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The Ghanaian community in Hong Kong

The Ghanaian community in Hong Kong. Adams Bodomo University of Hong Kong abbodomo@hku.hk August 2009. Outline. Introduction Methodology: The Survey Findings General Comments Details of Comments In-depth Interviews Implications: Insights into the African Community in Hong Kong.

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The Ghanaian community in Hong Kong

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  1. The Ghanaian community in Hong Kong Adams Bodomo University of Hong Kong abbodomo@hku.hk August 2009

  2. Outline • Introduction • Methodology: The Survey • Findings • General Comments • Details of Comments • In-depth Interviews • Implications: Insights into the African Community in Hong Kong

  3. Introduction • African communities comprising mostly traders, began to form in earnest in the 1990s. • They are distributed in places such as Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Yiwu, Macau, Beijing, and Shanghai. • There are already quite a number of academic studies on African communities (e.g. Bertoncello and Bredeloup (2007), Bodomo (2007), Li Zhigang et al (2008), etc). These have mostly concentrated on a broad, canopy term, "African community".

  4. Introduction • I argue that while "African community" may be a useful term for understanding a broad picture of the African condition in China, if we actually want to get a deeper understanding of African community organizations, including specific cultural features and closer networkings, we need to turn to the study of specific sub-group African communities such as national communities, regional organizations, clubs, and business lounges.

  5. Introduction • I illustrate this theme of moving from the general to the specific in terms of studying African community organizations in China by describing the Ghanaian community in Hong Kong. • This is a community made of citizens of Ghana in West Africa and their spouses and friends. • A focus on the Ghanaian community and similar national communities in China leads to a better understanding of the general African presence in China and what role this presence means for developing Africa-China relations.

  6. Questionnaire Survey • Conducted at the Ground floor and the 2nd floor of ChungKing Mansions, 36-44 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, and nearby areas during June 2009. • No. of Questionnaire completed: 33 • Focuses on a particular national community in Hong Kong, the Ghanaian community. Many of them come to Hong Kong to do business as many other people from other African countries do. And some of them are actually Hong Kong residents living in Hong Kong for a long time.

  7. ChungKing Mansions • An international place with people of different cultural backgrounds • A building featuring low-rent guest houses offered by independent hotels, shops and restaurants • The ground floor and the 2nd floor are used for all kinds of commercial activity • There are shops for clothing, mobile phones and other electronic devices, and currency exchange, among others • Visitors include people from Africa, the Middle East and South Asia

  8. Findings Among 33 respondents, 25 are between 25 and 34 years old with 16 of them between 25 and 30 years old.

  9. Levels of schooling Among 33 respondents, 20 have received secondary education and 12 have received tertiary education. Quite expectedly most of the respondents identify themselves as businessmen or traders. Among 33 respondents, nine identify themselves as businessmen and eight as traders.

  10. Languages spoken Twi is the most popular language among the community. Twi, a variety of the Akan language, is the most widely spoken language in Ghana. Some of them have more than one native language. English is spoken in their country as official language, so most respondents can speak English. Chinese and Cantonese are treated as different items according to the subjects’ response

  11. Duration of stay It is found that most of them – 20 out of 33 – come to Hong Kong mainly for business. Some of them – 11 out 33 – also live in Hong Kong. Many of them – 13 out of 33 – only stay here for a very short time – one month or less. Some stay longer for more than one year up to three years. Besides, most of the respondents – 15 out of 33 – have only visited Hong Kong for one or two times.

  12. Proficiency in Chinese and English 15 out of 33 respondents think that their is poor in Chinese and only two think that they can speak Chinese very well. However, nearly all of the respondents – 28 out of 33 – either think that their proficiency in English is excellent or is good.

  13. Lingua Franca 31 out of 33 respondents think that English is the most common language among the community members and with foreigners at the ChungKing mansions/Hong Kong Besides English, 23 out of 33 respondents either think that Cantonese/Chinese is the most common language. (Some respondents simply do not know the Chinese language spoken in Hong Kong is Cantonese but refer to any Chinese language as Chinese so Cantonese and Chinese are presented as two separate items in the statistics.)

  14. Noah’s Arc situation It is found that most of them have come across communication problems in various degrees

  15. Ghanaian-HongKongers? It was found that many of them either would not identify themselves as local Hong Kong persons to a large extent. Moreover, their views on how they perceive the difference from local HK persons are very diverse. So the concept of a Ghanaian-Hong Konger/Chinese is not yet established…

  16. Little of the respondents think that he/she is connected to the community to a large or even very large extent. Most of them think that the difference of life between HK and their countries of origin is large.

  17. Signs of Acculturation? It is found that many respondents do eat Chinese food. 17 out of 33 respondents sometimes eat Chinese food. One possible reason is that food from their country of origin is also available in Hong Kong. 10 out of 33 always eat Ghanaian food and 19 out 33 sometimes do so.

