Despite its proximity to China, Hong Kong has a very diverse and contradictory culture. Western values are a result of its past British colonial rule, while old Chinese traditions and values that are now shadows of their former selves in the Mainland were retained due to the influx of immigrants during the tumultuous period of the early Republic. This blend of morals, values, and cultures are exactly what makes Hong Kong so unique.
Ultra-fast escalators, rude customer service, Legco government meetings that make kindergarteners look like saints; these are just surface level elements of Hong Kong. In order to understand the city at a deeper level, we must first understand its citizens.
Hong Kong has maintained a cold and fierce image among its Eastern counterparts, with the general consensus being that its residents are strict and unfriendly. However, this is far from the truth. In fact, once you get to know Hong Kongers more, they are even worse than you originally thought.
Accidentally get stepped on by someone because the train suddenly moved? Forget an apology. You will most likely be verbally assaulted and beaten for “not minding your own business”. Your best bet is to crawl into a little hole in the corner and hope you get ignored. Otherwise, your only other options are getting death stares or being cursed out – after all, why did you choose to stand there?
Yet despite the locals’ cold attitude, Hong Kong is considered an attractive place for many foreigners to live; there are over 301,000 expats living in the metropolitan city.
“I just think that it’s a lot better, having people tell you their thoughts straight to your face instead of stabbing you in the back. They’re very honest people,” said British expat Robert Jones.
Jones has been living in Hong Kong for 3 months now in the Kowloon district and remembers experiencing cultural shock during his first moments in the city.
“I remember the first time I stepped into Hong Kong, I had decided to go to a cha chaan teng to eat. I was very excited for my first taste of the city. Everything was great at first. The food came out in 10 seconds. I don’t even know how. It was an experience. You’re just like ‘I want an A set please’ and baam it's on your table 3 seconds later. Everything in this city is just so fast. Don’t even get me started on the minibuses!”
“But at one point, the waitress accidentally bumped into me when she was handing the other table their food. I thought she was going to apologize, but instead I got glared at. It was so scary but after a while I got used to it!”
Despite this, Jones says that he understands where this kind of behaviour was coming from. “I mean, when people are just in the way and being stupid, you’re bound to get frustrated with their behaviour. Everything in this city just needs to be FAST. I’m actually kinda glad that Hong Kongers aren’t afraid to show their displeasure at people’s incompetence.”
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