Pakistanis in Hong Kong

Pakistanis in Hong Kong are an ethnic minority in Hong Kong numbering 18,094 persons according to the 2016 Official Census. In the 2011 census 17,253 people held Pakistani nationality however this number has since decreased to 15,234 in the 2016 census [2]

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Ethnicity in Hong Kong
Pakistanis in Hong Kong
Total population
18,094 (2016 Census)[1]
Languages
Urdu, Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Balochi, English and Cantonese.
Religion
Islam, minority Sikhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Ahmadiyya
Related ethnic groups
Pakistani diaspora

History

Migration

Pakistanis first settled in Hong Kong in the 19th century when there was frequent trading between India and China.

The East India Company initially traded with Japan. British ships used for transportation mostly sailed in Chinese waters. It led to the rapid development of trade between the company and China. As the same time, there was growing of the trading ships pass the Hong Kong seaport. The merchant fleets were usually composed by sailors from Pakistan. In 1829, the trade reached its peak and the gate for the early Muslims settling down in Hong Kong had been opened since then.

The early seamen mostly came from the shores of Malabar (India), Bay of Bengal, Hazara (Abbottabad), Lahore, Gujarat and Campbellpur (Attock) in Pakistan. With Hong Kong beginning to develop into an important seaport for the British, more and more Pakistani seamen and garrisons were passing through and some settled here.[3]

During the early 19th century, Pakistani lived together with the other Muslim seamen. They had no proper accommodation or dormitory but somehow they managed to stay well-knitted together in an area known as Lower Lascar Row - in the Central area, better known to the Hong Kong old timers as "Moro Kai".

"Moro Kai" was where they lived and their social practices such as Jamat (gathering) took place. They also started their business so they had their shops. Though they vacated their shops and residents years later, they had formed their community. As there were more Muslim garrisons stationing in Hong Kong later on, they began to form bodies to represent the various sections of the Muslim Society. And of course, Pakistanis were included.[4]

Before 1947 when Pakistan was part British India, British Indians frequently migrated to British Hong Kong, A lot of them were from the area which is now known as Pakistan today, But right now some of them are counted as "Indians In Hong Kong"

Geographic distribution and accommodation

Most of the Pakistanis reside in Kowloon or the New Territories. In 2006, 97.6% of Pakistanis living in Hong Kong were usual residents.[5] There was 51.8% of Pakistanis having resided in Hong Kong for ten years and over, which was relatively high among the ethnic minorities in Hong Kong.[6] The proportion of Pakistani households living in the private housing was 78%, while the remaining of 20% household lived in the public renting housing.[7]

A majority of the Pakistanis encountered difficulties in finding accommodation, in both public and private housing sectors. In the current application system of public rental housing, a lack of language support and channel resulted that most Pakistanis not knowing how to apply for the rental housing, and also, some of them believed that they are not qualified for applying public housing, although some of them are eligible to do so. For those Pakistanis who lived in private housing, they had the experience that their nationality was frequently inquired by property owners and property agencies. Even worse, based on their nationality, some of the property owners and property agencies may refuse to rent the properties to them, or offer them properties with poor living conditions, result in housing and spatial segregation.[8]

Employment

Working population

For the labor force, Pakistani in Hong Kong of participation rates are females of some ethnic groups including Pakistanis contrasted sharply with their male counterparts.

The labour force participation rates for males were over 70% while the rates for females were below 40%. For Pakistanis, there are 33.1% of males were working in “Elementary occupations” such as porters, construction site workers while a 42.5% of females were “Clerks/Service workers and shop sales workers”.

It is a high sex ratio for the Pakistanis aged 45–64 indicates the presence of a large number of Pakistani men working in Hong Kong, perhaps leaving behind their families in their home countries.[9]

Economy

Pakistanis who were born in Hong Kong have done tremendously well. This is because they were educated in Hong Kong and can speak fluent Cantonese. Hong Kong born Pakistanis have integrated well into society. However, it is a different picture for immigrants from Pakistan. It is difficult for immigrant Pakistanis to get jobs in Hong Kong mostly because of language. Besides, education levels, their identity as Pakistani, cultural and religious difference are also obstacles. Even at work, Pakistanis experienced many problems such as communication problems, being bullied, lack of preference, being lowered the payment, cultural or religious conflicts with others, being fired without reasonable accounts.[10]

