| 1st row: Chow Yun-fat • Kai Ho • Faye Wong • Charles K. Kao • Bruce Lee 2nd row: Donald Tsang • Leslie Cheung • Lai Man-Wai • Jin Yong • Runme Shaw |
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| Hong Kong people | |||||||||||||||||
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| Demographics and Culture of Hong Kong |
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Census · Health · Hong Kong people · Hong Kong residents · Hong Kong Identity Card · Languages · Religion · Right of abode |
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Cinema · Cuisine · Manhua · Media · Music · Opera · Public holidays · Shopping · Sport · Literature |
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Hong Kong people (Chinese: 香港人) refer to people who originate from Hong Kong. The term (and its Chinese equivalent) has no legal definition in Hong Kong. Rather, terms such as Hong Kong permanent resident (香港永久性居民) and Hong Kong resident (香港居民) are used. Besides being used by Hong Kong residents, the term Hong Konger may be used by people who for one reason or another do not have legal residence status but spent an extensive period of time in Hong Kong or otherwise have a strong cultural connection with Hong Kong. Thus the term is largely open to personal interpretation. None of the terms make reference to the ethnicity of a person and are independent of Chinese citizenship or residency statuses.
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The vast majority of Hong Kong Chinese have ancestral roots from Guangdong Province in mainland China. After all, the SAR had experienced a great exodus of people in the years leading up to the handover, and yet migration from mainland China in recent years have brought about migrants who would prefer to refer themselves as Chinese. Many locals however simply refer themselves as Hong Kong people (Hèung Góng Yàhn).
The terms Hong Konger (or Hongkonger), Hongkongese, and Hong Kong People are all translated into the Cantonese term of Hèung Góng Yàhn (Chinese: 香港人; Cantonese Yale: Hèung Góng Yàhn). As a result, the above terms are different only as far as English language usage is concerned. People from Hong Kong in Western countries are also referred to colloquially as Hongers (or honkies, an offensive term ), however these latter terms are not always well received. The terms embodies a civic identity as opposed to one based upon race or ethnicity.
Hong Konger is used more often by native speakers of English, while Hong Kong People, a more direct translation of the term Hèung Góng Yàhn, is used to a greater extent by Chinese native speakers in Hong Kong when writing or speaking in English. Hongkongese is a relatively recent term coined by the North American press, likely using the same suffix as the word Chinese does.[1]
The term Hong Kong Chinese was used more often in the 19th to early 20th century in Hong Kong, where the British population residing in Hong Kong made up a higher percentage than what it comprises now. One used to refer to an individual as Hong Kong Chinese in order to differentiate the person from a Hong Kong Briton.
The Hong Kong Basic Law legally gives precise definition of Hong Kong residents. Under Article 24 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong residents can be further classified as non-permanent or permanent residents. Non-permanent residents are those who have the right to hold a Hong Kong Identity Card but have no right of abode. On the contrary, permanent residents are those who have the right to hold a Hong Kong Permanent Identity Card and the right of abode in Hong Kong.
Article 24 of the Basic Law provides:
| “ | Residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("Hong Kong residents") shall include permanent residents and non-permanent residents.
The permanent residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be:
The above-mentioned residents shall have the right of abode in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and shall be qualified to obtain, in accordance with the laws of the Region, permanent identity cards which state their right of abode. The non-permanent residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be persons who are qualified to obtain Hong Kong identity cards in accordance with the laws of the Region but have no right of abode. |
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Han Chinese make up the majority of Hong Kongers, most being from Guangdong from the 1930s to the 1980s. There are also the indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories.
The majority of the new addition to the population are people from the mainland China. Ever since Hong Kong was a British colony, many mainland Chinese have immigrated to Hong Kong, and there is now a daily quota of 150 for those wishing to reside in Hong Kong.
Cantonese people represent the largest group in Hong Kong. Beside the Cantonese, people of other Han Chinese groups also reside in Hong Kong. However, the Cantonese remains the largest group even amongst other Han Chinese groups in Hong Kong. As such, Hong Kong culture is highly Cantonese-influenced. Together with the fact that Cantonese is most commonly used as the language of both everyday and formal conversations, as well as its use in the media and education, other Han Chinese groups in Hong Kong, such as the Hakka, the Hoklo (Hokkien), the Shanghainese, or the Teochew, in particular those who are Hong Kong born or raised, often assimilate into the mainstream Cantonese identity of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong has a number of minority ethnic and national groups. The South Asian community (Indians, Pakistanis, and Nepalis) is long-established, and comprises both descendants of 19th and early 20th-century migrants, as well as more recent short term expatriates. Numerically, the largest groups are Filipinos and Indonesians. Other groups include Americans, Britons, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, Japanese, Koreans, Russians, Vietnamese and Thais.
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