Racism in Asia - An Anti-Asian American Sentiment in Hong Kong

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I've never been subjected to such racism as I have been here in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Back home I would occasionally get the "You speak English good. Where're you from?" comment every now and then but I don't believe that I'd ever failed to accomplish what I set out to do on account of my Asian face.

The common word for foreigner here is gwai lo which literally means something like devil man. My manager referred to me as one when I ordered some sweet and sour pork. First of all, last time I checked, I'm not a man, nor am I a devil. Please don't tell me I am.

Months before I arrived in Hong Kong, I sent my resume to dozens of schools looking for a teaching position. Almost none replied. I figured they didn't want to hire someone out of the country. Fair enough. Then, I got one phone call, an interested party, no doubt. We talked several times and just as I was sure I'd clinched the job, she asked if I was Chinese. I said, "What? No, I'm American." "Yes but do you have black hair? Your name is Chinese." "My parents are from Hong Kong but I was born and raised in the States." "I'm afraid we can't hire you because the immigration department may not issue a visa to you because you have a Chinese last name and they would rather give the visa to a foreigner." I just about blew my top. It was a good thing I was at the gym because I really wanted to hit somebody.

When I first got here, I interviewed with this company called New Horizons, which incidentally Malcolm is now working for. The man who I interviewed with, an Aussie, was really nice. He showed me around, answered any questions I had about living in Hong Kong. Then, he started going into who applies for this job. They get tons of resumes from abroad, which they don't even look at because those applicants simply can't be trusted. They get people from different fields like business, CIS, English, and so on. Asian people who were born and bred from an English speaking country. They may be considered. And a lot of people of Indian descent who come in with perhaps perfect English but don't hire because the market doesn't want Indian people to teach English. Hm, I see. So this company hires only white people. Needless to say, I didn't get the job.

The latest insult to indirectly affect me was when my co-worker designed the current newsletter for our English school. On the cover were two pictures. One of him and his class (he is caucasian) and another white teacher and her class in my classroom. There are only two teachers at our school - him and me. Who the f#@k this other white chick? It is so blatantly offensive that when I saw it, I laughed. It turns out that she was a former teacher though she had not worked there for almost a year. If this had happened back home, I could sue the asses off of this school.

I like it here, Hong Kong. It's a beautiful city. But the longer I stay here, the stronger the pull grows to go back home.

Roofing. 

Home of a fish merchant. 

Wood strewn on the side of a trail in Mui Wo.