Name: Lee Sin Ming

Student ID: 09369162D

ENGL 304 English for Administration

Lecturer: Dr. Christina DeCoursey

Assignment 3 Policy Paper

Executive Summary

Hong Kong is an international city with good reputation of economic prosperity and

political stability. Many ethnic minorities are attracted by the city for better

employment opportunities. They encounter various kinds of difficulties in their daily

life with great difference in culture here and their home countries. It is our

responsibility to assist these new arrivals and maintain social harmony. In the latest

Policy Address, our Chief Executive has announced the establishment of a dedicated

team to help ethnic minorities integrate into our society. We are the team members

and we would like to review the policies targeting the employment problems of local

minorities. With reference to the current situation in Hong Kong, we recommend

cooperation between the government and NGOs, establishment of recognizable

Cantonese programs, more promotion on employment assistance information and

training courses and civic education. The government is responsible to take an active

role in encouraging social inclusion of ethnic minorities.

Statement of the Problem

What policies are needed to assist ethnic minorities (EM) in employment in Hong

Kong (HK)? Many of these new arrivals face a considerable amount of problems in

adapting to the new environment. They usually find it difficult to obtain a job, which

is essential for supporting their living in HK. The main reasons are likely to be

language barrier, the lack of skills and the lack of access to assistance. To promote the

image of HK as an international city with great cultural diversity and to maximize the

contribution that EM brings to us, it is necessary for us to adopt policies facilitating

their employment.

Background of the Problem

According to the HK government, ‘ethnic minorities’ refers to persons of non-Chinese

ethnicity. Based on the 2006 Population By-census Thematic Report on Ethnic

Minorities, 342 198 EM were living in HK in July 2006. This accounted for 5% of

HK’s total population and over 98% of them were Usual Residents of the city. They

are part of our society and their needs should not be overlooked.

Among the EM in HK, Asians other than Chinese, such as Filipinos, Indonesians,

Indians, Nepalese and Pakistanis, are often marginalized from the mainstream. These

disadvantaged groups face more difficulties in employment than other races. The

2006 Population By-census Thematic Report on Ethnic Minorities revealed that, for

instance, the majority of them (83.8%) engaged in elementary occupations while over

80% of ethnic Whites worked as administrators or professionals. As a result, they

received lower salaries. Based on a research on the employment situation of South

Asian people in HK done by the City University of Hong Kong and a

non-governmental organization (NGO) Unison Hong Kong in 2003, about 60% of the

respondents were unemployed in the last two years and only 40% had a full-time job.

Effective policies are necessary for improvement of the situation.

Organization’s interests

In the 2010/11 Policy Address, Mr. Donald Tsang assigned our team, headed by the

Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs Bureau, to manage supportive services and

policies for local EM with respect to the Race Discrimination Ordinance. At the same

time, the establishment of a Community Care Fund, founded jointly by the

government and the business sector, was announced to subsidize non-recipients of the

Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme. With EM being one of its

beneficiaries, we have to advice on the allocation of the fund. It is our aim to meet

local disadvantaged minorities’ needs in various areas, including housing, education,

medical services, and social welfare. In this paper, we pay our attention on policies

relating to their employment situation.

Policy Options

Based on the current situation in HK, some policy options for improving the working

situation of local EM are suggested. A number of effective minority policies from

Australia which is a country with more than 20% of its population being EM are used

as reference in the following discussion.

1. Acquisition of Cantonese

Current situation:

Language barrier is one of the major obstacles EM find in employment and social

integration in HK. Only about half (52.5%) of them, most of who were domestic

helpers, could speak Cantonese as stated in the 2006 Population By-census Report.

Cantonese courses are organized by a few institutions like the Vocational Training

Council (VTC), but they are found too short (around 20 hours) to provide EM with

adequate knowledge over the language.

New policy:

In Australia, Adult Migrant English Program is launched to offer 510 hours of English

Classes to new migrants and refugees, with a Certificate in Spoken and Written

English given to those who complete the course. Similar programs should be

organized by the HK government for local EM, helping them integrate into the

society.

