Discrimination

1. Does colour make a difference? Discrimination Racial

2. Introduction- What is racial discrimination? • Current situation in Hong Kong • Scopes of proposed legislation • Advantages • Difficulties • Expert’s views • Limitations • What else can be done? • What can we do? (different parties) • Conclusion

3. Have you ever …… • Called a Filipino “bun mui” or an Indian “ ah cha” ? • Covered your nose and frowned when an Indian or Pakistani passed by? • Intentionally kept a distance from the minorities? Are you racially discriminating against them??

4. What is racial discrimination?? International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (“ICERD”) the term ‘racial discrimination’ shall mean any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.”

6. Current situation in Hong Kong The Demographics : Ethnic Groups in Hong Kong In 2001, some 52% (180,000) of them were foreign domestic helpers.

7. The majority of them were being racially discriminated against.

8. Discrimination tends to occur in the working place Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor

10. the ethnic groups are labeled by the locals since theyhave different colors of skin and facial features. • Beingconsidered as a second class citizen, they feel irritated and provoked. Conflicts resulted. • However, there are three equal opportunities ordinances in Hong Kong. They deal with sex, disabilities and family status discrimination respectively. None of them addresses racial discrimination.  legislation for protecting the minority right is urgent!

11. The government’s proposed scope of the anti-racial discrimination law - Employment - Admission to trade unions, employers’ organizations, professional/trade organizations, or occupations - Conferment of professional/trade qualifications - Admission to educational establishments - Provisions of goods and services - Admission to pupilage

12. Video from the ‘Pulse’

13. Should the government pass the bill?

14. Advantages • All people’s basic human rights would be protected regardless of their race as all of us are equal before the law • Promote racial harmony • Convey a more powerful message to discourage the public from discriminating against certain races both in their acts and attitudes • The quickest way to tackle the instant problem in a short term

15. Difficulties • lack public support as this bill could greatly impinge on the everyday lives and benefits of ordinary people In a survey conducted in 1996 on the need for legislation against racial discrimination, there were 80 per cent of respondents opposed legislation in this area. Therefore, the bill on racial discrimination was not passed in the then Legislative Council in 2001.

16. Public misconceptions on racial discrimination • People doubt about the need of legislation because they mistakenly think racial discrimination is not serious in Hong Kong • They think legislation is punitive and not an effective means to change attitudes

17. Expert’s views Miss Shirley Chan Senior Programme Officer of Race Relations Unit She points out that, • most of the conflicts between different races were attributed to communication problems : as the non-Chinese could not speak fluent Cantonese. Therefore, misinterpretations appeared during conversations

18. stereotyping and labelling are deep-rooted problems among Hong Kong people(e.g. thinking Filipinos are all domestic maids, the East Asians could only apply jobs like construction workers and security guards ) • racial discrimination at work is pretty common in Hong Kong : Most of the employers do not consider the nature of the job (whether it necessarily requires fluency in Chinese) and tend to reject all the non-Chinese disregarding their abilities

19. Besides legislation, civil education would be the best way to educate people to get rid of discriminative feelings and to believe everyone is born equal, so race prejudice would no longer exist • Advices : no more labelling on people of other races. Try to stand in their shoes and understand their cultures. We often say something offensive to them and have prejudices against them because we lack knowledge of their cultures and not being considerate enough. We should take the active role to break the ice and explore more about their cultures.

20. Limitations Race bias bill so full of holes it flouts UN pact, expert says -SCMP 2007-04-15 “The principle of a race law is to protect vulnerable groups, he said. But this one we have cannot protect anyone. It violates UN conventions. (the legislation) includes a wide range of exemptions, including the language of instruction in schools. It allows preferential treatment of overseas staff for reasons other than race…” “It has also been criticised for not including newly arrived mainlanders as a racial group. Mainland immigrants are not ethnic minorities but the fact is they are facing discrimination, ” Patrick Yu Chung-yin, executive director of the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities said.

21. The law can not cover all the scopes of the possible discrimination comprehensively. For example,

22. We can see that the bill could not help to alleviate the problem much

23. What else can be done? Civic Education should be the most effective long term solution.

24. What else can be done? • Civil Education for the next generation : a long-term and get-to-the-root solution The message of racial equality should penetrate in people’s mind from a young age, which is the most easily influenced period. Example: exchanges programmes, talks, part of the curriculum  understand the minorities’ cultures and to respect them(such as Muslims don’t eat pork because of their religion, or Indians eat with clean hands)

25. Obligations of government:. - different government organization can evaluate their attitude towards different races. They should adjust their policies if there is any discriminative element - strengthen the anti-racism organizations( e.g. Race Relations Unit) in order to settle racial disputes and promote racial harmony more efficiently

26. - helpimprove the social status ofimmigrantsby holding courses that teach the ethnic groups to learn the mother tongue in Hong Kong , so as to get over the communication problem and increase their compatibility when apply the job • Assistance of the media : the media is a powerful educational tool for the general public.It should produce more programmes which spread the message of racial harmony

27. What can we do?(different parties) • As citizens • In our daily life: • Mind our wordings- never label the minority groups with nicknames (e.g. Ah Cha, Bun Bun) • Mind our attitude- never consider ourselves as superior group – we are all equal. (Some Filipinos are domestic helpers, not our slaves) • Mind our behaviour- respect the custom of other culture (e.g. do not prepare pork dishes for the Islam)

28. What can we do?(different parties) • As government • Educate her people through civic education at a young age the idea of equal opportunity • so as to develop their friendly attitude with other minority group • provide cultural exchange programmes to let people to know more about other cultures. • -- > to achieve a multi-cultural society

29. What can we do?(different parties) • As employers • to employ talents regardless of their races/ colour of their skin • Give everyone a fair chance. Do not demand too much on the minorities. Sometimes, certain kinds of job do not require the ability to speak, or even write in fluent Cantonese, so it should not be an excuse to refuse to employ a non-Chinese.

30. Conclusion • Undoubtedly, legislation is the immediate way to combat racial discrimination problem but it should be the way to confine our offensive behaviour only. The problem could not be cured from the root if people do not have the appropriate attitude and correct manner to treat the minorities. Therefore, civic education about racial harmony is vital to foster mutual tolerance and the best solution to establishing a city of diversified cultures.

31. Reference ListInternational Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discriminationhttp://www.hkhrm.org.hk/database/english/et010.htmlffice of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rightshttp://www.unhchr.ch/ ome Affairs bureau, Hong Kong SAR Government:www.hab.gov.hk Race Relations Unithttp://www.hab.gov.hk/rru/tc_chi/aboutus/aboutus_rru.htmlHong Kong Human Rights Monitorhttp://www.hkhrm.org.hk/english/reports/press/pr301098.htmlhttp://www.hkhrm.org.hk/english/reports/survey.html Asian Migrantshttp://www.asianmigrants.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4&Itemid=29Asia Monitor Resource Center (AMRC) - Asian Labour Homehttp://www.amrc.org.hk/5301.html ACKGROUNDER ON ENACTING A RACIAL DISCRIMINATION LEGISLATIONFOR HONG KONGhttp://www.hkhrm.org.hk/0905seminar/backgrounder.pdf

32. Discussion • 1. Why legislation is urgently needed in Hong Kong? • 2. Why do people support legislation? • 3. What are the factors hinder the passing of legislation? • 4. Besides legislation, what other ways can be done to eliminate racial discrimination? • 5. As a student, what can be done to foster racial harmony?