  18. General Comments • Generally, the respondents think ChungKing Mansions or Hong Kong is a good place, especially as a business place. They also think that life in Hong Kong is more secure which is also a reason why many of them think that there is a large difference between their life in Hong Kong and that in their home country. Most think that Hong Kong is a very good place to do business. • Respondents are however very critical when it comes to social interaction with Hong Kong people, beyond their business transactions. They see a lot of differences between how people in Hong Kong treat each other and how they treat each other in their country. It seems to them that Hong Kong people are more isolated in terms of interpersonal relationship.

  19. Details of Comments • The people living in ChungKing always obey the rules. • It is always busy in ChungKing Mansions. • Noisy here. Too many blacks. Too many people. • Life at the ChungKing Mansions is unbearable in a sense that the Police of Hong Kong always disturb by knocking on our doors almost all the time. • The place is always congested with many different ethnic backgrounds and beliefs. Most are not friendly. • I just love the place. • Yes, I think life at the ChungKing Mansions is normal compared to life in my country. • The situation in ChungKing Mansions is very poor and there is lack of friendliness from the Chinese. • If you are only a businessman, then life is ok. So this is what I know in ChungKing Mansions. • Yes, the security system here is bad because they don’t respect us. • My comment is about Hong Kong as a whole, it never seizes to amaze me when the Chinese of Hong Kong are trying to differentiate themselves from the Chinese of China. • Things in Hong Kong are nice. • Hong Kong people don’t speak English. They should learn English and learn more about foreigners. • ChungKing Mansions is a place full of enjoyment, friendship, business, etc, and finally is a place to make more research. • ChungKing Mansions is a good place for business and tourism. • I think more researchers have to come to ChungKing Mansions for some special topics about business people coming from different countries.

  20. An In-depth Interview (1) • Mr. J • A 45-year-old mechanical engineer from Ghana. • One of the organizers of the association for the Ghanaian community in Hong Kong • He has lived in Hong Kong for 21 years. • He thinks he would identify himself more as a local Hong Kong person than as a foreigner from Ghana. • He used to encounter a lot of communication problems when he first arrived Hong Kong. • Learning Cantonese changed him a lot. • He starts to act like a Hong Kong person, both psychologically and culturally. • Mr. J thinks that one of the reasons why they can establish an association is that some of their people, like him, are already well-established in Hong Kong. In some sense, their community already has a root in Hong Kong.

  21. An In-depth Interview (2) • Ms. C from Kumasi, Ghana • A hair dresser living in Hong Kong for four years • She feels that Hong Kong people do not easily mix with foreigners, and indeed even with their fellow Hong Kong people. Hong Kong people tend to limit themselves to a small circle of friends. • She observed that young people in the train would not normally give their seat to the elderly. And she has seen some young people aged 14 or 15 smoking without any body stopping them from doing that. All of these would not happen in Ghana. • She thinks that the association for the Ghanaian community serves as a platform for Ghanaian to meet each other.

  22. An In-depth Interview (3) • Mr. D • A graphic designer, a painter, and a student studying anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong • He shares his experience in a bus with Hong Kong people. He once went somewhere with a friend by bus. A Chinese next to his friend put her hand over her nose, indicating that they were smelly. This expression of disrespect led his friend to call up the police and ask for an apology. • He adds that all these negative incidents are not the fault of Hong Kong people alone. Africans could do more. • He thinks the Ghanaian community should do something to promote Hong Kong people’s understanding of their culture and continent and to raise their awareness of the presence of Ghanaian. • He also stresses that it is important that there is a sense of unity among members of the community.

  23. Implications: Insights into the African community in Hong Kong • A focus on smaller sub-communities of Africans can reveal more about the African community as a whole: specific cultural activities, closer networks, relations with hosts, etc • Ghanaians, like other Africans, are active participants and agents of change - not the image of helpless victims as is sometimes portrayed in some Western newspaper reports of Africans in China

  24. References • Bertoncello, Brigitte and Sylvie Bredeloup,“The emergence of new African “trading posts” in Hong Kong and Guangzhou,”China Perspectives, No.1 (2007), pp 94 – 105. • Bodomo, A. B. forthcoming. The African trading community in Guangzhou: An emerging bridge for Africa - China relations. China Quarterly. • Bodomo, A. B. in preparation. Africans in China: an investigation into the African presence in China and its consequences for Africa - China Relations, book manuscript, HKU • Bodomo A.B, “An emerging African-Chinese community in Hong Kong: the case of Tsim Sha Tsui's Chungking Mansions,”in Kwesi Kwaa Prah (ed), Afro-Chinese Relations: Past, Present and Future. Cape Town, South Africa, The Centre for Advanced Studies in African Societies, 2007, pp.367-389. • Li Zhigang, Xue Desheng, Michael Lyons, and Alison Brown,“Ethnic enclave of transnational migrants in urban China : A case study of Xiaobei, Guangzhou”(2008) (paper draft).

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