January, 2008

To Justify the Unjustifiable:
The Educational Effects of the Race Discrimination Bill

Colours in Peace

（Colours in Peace is a volunteer group of young people from different ethnic backgrounds for the promotion of racial harmony and equality. The group is organized by Hong Kong Christian Institute and YMCA of Hong Kong Cheung Sha Wan Centre）

Introduction

After the Sex Discrimination Ordinance (SDO), the Disability Discrimination Ordinance (DDO) and the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance (FSDO), the anti-discrimination legislation in Hong Kong finally comes to the legislation on the Race Discrimination. We are very much concerned about the Race Discrimination Bill (RDB) introduced on 13 December, 2006 in four aspects.

Government Act

Clause 3 of the Bill states that only Government act that is of a kind similar to an act done by a private person. That means it is non-applicable to many Government acts, which cannot combat the discriminations that the ethnic minorities are facing.  In our interviews we found unequal treatments with the ethic minorities, particularly from the Immigration Department and the Police Department.

Many of South Asians are refused entry by Immigration Department even though the applicant got the visa to Hong Kong as a tourist. People from South Asian countries are treated very differently at the airport. For example during the SARS outbreak only South Asians were checked in a very specific manner while the Westerners just went ahead without any checking. It is not equal treatment for every one in same manner.

There are cases that police misled the ethic minorities to sign the statements when they were charged. They tell them they would be released right after signing. However they were released on bail and recognized as suspects. “I have experienced and noticed

that there are some policemen who treat minorities like criminals. They will just stop them anywhere and talk to them in such a rude way that onlookers think they have committed a serious crime. “ Hafiz, a Pakistani youth, said.

Discrimination actions are obstacles to enhance social harmony. No doubts the Government should take the leading role to a society with respect, affection, care and equality.  The exemption from the Bill against Government Action is unacceptable.

Language

To enhance racial harmony, language plays an important role. According to Clause 58, language is excluded in the sectors the Bill has covered. There are cases of racial discrimination due to language barrier.

Employment

This is one of the common personal experiences ethnic minorities have.

Mrs Singh went to the labour department to look for the job. As she had worked in the café for seven years, she applied for the job of supervisor in a western restaurant. After interview, the labour officer called the employer and told him that she fulfilled all their requirements. So he asked whether he should send her to an interview. When the employer was told that she was from Nepal, he suddenly asked if she can read and write Cantonese. So she was refused only because of the race and language.

In our experience, many of the employers will refuse the South Asians because of their race. They would make technical excuses like “Do you speak Cantonese?” “Do you speak Putonghua?” “Can you read Chinese?” and so on. The point is not whether South Asians can speaker and write Chinese, it is the job nature that matters. Why do employers require the applicants to read and write Cantonese. Does a street cleaner need to read and write Chinese?

A very bad example is set by the Labour Department itself, they do have English version in job search. However, much of the essential information like job nature, salary and working hours are in Chinese.

Hospital and Health Issues

We have interviewed Mr. Pervez who has been in Hong Kong for last 15 years. He considers himself as a Hong Kong person. He has two sons age two and four. Working as a driver, he has been living very peacefully until his son got the sickness of convulsion. The doctors tried to explain to him the details of the sickness but he was unable to understand English medical terms. He asked for the interpreter but the doctors and nurses kept on persuading him that he understood. When his wife went to take the son from the hospital and took the medicine, she did not understand completely the prescription of the medication and the counter staff even didn’t bother to tell her in details.

So the medication was given wrongly and the boy got more serious, then they got help from a friend who accompanied the family to the hospital where he ask the doctors details of the sickness and explain to the family.

The father thinks that only because of the lacking of appropriate support for the ethnic minorities in hospital that his son was in the conditions of life and death. What if the hospital provide the interpreters, a lot of people could take better medications instead of the Panadols only.”

From Mr. Pervez’s case we can see there is no provision of interpretation or translation in the hospital (Some say there is translation services provided but it never works). Or while the ethnic minorities go for medical services there are unreasonable and rude attitude towards them. Absolutely, language barrier should be removed in medical services for health is a matter of life and death. There is no excuse to exclude language discrimination from this aspect.