Advantages:

A common language could facilitate the communication and cooperation between EM

and local colleagues. EM could meet more job requirements, receive more

employment assistance services, and perform better in job interviews. Their

competitiveness would be greatly increased in the labour market.

Disadvantages:

The government has to spend a large amount of resources to establish such language

courses. Quality instructors and students completed the course with good command of

Cantonese are essential to make the effectiveness of the program recognizable. The

participation rate would not be satisfying unless the fee is low.

2. Improve the employment assistance service and job training courses

Current situation:

A research conducted by the City University of Hong Kong and Unison Hong Kong in

2003 discovered that 65% of the EM respondents had never used the services of the

Labour Department. One of the reasons was that they could not communicate well

with the Chinese-speaking staff. Meanwhile, several institutions, such as Hong Kong

Institute of Vocational Education (IVE) and VTC, have been organizing job training

for EM. Again, the participation rate is low since the courses are conducted in Chinese.

To tackle this problem, interpreting service of over 77 languages and dialects are

provided every day 24 hours in Australia. In 2005, a proposal on enhancing

Interpretation support for EM in HK was carried out by the Hong Kong Council of

Social Service, but little progress has been done on this topic.

New policy:

Staff offering employment assistance services ought to have good command of

English and the English version of relevant information should be available. At those

centers with more EM visiting, staff with command of different South Asian

languages would be helpful. A hotline in South Asian languages should be arranged to

serve EM for employment assistance services. English should be the teaching medium

for job training courses in EM classes held by different organizations.

Advantages:

EM could gain access to the information and acquire working skills more easily in

English.

Disadvantages:

Recruitment of multi-language speaking staff and preparation of materials in English

cost the government and other institutions a lot. EM still face difficulties in workplace

if they cannot master Cantonese well.

3. Education on labour rights

Current situation:

It is common that EM are not familiar with the labour rights in Hong Kong. In the

survey conducted by the City University of Hong Kong and Unison Hong Kong,

many EM had wrong ideas for employment issues like severance payment,

termination of employment contract, statutory holiday, sickness allowance and

maternity leave. Over 20% of the respondents reported that the employer join the

Mandatory Provident Fund scheme for them though they were required to. Another

23% of the respondents once were hurt in work place, but their employers did not

report their cases to the Labour Department.

New policy:

Pamphlets edited in multi-languages and talks should be arranged for EM to promote

ideas of occupational health and safety and the Employment Ordinance. These could

be organized with the help of schools or religious communities to gain the targeted

groups’ attention.

Advantages:

Through education, EM’s awareness of their labour rights could be aroused and thus

avoid exploitation from employers.

Disadvantages:

This increases the government’s expenditure and enforcement of the regulations is

needed to go along with education.

4. Recognizing academic qualification in job hunting

Current situation:

Most of EM in HK worked in low-skilled or elementary occupations, such as

domestic helpers, construction workers and security guards. They are more excluded

in the labour market as their academic qualifications obtained overseas are not

recognized by local employers. According to the 2006 Population By-census Report,

70% of EM aged 15 or above had attended upper secondary or higher education.

New policy:

By setting a regulation, employers are required to accept EM’s overseas academic

qualifications as long as authentic certificates are provided.

Advantages:

EM could diversify their occupations with regards to their education level. This helps

enhancing their social mobility and with better-paid jobs, improving their social status

and living standard.

Disadvantages:

It is difficult to check the credibility of the overseas educational institutions that EM

obtained their qualification. Standards in HK and those places maybe different,

affecting the reliability of the qualification.

5. Implementation of minimum wage law

Current situation:

According to the figures provided by the 2006 Population By-census Report, nearly

70% of the working EM were earning less than $4000 as their monthly income. This

makes it difficult for EM to maintain a good living standard, especially if they have a

family to support.

New policy:

As mentioned in the latest Chief Executive’s Policy Address, the minimum wage law

will be brought into practice in the coming financial year. EM should also be covered

and have their salaries risen.

Advantages:

EM could receive higher salaries to handle the high living expense in HK. This is also

a symbol of equal status of EM and local Chinese, showing that EM are being treated

fairly in HK.

