Hongkonger
From Freepedia
Hongkonger or Hong Konger is a term referring to residents of Hong Kong, regardless of their ethnicity or nationality (cf. Londoner or New Yorker). But it usually depends on how long a person has stayed in Hong Kong, and whether he/she holds the permanent resident status.
Contents |
Description
In addition to Hongkonger or Hong Konger, the term Hong Kong people (and occasionally Hong Kong person depending on context) is also used. It is used especially in Hong Kong English, as it is derived from the Cantonese term Hong-Kong-yan (香港人). Hongkongese is a rarer variant that gained popularity in Canadian Chinese and American Chinese communities.
Informal terms such as Honkie (or Honky) are also used; though they may sometimes be interpreted as slightly derogatory in the way of referring to the Japanese as 'Japs' or 'Jappies'.
In Chinese ideograms, the literal meaning of Hong Kong is "fragrant harbour"; since the original Hong Kong Village on southwestern Hong Kong Island, which name was later used to refer to the entire territory of modern-day Hong Kong, used to be the seaport for the export of fragrant trees.
The term Hongkongese
Hongkongese actually stems from a North American failure to appropriate the adjective Hongkonger to Chinese people from Hong Kong because of Amerocentrism.
Hong Kong is a densely populated conurbation (comparable to New York City for instance) and the noun form with a suffix of "-er" (as in New Yorker) is similarly used for residents of Hong Kong.
However, many North Americans assume residents of Hong Kong are referred to as Hongkongese because of the suffix "-ese" in Chinese and Japanese, peoples who share physical and cultural characteristics with Hongkongers.
It is actually a mistake that has ossified into contemporary journalistic lingo and imitated by academics. Hongkongese has therefore been socially accepted in U.S. based media such as the New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, and in certain other parts of the world, due to U.S. influence.
Ethnic Chinese
Ethnic Chinese residents generally refer to themselves as Hong-Kong-yan (香港人 in Chinese ideograms and hoeng1 gong2 jan3 in Jyutping[1]); literally Hong Kong person/people. People of other ethnicities may also refer to themselves as Hong-Kong-yan as well, although many Chinese may not consider them to be so. Meanwhile, Mandarin-speaking mainland Chinese will identify Hongkongers as xiang1 gang3 ren2 (Hanyu Pinyin[2]).
Most ethnic Chinese residents would also align themselves with the greater socio-political identity of the Chinese[3] (中國人 in Chinese ideograms, zong1 gok3 jan3 in Jyutping or zhong1 guo3 ren2 in Hanyu Pinyin).
The traditional Chinese ending for nationalities is the ideogram 人 (jan3 in Jyutping, ren2 in Hanyu Pinyin). Thus, in Mandarin, Americans are 美國人 (mei3 guo2 ren2 in Hanyu Pinyin); literally, "people of the beautiful kingdom/country". Similarly, ethnic Chinese Hongkongers may refer to themselves as 中國人 (zong1 gok3 jan3 in Jyutping); literally "people of the Middle Kingdom" although this is sometimes disputed[4].
Legal nationalities of Hongkongers
Many Hongkongers identify as being Chinese despite many holding complex dual-citizenship statuses.
PRC citizenship
Before the after the handover, the People's Republic of China recognises the ethnic Chinese people in Hong Kong as its citizens. Home Return Permits (issued before and after the handover) and HKSAR passport (issued after the handover) are issued to them.
After the handover, those ethnic Chinese people are regarded as PRC citizens in Hong Kong.
British nationality
Many of ethnic Chinese people also hold British National (Overseas) passport. Some of the Hongkongers obtained full British citizenship locally before the handover through various schemes, notably British Nationality Selection Scheme.
See British nationality law and Hong Kong for more information.
Foreign citizenships
In addition, many may also be Canadian, American, Australian or other nationals. This is particularly true of the wealthy Hong Kong elite who emigrated primarily to Canada prior to the handover due to uncertainty about the situation in Hong Kong; particularly in the early 1990s after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 [5].
A typical case
Typically, a ethnic Chinese Hongkonger holds the following forms of nationality or status:
1) Hong Kong permanent residency; and
2) PRC citizenship (on their Home Return Permits and/or HKSAR passports); and
3) British National (Overseas) (BN(O))
In some cases, item (3) may be replaced by the full British Citizenship. Some people do not hold any kind of British nationality at all.
