Making sense of divergent perceptions of racial-ethnic discrimination in Hong Kong

Abstract

Behind a veneer of cosmopolitanism in Hong Kong, racial-ethnic discrimination is pervasively experienced by ethnic minorities such as South and South East Asians (hereafter referred to as South/South East Asians). It is the aim of this study to examine why Hong Kong Chinese and South/South East Asians express what seem to be divergent perceptions of racial-ethnic discrimination in Hong Kong society. Our findings reveal discrepancies in the level of understanding of racial-ethnic discrimination between the two ethnic groups, which likely explains divergent perceptions of racial-ethnic discrimination in Hong Kong society. At the same time, however, the findings revealed no significant group difference in their awareness of social inclusion and the Race Discrimination Ordinance (RDO). Implications of the findings are discussed by focusing on how the specificities of the Hong Kong context encourage different forms of racial-ethnic discrimination that are more insidious than is stipulated in the RDO.