頭條日報 頭條網 - It is cultural animosity. by Michael Chugani

2013-02-19

A foreign journalist recently told me he found it extraordinary (highly unusual) that Hong Kong people had such animosity towards mainlanders since people here were also Chinese. I told him it was not amazing (extraordinary) because Hong Kong people had cultural hostility towards mainlanders, not racial hostility. The word animosity means a feeling of strong dislike, hatred, or resentment. It is similar to the word hostility. If you are hostile (adjective) to people because of their race or skin color, it is racial hostility, or racism. But if you dislike people because of their habits, the way they behave, the way they talk, and so on, it is cultural hostility, or animosity.

        I n recent years there has been a huge rise in the number of mainlanders coming to Hong Kong. They include tourists, parallel goods traders, immigrants, pregnant women wanting to give birth here, and the children of these women, who qualify for Hong Kong identity cards and, therefore, the right to go to school here. Local people feel animosity towards the mainlanders because they are changing Hong Kong's way of life. They drive up home prices, snap up (quickly buy) all the popular baby milk powder, compete with local children for school places, fill up MTR trains, and take over popular shopping areas such as Tsim Sha Tsui.

        Last year about 35 million mainland tourists came to Hong Kong. The number is expected to rise to 50 million a year by 2015. Can we cope with (handle or accommodate) so many more mainland tourists? Will it exacerbate (make worse) the animosity towards mainlanders? Not all Hong Kong people are hostile towards mainlanders. Many locals understand our tourism industry depends on mainlanders, who spend a lot of money here. They understand we should not bite the hand that feeds us. This is an idiom that means we should not hurt or be ungrateful to those we depend on. I don't think locals should be hostile to mainlanders. But I think the government has failed badly in making Hong Kong ready to handle so many mainland tourists. What do you think ?

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        近日有一位外籍記者跟我說，香港人對內地人充滿敵意（animosity），他感到很離奇（extraordinary），因為這裏的人也是中國人。我跟他說這不是甚麼驚人（extraordinary）的事，因為香港人對內地人是文化敵視（cultural hostility）而非種族敵視（racial hostility）。Animosity解作強烈憎惡、仇恨或怨恨，與hostility一字近似。如果你對人懷有敵意（hostile，形容詞），是因為他們的種族或膚色，那就是種族敵視（racial hostility），或種族主義（racism）；但若你不喜歡某些人是因為他們的習慣、行為、言談之類，那就是文化敵視（cultural hostility），或仇恨（animosity）。

        近年來港的內地客人數有大幅增長。他們包括旅客、水貨客、非法入境者、欲在港生子的孕婦，還有這些女人的兒女，就是已經合資格拿香港身份證，也因而有權在港入學的。本地人對內地人的仇視（animosity）是源於他們正在改變香港的生活方式。他們推高樓價，搶購（snap up）所有受歡迎的嬰兒奶粉，與本地學童爭學位，令港鐵列車擠擁不堪，佔去一些受歡迎的購物地區，例如尖沙咀。

        去年，大約三千五百萬內地旅客來港，預期到二○一五年，數目會達到五千萬。我們可以處理（cope with）這麼多的內地遊客麼？這會否激化（exacerbate）對內地人的仇恨（animosity）？不是所有的香港人都仇視（hostile）內地人。許多本地人明白我們的旅遊業倚賴內地人，他們在這兒有許多消費。他們明白我們should not bite the hand that feeds us，這句諺語的意思就是不要恩將仇報、忘恩負義。我不認為本地人該敵視（hostile）內地人，但我認為政府完全失敗，沒有讓香港作好準備，去處理這麼多的內地旅客。你說呢？mickchug@gmail.com

        中譯:七刻

        Michael Chugani 褚簡寧