“Harrrr ! (That’s the Cantonese sound of disapproval.) Why would you go to Chungking Mansions? For what purpose?” Despite his habit of questioning my every move and decision as a “responsible” Asian Chinese dad, this was my dad’s initial reaction when he heard my plan to visit the notorious building.
You see, I’m a local Hong Kong kid through and through, born and raised right here in this crazy and, bustling city. Both my parents are lifelong residents of Hong Kong – where we call home, they have witnessed the place transformed from a little fishing village to the towering metropolis it is today. From the stories I’ve been told since childhood, I realize my parents and I have quite different perspectives on various aspects of our city, especially given that things have changed drastically. After all, we grew up in different eras.
Just to name a few, unfriendly nicknames like “Ah Cha” and “Ba Gay Lan Tan” were some colourful terms being tossed around by Chinese Hongkongers to refer to Indian and Pakistani folks in the past or even now for some. The deep-rooted hatred can be traced back to my grandparents’ and parents’ generations. I still remember seeing these slurs frequently used in old TV dramas from the 70s and 80s, when there was a near-absence of a single non-Chinese actors and actresses.
Some say the British colonial powers deliberately stirred up this kind of xenophobia as a way to keep the “barbaric and uncivilized” Chinese masses in line. They supposedly brought in these darker-skinned, burly SouthAsian recruits to basically scare the locals into behaving. Sounds kinda messed up when you think about it. The innocent new arrivals were just trying to make a living, and ended up being seen as monsters by the very people they were meant to serve. Up until now, there’s still a lingering impact of such an intricate yet inevitably intertwined relationship between groups of residents, despite we have been sharing this city we all call home for so long, we never seem to know ourselves and each other enough.
History is what it is. But I do find this colonial legacy and its impact on Hong Kong’s diversity fascinating. I, for one, is intrigued by the rich colonial history we have in this small city, which leads to a diverse culture we see today and that explains pretty much why I would “rebelliously” want to see how all these stories and cultures come together in one crazy building.
[To be continued…]