criminal activity - cannabis farming, money laundering, human trafficking, sex trafficking, indeed currently, alongside the Northampton murder case, there is also press coverage of the attempted rape of an Mainland Chinese illegal immigrant by a Mainland Chinese chef in Cambridge.

 http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Woman-tells-court-of-chefs-rape-attempt-11052011.html

For Chinese crimes of a serious nature, both the criminals and/or the victims are overwhelmingly of Mainland Chinese origin. These crimes are perceived as Chinese crimes or ethnic underworld crimes - largely cloistered from non-Chinese British citizens, hence police appeal for information from the 'Chinese community.'



Is the British Chinese community no longer perceived as law abiding but harbouring criminals and dark secrets? Why should the Chinese community know the whereabouts of Anxiang Du? Neither police statistics nor the  press differentiate between third wave Mainland Chinese immigration or second wave commonwealth Chinese from Hong Kong - illegal or legal, they are all of 'oriental or Chinese origin.' Imagine the furore if a crime of sorts was committed by a Chinese Mainlander causing the death of an indigenous White British citizen, a media backlash is certain to ferule the broader British Chinese community.

British Chinese crime rates are renown for being low, however with mainland immigration issues at the forefront of western media reporting, does the British public still perceive the British Chinese community as law abiding? If mainland Chinese are responsible for the majority of crimes committed by the Chinese in Britain - are they tarnishing the reputation of the British Chinese community?
By BBCZeitgeist