Identity

“Get lost gweilo!” says the old man. I firmly respond, “How dare you call me gweilo! Be respectful and call me ah-cha!”  If you got this joke, then you have a local understanding of racism in Hong Kong.  (For those who don’t get it, gweilo is a Cantonese term for white people while ah-cha refers to South Asians.)  I’m an Indian made in Hong Kong. And because I was born and raised here, my parents felt it was vital that I learn the local language of Cantonese. They wanted me to better integrate into society and avoid the limitations they faced due to their own language barrier. It seemed like a simple formula: Learn the language, become a local, everybody’s happy.  However, as we realized in