Today I was told that despite my solid qualifications to become an English language teacher, the fact that my surname is not Anglo-originated and that my skin is not white will perhaps be a hurdle for me to get such a job. My CV will be overlooked and perhaps not even get read simply because I have a Chinese surname.
I can't believe I'm being discriminated in my own country of birth! But then again this is Hong Kong and I consider this place to be one of the most discriminatory places in the world. For any foreigners, the moment they step off the plane they are just that - Foreign.
A label will be allocated to you simply because you are not "human" (Chinese). Even if you are Chinese, you have to be the right kind of Chinese. I will not wind myself up over this.
Back to my dilemma. Students apparently prefer to be taught by a white person despite the fact that my English is probably better than a white person born in a country where English is the first language (this was actually proven in high school when the the final results came out). Well, there is always changing my name by proxy but that would totally go against my principles. In the meantime, I'll keep looking for private students to teach.
See the article below.
Asian English teachers demand action on racial discrimination
Liz Heron (source SCMP dated 14 Jan 2006)
Survey reveals that clients would rather offer more money to a white teacher with fewer qualifications.
Asian teachers have called for urgent action to tackle racial discrimination in private language centres after a survey indicated preferential treatment of white teachers was rife in the sector.
Big English International, one of Hong Kong's largest recruitment agencies for English language teachers, has surveyed the language needs of 922 potential customers using data drawn from internal records in the past two years.
Its findings, released today, show 67 per cent of private English language centres and 43 per cent of clients seeking private tutoring would only consider white teachers. The customers included 525 language centres and 397 individuals.
The agency also compared the success rates of white and Asian tutors in landing a job and the average pay of both groups.
Although it has had more Asian teachers of native-speaker standard on its books overall, the number of white teachers who have landed a job is more than twice the number among Asians.
The agency found white female teachers were typically paid $47 more per hour than their Asian counterparts. The 61 jobs taken by white women paid an average of $277.26, compared with an average of $230.37 for the 37 jobs taken by Asian women.
Pay averaged $288.66 for the 19 jobs taken by Asian male teachers, $15 more than for the 68 jobs taken by white males. But according to the agency, the result was skewed by 10 jobs that were taken by one highly-qualified Asian tutor paid $315 per hour.
Director Brian James Yang said: 'The information we have gathered indicates that Chinese tutors who wish to teach at institutions are not likely to be offered a fair chance.
'Ethnic Chinese people are refused employment opportunities immediately upon revelation of their last name or photo. Institutional clients often indicate they will not consider interviewing those of Asian descent. Filipino and Indian teachers face even greater difficulty in finding desirable work.
'The ethnic heritage of a prospective tutor thus immediately determines their worth as an English teacher. Asian tutors who have better qualifications and more experience than their Caucasian counterparts are left to fight for those few jobs which are available.'
Craig Lan, a Mauritian graduate with English as his mother tongue, who received his entire schooling within the English Schools Foundation and holds a certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, said it had taken him about a year to land a permanent job.
'At least half the schools I applied to said they were looking for people who have a western appearance. One principal said he was under pressure from parents,' he said
'Many times I will not be chosen over a Caucasian who doesn't have any qualifications. It is racism. The Home Affairs Bureau should step up efforts to educate the public.'
Louis Hop Lee, an American law graduate of Hong Kong Chinese origin, who was educated in the US and has been teaching English to adults for nine years, said: 'People believed that I was a westerner after talking on the phone and when I arrived for an interview they were surprised. The government should implement the law that would outlaw racial discrimination.'
The government is finalising draft legislation to outlaw racial discrimination and intends to introduce it to Legco in the current session.
A spokeswoman for the Home Affairs Bureau said current initiatives including a code of practice against racial discrimination in employment, a complaints hotline and public education and publicity programmes were 'inadequate'.
4 comments:
I don't know what to say except that that really sucks. Hate to shake the bee's nest, but what is it with racism between Asians? White people get a free pass in Asia as far as ESL is concerned and Western-born Asians suffer because of their looks. But my frustration with that kind of thing (mostly borne of the volume of genuinely stupid people that get jobs in Asia purely because they're white) must pale in comparison to your own.
More frustrating because you're smarter than the majority of them... ok, I won't say anything more that you don't already know.
I hope you're able to find something that you want, teaching-wise. Let me know if I can help you out in any way.
it does suck. I was always amazed Barry had a job as an English teacher in schools - he doesn't have any qualification in it beyond when he was 16 at GCSE level... and his spelling is crap... but I guess he fits the bill.
You'll get something, you're too smart for them to turn you down. Good luck!
I had a friend who had a similar problem; he eventually ended up working directly for a company, rather than for an English school. It might be worth a try.
133: Thanks Chris, I appreciate it.
I don't really know the answer to your question 100% simply because my psyche is not in tune with that of a local Chinese who grew up in Hong Kong. It has been westernised and hence my banana status. So to really answer your question I might have to do a vox populi on the streets of Hong Kong.
I am so use to having people from all parts of the world around me I don't immediately judge people's characters/personalities until they open their mouths as opposed to based on appearance and stereotypes -which is a big thing in Hong Kong. Classic example is found in Canton-pop. The guy with the most musical talent is never the most popular. It's the goodlooking guy who wins all the awards.
A white foreigner is just another person to me; whereas a white foreigner might be someone special
to a local.
So, I guess people have it seterotyped in their heads that to be taught English properly it must come from a white person because it's their mother tongue but they can't think outside the box that perhaps an Asian person might be just as capable. Like I said before, the locals are very quick to put labels on people based on appearance and it's very hard to get them to adjust their way of thinking. The number of times I've had friendly debates with my mother over this issue.
Also, social standing is everything here so it creates an invisible caste structure even between Asians, whether you are HKG Chinese, mainland Chinese, Taiwanese Chinese, Vietnamese Chinese etc. Basically, depending on how advanced your country is, that's where you are in the social structure.
I can't even say for sure whether this is a cultural thing. My sister-in-law says in Singapore they don't discriminate and employment is based on merit. So much for level of sophistication in Hong Kong where such laws do not exist.
It was pointed out to me that you get treated better from local Chinese if you spoke English to them because of the English superiority complex. From my point of view, if I can't ask for something in Cantonese it only enunciates my inadequacies as a Chinese person.
Anyway, these are just my observations. I'm sure you can write a PHD on this topic. Although frustrating for me, it is very interesting nonetheless.
Fuz: Hee hee! I remember Barrychan's spelling deficiency. We use to tear him to pieces upon seeing his scrap of paper he'd used in class to show a student how to spell a word.
usotski: When one door closes another one opens! =)
Post a Comment