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Model of and Model for Ethnic Minorities: Individualization of the Model Minority Stereotype in Hong Kong

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Hong Kong Culture and Society in the New Millennium

Part of the book series: The Humanities in Asia ((HIA,volume 4))

Abstract

In recent years, we have seen the emergence of media attention on “the first ever South Asian ...” in Hong Kong, including the first full-time Indian actor at a leading Chinese TV channel, the first Pakistani news reporter working for a Chinese news platform, the first Pakistani female police officer, the first Pakistani undergraduate to win the prestigious Jockey Club Scholarship, the first Indian and Pakistani registered social workers, as well as the first Pakistani Mutual Aid Committee chairman, who also became the first ethnic minority to sit on the District Fight Crime Committee. These individuals are celebrated as role models of and for ethnic minorities—models who have succeeded through the local systems. I argue that this is individualization of the model minority stereotype whereby individual attributes, rather than group characteristics, are used to explain ethnic minority success. This individualization has two effects. First, it disseminates the implicit and explicit message that Hong Kong allows for success based on meritocracy—that anyone who strives hard enough can make it in Hong Kong, thus masking the inequalities and difficulties challenging ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. Second, the explanation of success is aligned with the degree of assimilation to reinforce Hong Kong’s cultural superiority, to perpetuate the cultural hierarchy and to confirm the ethnic minority stereotypes.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Das “A Nationality Issue” (1990), White (1994).

  2. 2.

    See Chee “Envisioned Belonging” (2012), “The Making and Unmaking” (2013), Ku et al. (2005), Loper “Race and Equality” (2004).

  3. 3.

    See City University of Hong Kong and Unison Hong Kong “Research Report” (2003), Frost “Building Hong Kong” (2004).

  4. 4.

    See Ku “Body” (2006), O’Conner (2012).

  5. 5.

    See Ngo and Lee “Complicating the Image of Model Minority Success” (2007).

  6. 6.

    See Li “Other People’s Success” (2005).

  7. 7.

    See Lee “Over-Represented” (2006).

  8. 8.

    See Lee (1996), Suzuki “Asian American” (1989).

  9. 9.

    See Hurh and Kim “The Success Image” (1989), Lee (1996), Li (2005), Takaki “The Myth” (1995).

  10. 10.

    See Lee (1996), Min “Social Science Research” (2004).

  11. 11.

    Wisenews is the most comprehensive data base which provides access to newspaper articles published in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

  12. 12.

    South Asians in Hong Kong concentrate in low-pay jobs, notably as laborers in cloth shops in Shum Shui Po (a poor residential area) and as security guards.

  13. 13.

    See Ngo “New Social Workers” (2014).

  14. 14.

    See Lo “Well-Spoken, But Struggling to Be Heard” (2012).

  15. 15.

    Hong Kong Unison is a non-governmental organization founded in March 2001 and recognized as a public charitable institution in 2005. They aim at equalities for ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. Services range from handling individual cases to advocating policy reforms for ethnic minorities.

  16. 16.

    The website of BrandHK: http://www.brandhk.gov.hk/en/#/.

  17. 17.

    Non-Chinese who wish to be naturalized as Chinese nationals in Hong Kong should meet one of these conditions: (1) they are near relatives of Chinese nationals; (2) they have settled in China; or (3) they have other legitimate reasons.

  18. 18.

    See Brewer “A Dual Process Model” (1988), Fiske and Neuberg “A Continuum Model” (1990).

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Acknowledgement

This research is suppored by the Research Grants Council General Research Fund (Project Number 17608715).

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  1. The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

    Wai-chi Chee

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  1. School of Modern Languages and Cultures, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Yiu-Wai Chu

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Chee, Wc. (2017). Model of and Model for Ethnic Minorities: Individualization of the Model Minority Stereotype in Hong Kong. In: Chu, YW. (eds) Hong Kong Culture and Society in the New Millennium. The Humanities in Asia, vol 4. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3668-2_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3668-2_11

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