In additional to items (1),(2) and (3), some people may also co-hold a foreign citizenship (Canada, Australia and United States are the most common ones).
Differences between ethnic Chinese Hongkongers and mainlanders
Though culturally and ethnically identical to Chinese from the mainland, Hongkongers have experienced some 150 years of British rule which means that many feel they share certain distinctions from mainlanders:
Spoken Language
Cantonese is natively spoken in place of Mandarin. (This is true in parts of Guangdong Province too; though in Hong Kong, there are specific Cantonese terms that are not widely used or understood outside of Hong Kong.
Written language
Traditional Chinese characters with Cantonese-isms (see Written Cantonese) are used instead of Simplified Chinese characters representing the Mandarin vernacular putonghua.
Socio-economic development
Hong Kong fully urbanised during the post-war period and has developed into a major financial centre and a world city. As one of the "East Asian Tigers" it saw a high growth rate and rapid industrialisation between the early 1960s and 1990s whilist China languished and suffered from misguided policies during the early years of communist rule before Deng Xiaoping's reforms in 1979 that led to the implementation of "Socialism with Chinese characteristics". Today, economic reforms on mainland China appear to have paid off and have resulted in a booming economy in recent years, resulting in, among other things, a class of nouveau riche; whereas Hongkongers may be seen as old money.
Socio-political situation
Under British rule Hong Kong also adopted a British Common Law, creating a mindset amongst the populance that differed from mainland China. For instance, many Hongkongers are proud of and wish to protect Hong Kong's rule of law, government transparency, freedom of speech (including freedom of the press) and its laissez-faire economic system.
Following the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China on July 1997, the retention and expansion of such freedoms and democratic rights has been and continues to be a major concern of many Hongkongers, as exemplified by the number of votes given to pro-democratic lawmakers in the semi-free elections and the protests over the Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 which many felt a threat to Hong Kong's freedoms.
Culture
Hong Kong is generally considered to have preserved elements of ancient feudal and Confucian thought-systems and attitudes, similar to the situation in Japan and Korea, whereas in mainland China the trauma of the Cultural Revolution rendered people more progressive. This is perhaps ironic, as mainland China is afterall the birthplace of such thought systems. Similarly, religious rituals, folk traditions and other spiritual beliefs, such as ancestor worship and feng shui, are more common in Hong Kong than in mainland China.
Cosmopolitanism and diversity
Hong Kong is home not only to ethnic Chinese persons but also the former British colonists as well as European nationals from a number of countries. In addition, there are immigrants from a number of Asian countries including the Philippines, India, Pakistan and Japan. In comparison, mainland China, though consisting of some 56 Chinese ethnicities, is predominantly Han Chinese, which account for over 92% of the population.
Notes
- ^ Hongkongers generally speak Cantonese, thus the Jyutping romanisation would most likely resemble the Chinese ideograms as they would be spoken in Hong Kong. Mainland Chinese generally speak Mandarin, thus the Hanyu Pinyin romanisation would most likely resemble the Chinese ideograms as they would be spoken in mainland China. However, it is crucial to keep in mind that the letters used in romanisations do not necessarily correspond to the usage in the English language; the respective pages on Jyutping and Hanyu Pinyin would be of use to further understanding the correct pronunciations.
- ^ Chinese is a popularly-used all-encompassing phrase to refer to (1) the Chinese civilisation, (2) citizens of the People's Republic of China, (3) people who are ethnically one of the many Chinese ethnicities (of which 56 are officially recognised in the PRC), (4) the Chinese language and (5) people identifying themselves as Chinese. In the Chinese language the terms Hua ren and Zhongguo ren are generally used interchangeably within the People's Republic of China and among overseas Chinese in North America. Overseas Chinese in southeast Asia (particularly in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore) and supporters of Taiwanese independence within Taiwan make a clear distinction between Hua ren (Chinese in the ethnic sense) and Zhongguo ren (Chinese in the political sense). When used by non-Chinese, the term Chinese has also been used synonymously with the Han Chinese, which is the majority ethnicity (>92%) within China. Some Chinese reject this usage, and conflicts over this particular usage tend to come up in discussions about ethnic minorities.