Education

There are quite a few of ethnic minorities including Pakistanis aged 15 and over having attended post secondary education.[11] Besides, a majority of them attended upper secondary or higher education.[12] The school attendance rates of ethnic minorities exhibited very interesting sex differences. The rates for male ethnic minorities, except for age group 6-11, were in general higher than those for their female counterparts.[13]

The major problems faced by Pakistani parents when they are finding school places for their children, is that they always have to wait unreasonably long for school vacancies and the school fees are expensive.[14] Moreover, the main difficulty they face in school is the language. Hong Kong Education Department has been providing programmes to schools adopting mother-tongue (Cantonese) teaching.[15]

Community organisations

The Pakistani Student Association Hong Kong aims to uplift the educational and socio-economic status of Pakistani youth and community in Hong Kong, and encourages and promotes multicultural society in Hong Kong. For instance, the organization held an open forum at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2008. Also, in the same year, the organization launched an interflow and held meetings with several educational institutes, NGO's and schools. Volunteer hiking, educational camps and team building activities are also held regularly.[16]

Unison was established as a non-governmental organization in 2001 for ethnic equality and was registered as a public charitable institution in 2005. Its work includes advocacy, education, research and service referrals. Several researches have been conducted by Hong Kong Unison, which mainly focused on the general attitudes towards Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong, education and employment.[17]

Christian Action is a registered charitable organization in Hong Kong. Christian Action Shine Centre was established in 2009 to provide support services to ethnic minorities and local organisations. The center updates the job vacancies and employment information for their members. Employment workshops, such as "Career development through vocational education" and "Labour laws and practice in Hong Kong", and visits to various job fairs are organized by the centre in 2010.[18]

Media

Television

No Urdu language is provided in the domestic free television program services.[19]

CABLE Communications Limited – carried two Pakistan Channels from Indus TV Network- I-Plus and Indus Vision on July 27, 2004 for the Cable TV subscribers. I-Plus is an infotainment channel in English and Urdu language and Indus Vision is a family channel in Urdu language. Two channels last for a year only.[20]

RTHK– has produced some TV programmes for Hong Kong people to understand the Pakistanis as an ethnic minority group in local society.[21]

Radio

Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) Radio 3- launched “Hong Kong Ki Shaam”( Hong Kong THIS evening) in Urdu since 2008. The program was extended from half an hour to one hour after a year until now. The extension are mainly for covering more useful information for the ethnic minorities to integrate into the society.[22]

Metro Plus – launched “Ramadan program for Pakistani” in Urdu language during 2007 to 2009.[23][24]

Notable people Ghufran Memon, Consul General of Pakistan who has been a strong advocate for cultural assimilation between two communities. Mr Saeeduddin Mr Qamar Mihas Mr Javed Iqbal Chaudhri Gulzar Qari Muhammad Tayab Mufti Arshad Pervez Akhtar, Head of California school, Hong Kong Kemal Bokhary* Daoud Bokhary, stockbroker and father of Court of Final Appeal judge Kemal Bokhary[25]

Heina Rizwan Mohammad, is the first South Asian woman to be recruited as a police officer for the Hong Kong Police Force and received 27 week training.[26] Hong Kong-born Heina Rizwan Mohammad will work as a police constable in district Yuen Long.

