Amid protests for democracy, Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities strive to be heard

Hong Kong’s protests lay bare a paradox for the city’s ethnic minorities: some are welcomed for joining in, others are scapegoated for violent attacks

While there has been a realisation that minorities have a part to play in political life, old stereotypes die hard, even among those calling for equality

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People outside Kowloon Mosque are covered in blue dye fired from a police water cannon during a protest in Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui district. Photo: Twitter

Published: 10:30am, 26 Oct 2019Updated: 8:34pm, 7 Nov 2019

Arianne Baldesimo’s heart sank when she received a notification on her mobile phone claiming that Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit, the leader of a pro-democracy group behind some of the largest protest marches in Hong Kong, had been attacked by a group that included “ethnic minority” assailants.

She felt sorrow for Sham, who had been smashed over the head with hammers and spanners, but she also felt worried. She feared that a group of Hongkongers long discriminated against and acutely vulnerable to unfair criticism would bear the repercussions.

“With this attack we felt that enough is enough,” said Baldesimo, 34, who was raised in Hong Kong and is of Philippine descent. “We have been talking for a long time if we should come out and say something … This time we felt we had to show that a lot of us are not part of that.”

No evidence had come to light that proved the ethnicity of those who led the attack and Sham, the convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, said he could not recognise the faces or the ethnicities of the assailants on October 16. Still, rumours spread online that South Asians had been paid to do the job, leading to fears that Chungking Mansions, a hub for the South Asian and African communities, and the Kowloon Mosque could be targeted by people seeking retribution.

The attack on Sham had occurred just days before a planned march by the Civil Human Rights Front in Tsim Sha Tsui, the bustling commercial district that is home to both Chungking Mansions and the mosque.

Despite concerns among the ethnic minority community, what happened next was one of the most heart-warming episodes in the more than four months of protests that have rocked Hong Kong.