Disadvantages:

Similar to their Chinese counterparts, EM may face more unemployment due to the

increase in wage. Some local employers may prefer a Chinese employee instead of

EM with the same wage rate.

Recommendations

1. Cooperation with NGOs

Many NGOs, such as Hong Kong Unison, Christian Action and Hong Kong Caritas,

are well-developed organizations with the expertise and experience in serving EM.

Cooperation between the government and NGOs could make the service more

comprehensive and redundancy could be avoided with good coordination.

2. Setting up standard Cantonese courses with recognizable certificate

The removal of language barrier would be an effective way to enhance the social

integration of EM and their competitiveness in workplace. Standard assessment is

essential to maintain the credibility of the courses.

3. More promotion on employment assistance information and training programs

Sometimes, EM cannot seek help from the authorities as they have no information of

the resources available. The materials of the government and social institutions should

be written in multi-languages, such as Hindi, Urdu and Nepalese. The use of mass

media together with reaching-out methods like exhibition shows, street enquiry

services and home visits in areas that more EM live in to facilitate efficient delivery

of information to the targeted groups.

4. The initiative role of the government

Both ethnic Chinese and EM should be treated equally in every government policies.

For example, both should be covered under the minimum wage law and the provision

of monthly traffic allowances to low-income employees. The government should

adopt reward schemes to praise employers with contribution in promoting racial

equality and protection of labour rights of EM. Tax allowance for employers of EM is

an example.

5. Civic education

Mutual respect and quality among different races should be promoted in the society.

EM should be educated with their rights, encouraged to participate in community and

voce out their needs and opinions.

References Consulted

Hong Kong 2006 Population By-census Thematic Report on Ethnic Minorities (2007).

Retrieved November 15, 2010 from The Government of the Hong Kong

Special Administrative Region, Census and Statistics Department Web site:

http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200712/28/P200712280154_print.htm

This is an official report of the profile of ethnic minorities: demographic

characteristics, education, labour force, living arrangement and household

characteristics, and geographical characteristics in Hong Kong, based on the results of

the 2006 Population By-census.

Kam, P. K. (2003). Research Report on the Employment Situation of South Asian

People in Hong Kong. Retrieved November 10, 2010 from Hong Kong Unison,

Web site: http://www.unison.org.hk/R_Research.htm

The research is conducted by the City University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong

Unison, a well-known NGO serving ethnic minorities. This report reveals the

effectiveness of the existing employment assistance services for South Asian people

in Hong Kong with their needs and expectations in employment.

Kam, P. K. (2004). Research Report on the Protection of Labour Rights among South

Asian People in Hong Kong. Retrieved November 10, 2010 from Hong Kong

Unison, Web site: http://www.unison.org.hk/R_Research.htm

The research is conducted by the City University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong

Unison, a well-known NGO serving ethnic minorities. This is a research report

explores South-Asian people’s attitude towards their labour rights and their access to

the information of the labour ordinances.

Language Training for Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong (2004). Retrieved November

17, 2010 from The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative

Region, The Home Affairs Bureau Web site:

http://www.cmab.gov.hk/rru/english/aboutus/Ethnicforum/Ethnicforum20040

427paper2.doc

This paper reviews the language training programme, organized jointly by the

government and 3 NGOs, for ethnic minorities in Hong Kong in 2003-04 and makes

suggestions for future development.

Vocational Education & Training for Ethnic Minorities (2006). Retrieved November

28, 2010 from the Vocational Training Council, Web site:

http://www.vtc.edu.hk/vtc/web/template/link.jsp?fldr_id=2692

This website provides details of job training courses available to ethnic minorities in

Hong Kong provided by the VTC, a well-established organization offering

recognizable vocational education and training.

2010-11 Policy Address:Sharing Prosperity for a Caring Society (2010). Retrieved

November 9, 2010 from The Government of the Hong Kong Special

Administrative Region, Web site: http://www.policyaddress.gov.hk/10-11/eng/

This is the latest Policy Address given by Mr. Donald Tsang. Paragraph 63 is about

assisting new arrivals and ethnic minorities. It is the second time for ethnic minorities

being mentioned in Policy Address.