Pull Factor: Family originates from Sri Lanka
Before coming to Hong Kong to study university, Naveed has been living in Sri Lanka for many years. His family members are all living in Sri Lanka now. Therefore, Naveed feels more connected to his home place. Naveed speaks Tamil with his dad and Sinhala with his mother. This makes him feel at home as he can use his mother tongue to communicate with other people. Most importantly, he can communicate with any other Sri Lankan without any difficulty, unlike in Hong Kong.
Push Factor: Communication Problems in Hong Kong
Naveed does not know how to speak Cantonese. When he compare himself with some of his relatives who can speak Cantonese, he think he is not as confident as them when talking with the locals. When he first came to Hong Kong, he got lost with two of his friends. They tried to ask the locals how to get to the location in English and locals looked scared by them. The local’s reaction makes Naveed differentiate himself with locals. Besides, he finds difficulty in communicating with locals who do not English. He recalled that one time he went to small shops to buy materials for project. He met great communication problem as the staff did not understand English. Eventually, he could not buy the materials. This makes him feel sense of inferiority when surrounded by locals who speak Cantonese mainly in daily life.
Naveed's push and pull factors in identifying himself as a Sri Lankan:
Pull Factor: Knows well about Japanese Culture
Anju thinks that identity recognition is based on the language that a person knows and the culture he or she is immersed in. She understands and accepts Japanese culture more than Hong Kong culture because knowing Japanese can help her to learn more about its culture. At the same time, being influenced by her dad who values traditional Japanese culture, Anju usually eats Japanese cuisine and can come contact with Japanese culture. Due to a deeper understanding in Japanese culture, she regards herself as a Japanese more than a Hong Konger.
Push Factor: Difficult to participate local festivals without knowing Cantonese
Anju reflected that her inability of speaking Cantonese makes it difficult to communicate with locals. This hinders her participation in Chinese cultural events and cannot mingle in Chinese culture. Even though she knows the existence of Chinese festival for example Dragon Boat Festival and Chinese New Year, she does not participate in it. It is not because she is not interested in the local festivals, instead it is because she has limited opportunities to engage in local culture. She used to study in international schools which do not value Chinese festivals. When it is Chinese New Year holiday, she views that as a holiday but not a time to celebrate and enjoy. She will just stay at home and relax herself. Therefore she does not strongly feel that she a Hong Konger.
Anju's push and pull factor in identifying herself as a Japanese:
How is identity construct? Is it based purely on our language or the culture of our homeplace? Will there be any difference on the effect of exposure on language and culture affecting our own identity recognition?
Identity Recognition
What does it make to become a local Hong Konger?
- "If if i can speak cantonese, i can feel more local, because I can speak to the locals." (Naveed's transcript from the interview)
Let's take a look of the opinion of our interviewees!
