Write an essay arguing either for or against the statement, “Legislation should be enacted to prohibit discrimination against Mainland Chinese.”
It has been proposed that legislation should be enacted to prohibit discrimination against Mainland Chinese. However, the proposal of the new law is unnecessary, ineffective and even harmful. With the existing laws, enacting a new one will cause a lot more troubles and intensify the root of the problem. To solve the problems of discrimination, a new law is not the best solution.
The proposal is unnecessary. In Hong Kong, there are already three existing laws protecting the other races living here. They are the Basic Law, the Hong Kong Bill of Rights of Ordinance Article 14 and the Race Discrimination Ordinance. There is no point in making a new one with identical functions. Even if the laws are proved to be not sufficient, we can amend the old ones, instead of enacting a whole new law because passing a law requires a long period of time and a series of approval of different institutes. These time-consuming procedures are absolutely unnecessary.
Even if the law is enacted, there will be a great challenge to prove discriminatory behaviour. As a result, the law is totally ineffective. Some people in Hong Kong do not discriminate against any particular race but only feel disgusted with what some Mainland Chinese do such as spitting, littering, shouting in the streets or cutting the queue. Doubtless, it is normal and understandable to feel disgusted with those actions. The main concern is how to distinguish the above emotions from ‘real’ cases of discrimination purely according to race. It is difficult to confirm that someone is the victim of discrimination. For example, if a manager rejects the application of a Chinese person, whether the manager discriminates against the applicant or judges fairly because of the applicant’s ability and suitability are by no means observable. Therefore, hardly can we prove that a person is completely against the law. The difficulty in showing discriminatory behaviour is an invisible hurdle.
Not only is the law ineffective, but it also poses some threats to Hong Kong citizens. Because of the ambiguous definition of the discriminatory behaviour, the Mainland Chinese can always allege of being discriminated. Without objective measures, Hong Kong citizens are at a disadvantage. If there is quarrel over some sensitive issues slightly related to the Mainland, the Hong Kong people may be accused of discriminating against the Mainlanders. Moreover, more people will become over-cautious just because they do not want to be suspected of having such behaviour. These weaken the power of negotiation of Hong Kong people in all aspects and all affairs.
Besides inflicting damage to Hong Kong people, the law itself creates a labeling effect. The law aims at eliminating the inequality among all people and ensure that these groups enjoy equal rights. However, implementing the law will further segregate the Mainland Chinese from Hong Kong people. It emphasizes the difference between these two groups of people. This intensifies the root problem. In fact, Hong Kong is part of China. To a certain extent, Hong Kong citizens are not different from the people in the Motherland. With such a law, we are differentiating ‘Hong Kong’ from ‘China’. The law creating a labeling effect adds fuel to the current situation.
To conclude, the new law is unnecessary, ineffective and also harmful since it poses a threat to Hong Kong people and a labeling effect on the Mainland Chinese. With the existing three laws to protect the rights of other groups, there is no need to set up a new law having the same function. Therefore, legislation should not be enacted to prohibit discrimination against Mainland Chinese.