Nearly 70 % of ethnic minority (EM) parents are unfamiliar with local education system and in need of support from the Government to help their children planning their studies, a research found.

The research was carried out by the Ethnic Minority Network (EM Network) of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, in which Hong Kong Unison is one of the members. To compare the advancement gap between EM and local Chinese children, a survey was carried out, involving 189 EM parents and 191 local Chinese parents during last October to December.

The survey found that both EM and local Chinese parents had high degree of involvement in their children's study. Yet the former was more ignorant about local education system. For example, they did not know the number of universities in Hong Kong , nor were they aware of the change of education structure to 3-3-4 in 2009. Many EM parents even had no idea that Chinese language is one of the important conditions for admission to universities.

More than 74% EM parents found it hard to get education information due to language barrier. Compared to their Chinese counterparts, they had less Chinese friends, which could be an important source of information concerning their children's studies. The EM Network was especially concerned about those children studying in mainstream schools. Being “minorities” in their schools, their needs and interests have usually been neglected.

Currently there are about 10,000 EM students studying in 533 primary and secondary schools. Only 25 of them have been given the status of “designated schools” and provided with an annual grant of HK$300,000 to $600,000 by the Government, so as to support EM students in learning Chinese.

The EM Network has made a number of suggestions, including the establishment of resource centres for EM parents by the Education Bureau in their district offices; the setting up of an outreaching social service team in each district to help EM parents building social networks, and the provision of after-school tutorial classes to EM students. Most importantly, we consider it is necessary for the Government to develop a “Chinese as a second language” education policy ', i.e., to provide tailor made Chinese curriculum to EM students, coupled with correspondent assessment tools and teaching materials.

Being an active member of the EM Network, Hong Kong Unison has been actively involved in the planning and implementation of the research. We will continue to work with other members of the Network, to call for the Government looking into their situation and providing support as accord to our recommendations.

Press Release

Powerpoint presentation

School system tough for minorities to figure out, SCMP 31 May 2010

《少數族裔生 憂中文差阻升學》明報 2010 年 5 月 31 日

The widow of a Nepali shot dead by a police constable could not claim her justice in the Coroner's Court. After 76 days of hearing, the Jury of the Court returned a verdict of lawful killing on 25 May, which implied the police constable only fire the fatal shot for self-defence.

Sony Rai, the widow of Dil Bahadur Limbu, who was shot dead by Constable Hui Ka Ki, last March, was not convinced by the decision. She felt collapsed in the court a number of times during the last day of hearing. Yet, she vowed to carry on and fight for the justice, with the support from Hong Kong Unison and the Nepalese community. Rai's lawyer, Michael Vidler is now studying the case and considers the possibility of launching a judicial review.

This case has highlighted the insensitivity by the Police in dealing with ethnic minorities. One might remember when firing his shots, Constable Hui only gave the warning in Cantonese. In addition, we (both Sony and Hong Kong Unison) believe Mr. Hui, who had been criticized by police internal trainer for misjudgment in shooting for a number of times, had used unnecessary and disproportionate force at the time of the incident.

To make matters worse, we never find the investigation and proceedings balanced and fair. It is regrettable that our Police had spent much of its effort in finding evidences about the “bad character” of Mr. Limbu, instead of searching the causes of his death. In addition, the way the Coroner had handled the proceedings, the open bias and hostility he has manifested against Sony and her legal representatives was particularly distressing.

Hong Kong Unison has followed the incident closely since its happening. On the one hand, we have worked with all the concerned parties, including lawmakers, human right groups, Nepalese and other ethnic minority communities, to call for the setting up of an independent Commission of Inquiry and the review of Police practice in handling ethnic minorities. On the other, we have liaised with relevant government departments to look after the welfare of the widow and her 6-year-old daughter.