See also

Notes
  1. https://www.bycensus2016.gov.hk/en/bc-mt.html
  2. https://www.bycensus2016.gov.hk/en/bc-mt.html
  3. The Incorporated Trustees of the Islamic Community Fund of Hong Kong. How Muslims set foot to Hong Kong. Light of Islam. (Note of Editor of Light of Islam: The booklet was published around 1986-1987), retrieved 21 November 2010.
  4. The Incorporated Trustees of the Islamic Community Fund of Hong Kong. How Muslims set foot to Hong Kong. Light of Islam. (Note of Editor of Light of Islam: The booklet was published around 1986-1987), retrieved 21 November 2010.
  5. Census and Statistics Department (2007). Table 3.1 Ethnic Minorities by Ethnicity and Usual Residents/Mobile Residents,2001 and 2006. Hong Kong 2006 Population By-census Thematic Report: Ethnic Minorities, p. 16., retrieved 13 October 2010.
  6. Census and Statistics Department (2007). Session 4.7 Place of Birth and Duration of Residence in Hong Kong. Hong Kong 2006 Population By-census Thematic Report: Ethnic Minorities, p. 34., retrieved 12 October 2010.
  7. Census and Statistics Department (2007). Living Arrangement and Household Characteristics 2.21. Hong Kong 2006 Population By-census Thematic Report: Ethnic Minorities, p. 87., retrieved 13 October 2010.
  8. Chan, Kam Wah and Ku, Hok Bun (2005). '排斥少數族裔：香港巴裔人士的住屋經驗'. In Tam, May and Ku, Hok Bun and Kong, Travis (ed.) Rethinking and Recasting Citizenship: Social Exclusion and Marginality in Chinese Societies. Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 37-52
  9. Ku, Hok-bun, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Sheng Kung Hui Lady MacLehose Centre. 2003. A research report on the life experiences of Pakistanis in Hong Kong =巴基斯坦人在香港的生活經驗硏究報告. Research report series. Vol. 7. Hong Kong: Centre for Social Policy Studies, Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
  10. 古學斌。 「種族和諧的面紗背後：華漢種族主義與香港南亞移民的就業問題」, retrieved 20 October 2010.
  11. Census and Statistics Department (2007). Post-secondary education. Hong Kong 2006 Population By-census Thematic Report: Ethnic Minorities, p. 44., retrieved 12 October 2010.
  12. Census and Statistics Department (2007). Educational attainment. Hong Kong 2006 Population By-census Thematic Report: Ethnic Minorities, p. 44., retrieved 12 October 2010.
  13. Census and Statistics Department (2007). School Attendance. Hong Kong 2006 Population By-census Thematic Report: Ethnic Minorities, p. 41., retrieved 12 October 2010.
  14. Ku, Hok-bun, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Sheng Kung Hui Lady MacLehose Centre. 2003. A research report on the life experiences of Pakistanis in Hong Kong =巴基斯坦人在香港的生活經驗硏究報告. Research report series. Vol. 7. Hong Kong: Centre for Social Policy Studies, Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
  15. 香港基督教服務處(2006)。 對少數族裔兒童教育情況的意見， retrieved 16 October 2010.
  16. The Pakistani Student Association Hong Kong. Past Activities, retrieved 13 December 2010.
  17. Hong Kong Unison. Research Reports, retrieved 13 December 2010.
  18. Christian Action. SHINE newsletter Issue 4 (June - August 2010), retrieved 13 December 2010.
  19. Broadcasting Authority (2009). Domestic Free Television Programme, retrieved 18 November 2010.
  20. i-CABLE Communications Limited (2004). "CABLE TV to Carry Pakistan Channels", the Press Releases, 2004-7-24, retrieved 15 November 2010.
  21. Titles include 議事論事:尼泊爾男子被警槍殺事件觸發種族融和問題, 升斗之歌:身邊人身邊事-回收族群, 愛回家:<<去日苦多>>, 香港故事(第十三輯):我們的嚤囉廟, 有房出租
  22. Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) Radio 3 (2009). "RTHK Radio 3 Programmes for Ethnic Minorities Extended to Provide More Information", the Press Releases, 2009-07-09, retrieved 18 November 2010
  23. Broadcasting Authority (2009). Broadcasting Authority Annual Report 2007-2008, retrieved 15 October 2010.
  24. Broadcasting Authority (2009). Broadcasting Authority Annual Report 2008-2009, retrieved 15 October 2010.
  25. "Good life fit for a hero", The Standard, 26 May 2005, archived from the original on 26 May 2005, retrieved 9 January 2008
  26. http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1022848/first-south-asian-woman-police-recruit-starts-work-yuen-long

Sources
  • Chan, Kam Wah and Ku, Hok Bun (2005). 排斥少數族裔：香港巴裔人士的住屋經驗.In May Tam, Hok Bun Ku and Travis Kong (Eds.), Rethinking and recasting citizenship: Social exclusion and marginality in Chinese societies. Hong Kong:The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
  • Ku, Hok-bun, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Sheng Kung Hui Lady MacLehose Centre. (2003). A research report on the life experiences of Pakistanis in Hong Kong. Research report series. Vol. 7. Hong Kong: Centre for Social Policy Studies, Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
NGOs
Television
Radio
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