I’m Sanika, a Year 2 student at HKU. I came to Hong Kong from India when I was 10. In high school, I was privileged enough to attend an international school. There were kids from all races and backgrounds. It was diversified and no one was judged based on where they're from. The diversity and comforting acceptance allowed me to connect and communicate with people from all walks of life.
It was until I started university that I strongly felt the division and the disconnect between me and the locals. I first heard the words “ethnic minority” in Uni. I realized that it was our label and how differently we are viewed. Our skin color and our backgrounds had pushed us under the tag of EM. A tag often associated with violence and racial otherness. It was a haunting feeling to be viewed so negatively in this city which I already called home. I started to feel more conscious and insecure about the color of my skin. I also realized all my efforts of trying to belong had gone down the drain. I was made to believe that I was “Different” and had to accept the label of being an “ethnic minority” because that is what we are. Despite being able to fluently communicate in Cantonese and do everything any other local does in this city, I still was not a “Hong Konger”, I was a local but not "local local".
Once in a Queer Studies class when discussing racial otherness, one of my classmates pointed out how she has been warned to be careful of men wearing ‘the turban’ and avoid areas with ‘too many brown people’. It came to my realization how poorly the image of the brown community has been portrayed to the younger locals by their elders. There are so many of us who have struggled to fit in yet are always disregarded. It is also heartbreaking for me because I have already made my choice to make Hong Kong my second home but the comfort and acceptance I am given in return is far from what a home feels like. That is why I want to use my voice to make a change. I want to tell the world that our differences should not define our belonging but be something we celebrate in harmony. Let us not stay quiet any longer but amplify the truth and voices of the misunderstood, unheard, and silenced.
Instagram: @colorsofhk
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