Batgung

Hi Mr. B,

I think the word you are looking for is "immigrant".

At least, that is how I felt myself when I first moved to Taiwan back in 1987. I felt really in touch w/ my ancestors who emigrated to the USA.

I landed in Taipei and a friend from college met me as arranged (in sociology this is sometimes called "chain migration", where people follow relatives and close associates to the new land). I stayed w/ her for a few days and she helped me find a place to live, where another of our ethnic subgroup was moving out. She helped me find some jobs in the field of work that my ethnic sub-group specialized in, English teaching in cram schools. With my ancestors it was sewing in garment factories. :)

So, in my view, "Expat" is just another word for a well-heeled immigrant. LKF and SoHo and Midlevels are "Euro-town" or "West-town" just like there are Chinatowns in large cities in the West.

Of course, legacy of colonialism, economics, etc. make the power and political dynamics different for Western expats in HK and most immigrants in western countries.

It's kind of like that cartoon by Hamilton in the New Yorker years ago. A very "high WASP" family is sitting around a dining table and the little girl asks "Daddy, are we ethnic?".

So, we "expats" are an ethnic enclave in a large city. Some of us are "sojourners" and some are true immigrants, planning to make our lives here.

The HK Immigration Dept says I am a [i][b]'dependant' [/b][/i](degrading) and since I have a visa to live and work here, I thought it safe to call myself a resident. But what a shock (at the airport) to be kicked out of the 'HK Residents with HK ID' counter to the 'Non-residents with HK ID'. My husband says it's because I am just a temporary resident (visa only good for 3 yrs). Maybe some feel this is enough to call HK home. But I do not. I just feel inadequate.

I can't call myself an xpat becos I associate this with the blond, blue-eyed, Caucasians. And most people who do call themselves xpats (or what ever pat) are mostly blond, blue-eyed, and always Caucasians. And most establishments catering for the "xpat community", do mostly consist of Caucasians (be it whatever eye or hair colours). My husband is an xpat because he is blue-eyed, blond and Caucasian. His Chinese looking wife on the other hand, has never been called one.
Hence, [u][b]Gweilo = xpat. Not gweilo = not xpat.
[/b][/u]
I thought I was [b]Asian[/b], much like the French, Germans or Italians who say they are Europeans. But while studying in the UK, I learned this is not for me as it is reserved for Indians, Bangladeshis or Pakistanis (or decendants of). In HK, they are known as [b]South Asian[/b]. I am neither. So I tried [b]South-East Asian[/b], but this only works if you are Thai or Vietnamese. I am neither.

I thought about [b]Oriental[/b] but decided that I look Japanese enough to get myself into trouble. Yes, it is very troublesome when you don't speak a language but people insist you do. Every attempt get louder and louder!! Japanese ladies are known for their deference and genteelness. I have neither!!!

What abt the obvious and calling myself [b]Chinese[/b]? Please. This is suicide. Anyone who looks Chinese but don't speak any variety of the language knows this is foolish. Why admit to being Chinese and risk being sent to a 'rehabilitation centre' for causing shame and disgrace to the Mother Country.

Does it help when I say I am [b]Malaysian[/b]? No. Sometimes this is as bad as saying I am from Cape Verde (a real country too by the way). But those enlightened few immediately assume I am from KL (Kuala Lumpur) That's in Peninsular Malaysia aka West Malaysia. Which I am not. I am from Sabah, the north bit of that island called Borneo, on the east side of Malaysia. Telling a Sabahan she is West Malaysian has the same dire consequence as telling Sean Connery he is English and The Beatles they are from Brighton. All could have you viciously chased around with a steel pipe.

A true[b] Sabahan[/b], born, raised and very proud of it. So it frankly disgusts me a bit, when faced with biffudled looking faces, I am forced to clarify that Sabah is that state formally known by the British Colonialists as British North Borneo! "And no Borneo is not part of the Phillipines even if the Sultan of Sulu thinks so". So you see, being a Malaysian or a Sabahan is no simple matter either.

My husband is a Brit but feels Asia is his home. I on the other hand, feel a connection to the UK and wouldn't mind making it my home. But I know I can never be British nor do I want to be. Just like my husband who can never be Sabahan, Malaysian or Asian, eventhough he feels he already is one. Some may say it doesn't matter what you call yourself, but frankly it does. If I know what I'm not, I'd like to know what I am.

I would like think I am a [b]citizen of the world [/b]- not bound to one nation, free to travel the world, live & work anywhere I wish, connected to the entire world. I feel I am but still, I know I'm not.

"Permission to remain in Hong Kong until....2006" Oh well

PS Can't bring myself to use the term immigrant. Sounds too desparate. Desparate as on top of inadequate? Too much. :roll:

I thought everyone who had a HK ID card were residents, just not perm residents until after seven years?