Ethnic Minorities in Tung Chung: Little is Known about the Needs of the Ethnic Minority Families in

Ethnic Minorities in Tung Chung

Little is Known about the Needs of the Ethnic Minority Families in Tung Chung

March 2023

GEOGRAPHY

There are 18 geographic districts in Hong Kong Geographic districts by ethnic minority population can be seen in the chart below The Island category includes Tung Chung and 20 more islands, but Tung Chung has the greatest number of ethnic minorities*.

Percentage Distribution of All Ethnic Minorities Excluding Foreign Domestic Helpers

Tung Chung is divided with an invisible line, defined by private and public property. Private property is mostly comprised of individuals in a middle-income cohort Conversely, those living in public property in Tung Chung are from lower income households.

ShaTin

KwaiTsing

KwunTong

TuenMun

TsuenWan

TaiPo

WongTaiSin North

The Islands district is the second largest district for ethnic minorities (10 8%)* 16.8% of Tung Chung population is made up of Ethnic Minorities (EM)* This means that one in six individuals are ethnic minorities in Tung Chung

There is little known about the needs of the lower income ethnic minority community in Tung Chung. Understanding their needs is critical to building social and racial harmony, as well as alleviating poverty According to census, one in three of Hong Kong’s ethnic minority children live in poverty.

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Building Community, Building Tung Chung is an initiative by The Zubin Foundation and 4 other NGO partners sponsored by The Swire Group Charitable Trust Our aim was to engage directly with lower income EM families in Tung Chung, to understand their needs, connect them with resources and to help build an inclusive Tung Chung

METHODOLOGY

When What Type of engagement

Number of engagements

Typical profile

April 2021 - March 2023

The Zubin Foundation staff and EM youth leaders from Tung Chung engaged with 110 families

Home visits and check-in calls, totalling 30 minutes of interaction with each family per engagement

1,320 engagements conducted in total, over 12 rounds

Mother or daughter at home for 105 of the 110 families

Language used English, Hindi, Nepali, Punjabi, Tamil and Urdu

*Hong Kong SAR Government, 2021 Census https://www census2021 gov hk/en/district profiles html

Matthew Yu and Shalini Mahtani, The Zubin Foundation

Edited by Caroline Longley Rosie Lanham

ETHNIC MINORITY FAMILIES IN BUILDING COMMUNITY, BUILDING TUNG CHUNG PROJECT

Ethnic Minority Families Engaged in the Project 110

Pakistani Families: 68%

Family Structure

Family size, and the household size varies, the largest being 9 and the smallest being 2 The average household size is 5.2 people per family The household size does not include domestic helpers

Indian Families: 15%

Nepalese Families: 12%

Filipino Families: 5%

Correlating the family sizes with ethnicity, most families have 4 family members or more In the Pakistani community, the family size tends to be larger with 5 (32%) and 6 members (25%) in a family

Family Size by Ethnicity

In the Pakistani community, more children are common, with 32% of families 3 children and 25% with 4 children The Filipino community also tended, with 33% each having 2 and 4 children respectively In the Indian community, most families tended to have 2 children (50%) and 3 children (38%) In the Nepalese Community most families tended to have 2 children (77%)

Age and Status of Children

Two-thirds of the children in EM families in Tung Chung (66%) are studying in primary or secondary schools

Housing Type

92% are residing in public housing estates, whereas 8% live in private rental housing

The families in private rental housing are located in outlying villages; far from the town centre and mass public transport. Based on home visit observations, The Zubin Foundation estimate that the majority of the private rental housing was subdivided into flats or rooms for different families

Social Security

Almost three-quarters of households (72%) received Comprehensive Social Security Allowance (CSSA)

Before the pandemic, many ethnic minorities in Tung Chung worked in the airport which was geographically convenient, as well as in hospitality and catering Our project started in 2021 during Covid-19, when lay offs had taken place in the airport, catering and construction industries, impacting many of Hong Kong's low-paid ethnic minorities in Tung Chung Unemployment explains the high percentage of EM families receiving social security; however, the respondents shared that CSSA is insufficient to feed their families.

