Kam Yee 羅金義 Law

The myth of multiculturalism in ‘Asia's world city’: incomprehensive policies for ethnic minorities in Hong Kong

Branded by its government as ‘Asias world city’, Hong Kong is described as ‘an open, tolerant and pluralistic community, and a city rich in culture and tradition’. However, beneath this ‘harmony’ lies the fact that majority of Hong Kong Chinese socially exclude many South Asian ethnic groups. The Hong Kong government similarly lacks a multicultural policy that encourages its citizens to respect other races and provides resources for ethnic groups to cultivate and maintain their well-being and cultural identities. In this article, the authors will probe into the actual depth of the Hong Kong public and governments self-image of diversity and tolerance and determine whether another reality is hidden behind the beautiful exposition. A discussion follows on the changed or unchanged scenarios influenced by public policies for ethnic minorities, who regard the city as their second home or were born here, since Hong Kong returned to China. Although Hong Kong has been handed over to China for 15 years, the legacy of colonialism is found to be apparent when we attempt to critically review the plight of ethnic minorities in the city through the framework of multiculturalism.

Importing Western values versus indigenization: Social work practice with ethnic minorities in Hong Kong

Serious debate about the indigenization of social work has transpired recently. This article argues that by taking indigenization as an interactive and non-linear process that helps cultivate a multicultural social work practice within a society, importing Western social work practice and indigenization are compatible. In particular, this article attempts to illustrate the compatibility by analyzing how political activists employ Western values and practice, the universal human rights discourse, and mainstreaming, to fight for the rights of Hong Kong ethnic minorities, which may consequently lead to the development of a multicultural social work practice.

The Portrayal of Chinese top Party-State Leaders in the American Mainstream News Media, 1978–2008 Thirty Years of Reform Have Not Changed China Yet?

The three decades of “world–shaking” reform and the opening up are believed to have brought enormous changes to China. Today, few can deny China’s crucial position in the global economy. However, aside from the obvious economic changes, it is uncertain whether the previously mysterious, untouchable and reclusive China thoroughly reformed itself from the demonized character during the globalization trend and years after the Cold War. Today, when ‘national image becomes an important part in soft power competition among countries…and a very significant strategic issue China faces in the development process’, this article aims at examining the scope and specific ‘frames’ that American mainstream news media use to report on China’s party-state leaders over the past 3 decades. Through the contents analysis of Time and Newsweek, the study finds that the image of China’s party-state leaders has not been drastically different under the framing. Since the judging criteria for the American mainstream news media towards political leadership has not significantly changed, they would still show certain disapprovals to the political aspects of China not change at all even after thirty years reform.

Introduction to Special Series: Challenges to the City Transformation in East Asia

Nowadays, over half of the world’s population is living in cities. Two hundred years ago the figure was only about 3 per cent (http://www. 192021.org). Back in history, cities were not understood merely as a group of architectural shelters. Instead, they were vehicles of civilization development with long-lasting meaning. One of the classic ideas came from Leo Strauss, who believed that Jerusalem and Athens symbolized the two traditional models of Western civilization (Strauss, 1995). Athens represented trust in ordinary people’s judgement, reason and the virtue of democratic rule. Jerusalem represented scepticism towards the secular accomplishment of the Athenian model. Some cities did express or choose a set of values, which were generally believed and accepted by citizens. This might be called the spirit or ethos of the city. The way that the ethos of a city was moulded can be observed through different forms. They can be found from the grand projects such as the architecture and the transport system, or in the institution that sets the law and order or the immigration policy, to smaller things such as street names or the varieties of restaurants in a district. With all of these as the foundation, the city ethos affects the way people interact, how they judge or evaluate city life, and their particular identity. Daniel A. Bell and Avner De-Shalit call it “civicism” (Bell & De-Shalit, 2011). Today, when globalization and homogenization are taken for granted or treated as a norm, civicism should have become increasingly important in the eyes of urban researchers. A lot of people would like to experience and maintain the uniqueness of their own culture and value. Without these, the way and quality of collective

Asian Little Dragons: in the ‘Midlife Crisis’? Challenges to societal policies after the neoliberal ‘miracle’

The success of industrialization in the so-called Four Little Dragons of East Asia (i.e. Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) was the model for the economic development of a large number of late-developed countries. In the good old days, the labour force in these societies was sufficient, young and cheap. People seemed to be united in pursuit of the common goal of survival and material well-being. After facilitating the industrial takeoff, governments shouldered relatively light pressures for social welfare and other societal demands. After three to four decades in the miracle age, the economic performance of these societies remains among those in the relatively high tier of the world. Meanwhile, the fluctuations in the world and regional economies create, uncover or sharpen long-hidden social contradictions. The composition and stratification of these societies are more complicated than before. Hence, more social concerns have to be addressed. In addition, the people’s expectation from their governments, especially in regard to sophisticated methods of promoting quality of life, has become significantly higher. The rising economic inequities and the related social problems have recently become important concerns for both advanced and developing countries. Nevertheless, the political and business elites around the world very seldom question the neoliberal agenda despite the economic crises that occur every so often. In different shapes, the Asian Little Dragons are categorized as neoliberal economies, just as highly open economies are also severely hurt by the crises. In every economic fluctuation, all people suffer, but the lower classes suffer most. This phenomenon raises the serious question about whether the current social and societal policies adequately protect the people against an increasingly risky global economic environment and an undermined quality of life. Long-term strategies and commitments by governments must be explored, developed and debated upon through more serious approaches. Concerned students of Asian public policy may be especially interested in two major themes in policy discourses, namely, maintaining the economic competitiveness of society amidst globalization and helping those negatively affected by such globalization (Lee and Cheng 2009). These two themes echo the recent academic debates on whether globalization diminishes the role of the state in providing social protection. According to the neoliberal view, which can be summarized as the ‘efficiency hypothesis’, the welfare state is regarded as uncompetitive because of the increasing competition in international goods (including services) markets and the ability of the capital holders to move money and production around the world in quest of higher rates of return (Garrett and Mitchell 2001, pp. 149–151). However, the competing ‘compensation hypothesis’ also argues that globalization would increase demands on governments to cushion market-generated inequality and insecurity by welfare state expansion, so as to maintain support for globalization

The Limits of Chinese Transnationalism: The Cultural Identity of Malaysian-Chinese Students in Guangzhou

In November 2007, two street protests by Malay Indians in Kuala Lumpur revealed that the Malaysian government had failed to tackle the problem of ethnic marginalization in the eyes of ethnic Indians. It was a rare event to witness thousands of ethnic Indians marching down the street and confronting riot police. The ethnic Chinese did not join the protests and the leaders of the Chinese business communities discouraged their members from doing so. Yet the Chinese are also unhappy with the treatment they receive from bumiputra Malays. As Lim Kit Siang, the Chinese head of the opposition Democratic Action Party, remarked, “Now, everything is separate, and non-Malays feel like second-class citizens in their own country” (Beech, 2007: 31). Lim had served in the National Parliament since 1969, and he stated that the current ethnic tension was worse than that in the 1970s, even though the national economy had witnessed a steady growth over the past two decades (ibid.).