Ethnic minority and criminal behavior in Hong Kong

Abstract

Hong Kong, a melting pot of Chinese and Western cultures, has been one of the most favourable places for people from different countries to visit or live in. Other than Caucasians, there are also persons from different ethnicities, including the South Asians, Japanese and Korean, etc, living together with local Chinese in this city of diversity. Though both South Asians and Caucasians are considered as ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, South Asians encounter more difficulties in settling in Hong Kong due to discrimination. And such difficulties have been explored and studied by different scholars through various research, including but not limited to discrimination facing in response to education, employment and their livelihood. However, despite of the fact that they are the ‘victims’ of different discrimination, the ethnic minorities are condemned as troublemakers of Hong Kong’s law and order, in which most of the locals have even linked the ethnic minorities with criminal activities. In order to resolve such paradox, the research question of the current paper would be “Ethnic Minority and Criminal Behavior in Hong Kong”. To address this issue, one of the major purposes of the current research is set to study whether there are any relations between ethnic minority and criminal behavior. And if positive, to look into the reason which cause such relation; but if negative, to find out why Hong Kong people have such biased perception, and whether such biased relation would lead to criminal behavior. Ethnic minorities will be interviewed with the aim of understanding the difficulties or inequalities that they are facing and their reasons for committing criminal behavior. Suggestions are also provided for the government to alleviate the problem and hopefully, to enhance the integration of the ethnic minorities into our society.