We worried that the verdict of the hearing would send a wrong message to the Police that they have done nothing wrong and thus no need to review its practice. Nevertheless, we would not give up, but continue call for the setting up if an independent inquiry to look into the underlying causes of Mr. Limbu's death, and the necessary measures that the Government should take to avoid the repeat of such tragedy.

Statement of Sony Rai, the widow of Dil Bahadur Limbu

Widow seeks review after shooting verdict May 26, SCMP

  Nepali's death show up need for rules on police sensitivity May 26, SCMP

 Previous reports about Limbu's case

17-03-2010 Unison joined Nepalese Community in Memory of Mr. Limbu's Death

11-03-2010 Widow of Police Shooting Case Boycotted the Inquest

01-09-2009 Ethnic Minorities Protest for Hearing Language of Mr. Limbu's Inquest

The Police Gun-shooting Incident: Unison actions and response

Since the handover, ethnic minority residents in Hong Kong have been facing unequal opportunities in civil service employment, mainly due to the imposition of Chinese language requirement. This issue has drawn the attention of lawmakers. In a meeting held at the Legislative Council on 24 May, almost all political parties echoed our concern and called for the relaxation of Chinese language requirement in civil service recruitment.

Hong Kong Unison has been following the issue for several years. Last summer we had mobilized our EM youths to join the July First Protest, calling for equal opportunities in joining civil service. This time, four of our EM youths spoke to the Legislative Council's panel on public service, sharing their dreams to join the disciplinary forces.

These young people consider Hong Kong as their permanent home; and have the passion to live a meaningful life. Yet, owing to their relatively low Chinese language proficiency, they have been screened out of the civil service. Khezar Hayat, one of the youth spoke in the meeting, got an A* result in the GCSE Chinese Exam and an A in HKCEE English Exam. He applied for the post of police constable last year. Yet his application was rejected and he was told that his Chinese is below standard.

The stories of these EM youths gained the sympathy of participants in the meeting. Almost all political parties agreed that the Government had treated ethnic minorities unfairly; given that formal Chinese education has only been provided to their children since 2004. Mr. Lam Woon-kwong, the new Chairman of Equal Opportunities Commission, held that the present Chinese language requirement might deter ethnic minority talent to join civil service. In her written submission, Professor Kelley Loper from the Law Faculty of the Hong Kong University stated that the present situation may amount to indirect discrimination under the Race Discrimination Ordinance.

Ms Denise Yu, the Secretary for Civil Service did not respond to our request directly. Yet she promised to remind department heads to enhance racial sensitivity in their hiring practice. In addition, the Government would begin to collect data about EM people currently working in civil service.

Hong Kong Unison will continue following this issue. For the time being, we plan to launch a collective application for the post of police constable by EM youths to test whether the Police Department genuinely accepts them. Those who are interested in joining the Police could contact our Executive Officer, Nabela, at 2789 3246. We will offer necessary advice and assistance. ( Entry requirement for the post of police constable )

Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to five Legislative Councilors who have been providing concrete support in our fighting of equal opportunities in joining civil service by our ethnic minority residents. They are Mr. Lee Cheuk Yan from the Confederation of Trade Unions; Ms. Emily Lau and Mr. Albert Ho from the Democratic Party; Ms. Margaret Ng from the Civic Party and Ms. Cyd Ho.

Submission to public service panel, from Hong Kong Unison

Submission to public service panel, from Professor Kelley Loper

Five Languages, but police don't want him, May 24 SCMP

中文A級巴裔青年被指中文差投考警隊失敗 5月26日 蘋果日報

On 14 May 2010, our Executive Director, Fermi Wong , talked to a group of future police officers in the Police College at Wong Chuk Hang. This has been the sixth year that Hong Kong Unison being invited to conduct cultural sensitivity workshops for cadet police officers. Through such activities, we sincerely wish to enhance understanding on ethnic minority (EM) culture among Hong Kong Police Force; so that in future, they would pay more attention to the needs of EM people when carrying out their duties.