Education

‘Knowledge is power. Education is a powerful means to end poverty’. Ironically, the education system in Hong Kong does not actualize these visions for the ethnic minorities. Today, around 30,000 South Asians are receiving education in Hong Kong and majority of them, who are non-Chinese speaking students (NCS), have difficulties in getting integrated into the mainstream school system and community.

Every child of school age, regardless of ethnicity, is able to attend a government school (from Primary 1 to Form 3). However, the suitability of the local schools for the NCS students is not taken into account. They meet with great difficulties in learning due to cultural differences and language barriers, while the schools in turn lack relevant experience and resources to help them. Soon they lose motivation and drop out.

The government begins to carry out a series of measures in response to the matter. However, this does not respond to the language problem existing in the education sector. Moreover, the exception of languages in the proposed Bill cannot tackle the problems in education.

Accommodations

We have encountered cases with ethnic minorities about their accommodations. They have many problems in renting a flat, sometimes the property agents even do not allow them to enter the agency.

Besides renting a house, language used in the notices also causes anxiety. Most of the notices in housing estates are written in Chinese, with only the heading “NOTICE” in English. For the ethnic minorities they know there should be problems to notice but they cannot understand what is going on. This may cause troubles on personal safety. Language can help to ease tension and allow people to take preventive actions against danger.

Language is always be rendered as a barrier, or used as an excuse to hinder inclusion in society. The aspects we listed above are the basic needs of a person (employment, medical care, education and accommodation) that should be protected, regardless of different ethnic backgrounds, nationality or citizenship. In fact language can be the lubricant in each of these sectors. It does not only eliminate discrimination but also facilitates social harmony. Therefore, language should definitely be included in the Bill to enhance a society with respect, affection, care and equality, viz the purpose of RDB, to let the ethnic minorities have equal rights.

Broad Exemptions

The RDB should have the same kind of protections as the other equal opportunity ordinances (SDO, DDO and FSDO). The exemptions to the government and public bodies should not be approved in the Bill. The Bill should provide equal protection against racial discrimination, as the other ordinances provided to discriminations against sex, disability and family status.

Other than the exemption to the Government, the current Bill includes other exemptions. These exemptions may not stop the current discrimination acts against languages, nationalities or citizenship and so on. On the contrary these may allow the unjustifiable discriminations to continue, or develop new forms of discrimination. With weak supports the exemptions in RDB should not be allowed.

Educational Effects from the Bill

The Bill is not just a legal document but also an educational tool. The message that RDB is sending about the commitment to addressing racial discrimination should be considered.

The educational role of the Bill should not be ignored. The exemptions of the Bill will spread the message that discrimination in certain sectors and aspects are acceptable. Certain policies and practices can be exempted from the charge of racial discrimination, which reinforce the discriminatory policies and discourage people to stop all kinds of racial discrimination. Moreover, the limited application to the government spread a message that the government would not take the leading role to stop racial discrimination; the commitment of the government to human rights is limited. We have to ensure the Bill does not send a wrong message that victims of racial discrimination deserve less protection than victims of other types of discrimination, that Hong Kong does not assent to human rights obligations, that Hong Kong endures unjustifiable discrimination. These messages should not be promoted.

The RDB should be an effective tool to combat and prevent racial discrimination. It should reflect the determination of the government to stop racial discrimination in Hong Kong. Thus the Bill that provides weaker protection to ethnic minorities than to women and disabled.

Conclusions

The equal opportunity ordinances aim at social harmony. RDB should not go apart from this track, as mentioned on the “An Introduction to the Race Discrimination Bill” booklet : ‘Joining Hands for Social Harmony with Respect, Affection, Care & Equality’. The current Bill does not invite the Government (including public bodies) and the public to ‘join hands’, the exemptions of language, nationalities and citizenship are acts against respect, affection, care and equality, thus the Bill should need for amendment.