NEEDS OF ETHNIC MINORITY COMMUNITY IN

Overview of EM's Needs in Tung Chung

The colour bars shown below illustrate the key needs raised by the families during engagements. The larger the size of the bar, the greater the level of concern raised by the families

44%

Need for Money for Food

Over half of respondents (55%) said they require financial support, in particular to pay for food. Respondents also share that there are not many choices for them from wet markets and supermarkets in Tung Chung because of:

Higher price of food in Tung Chung compared to other districts

Limited Halal food options in Tung Chung which means that families have to travel outside the district, resulting in travel costs as well

Need for Educational Support outside of School

44% of respondents share they would like educational support outside of school for their children (i.e. tutorial classes), in particular for Chinese, science and mathematics. Respondents shared that they require additional support because:

There are limited slots available in existing tutorial classes provided by NGOs in Tung Chung

Private tuition is unaffordable

In school, students at different levels of Chinese competency are grouped together making learning difficult

Need for Chinese Language Support outside of School

About half (49%) of respondents shared that they would like to receive Chinese language support outside of school for their children Frequently requested focuses for tutorial classes included:

Chinese reading

Chinese writing

Cantonese and Putonghua speaking

22%

Need for Well-being & Emotional Support

22% of respondents shared that they need well-being and emotional support, such as counselling and psychiatric services because of:

Conflict with parents or children

Marital conflict

Adjustment problems to changes in their living arrangements (having a baby, having other family members move in, spouse stranded in another country because of Covid restrictions). Financial problems (no income, high daily expenses, loan repayment, sudden medical expenses) Self-harm tendencies

8% 7% 5%

Need for Children’s Mental Health Support Need for SEN Children Need for Women's Social Network

8% of respondents shared that their children need mental health support Main issues described include:

Children avoid socialising with other children

Device addiction

7% of respondents shared that they wish to get additional support for children with special educational needs (SEN)

5% of respondents shared that they would like to expand their social network, meet other ethnic minority women in the district, and participate in activities with other women

Kainat's Family: Unfortunate Circumstances

Kainat (alias) mother of 4 is physically and mentally unwell. Her husband left the family four years ago, moved to Pakistan, married another woman and started another family. He gives no support to the family in Hong Kong Their older daughter, 25, is a teacher assistant, and the older son, 24, works as an office clerk Their younger son, 20, used to work as a delivery boy before he had a work-related injury which has left him paralysed It has been more than a year now and he is still not able to walk and is depressed Their younger daughter, 18, stopped going to university in order to work part time and save for the university fees

The family has borrowed money in order to pay for special therapies in the private sector for their younger son, given the long waiting time in the public hospital. The family is in debt

THE ZUBIN FOUNDATION'S SUPPORT

Food Support

Care box

South Asian store coupons

Emotional Support

Counselling service for the mother

Rajia's Family: Progress Made

Rajia (alias) is in her mid-40s with 4 children under 18 years of age. She married a Hong Kong Pakistani man and came to Hong Kong 16 years ago from Pakistan She lives in public housing in Tung Chung The first time The Zubin Foundation met her, she was emotionally and mentally distraught Her relationship with her husband was bad He did not live with the family anymore and provided no support. The family was dependent on CSSA. She was depressed and was on anti-depressants. Although the hospital offered her counselling, she did not take it because she did not feel she would be able to communicate through a translator effectively

We referred her to The Zubin Foundation’s Ethnic Minority Well-being Centre for free counselling She started counselling in October 2021 and completed 10 sessions She is doing much better now and does not feel the need to take anti-depressants She has recently started to work part-time Her children are doing well and are receiving free tutoring referred by The Zubin Foundation.

THE ZUBIN FOUNDATION'S SUPPORT

Food Support

Care box

South Asian store coupons

Financial Empowerment

Work from home opportunity

Emotional Support

Counselling service

Education

Two children now receive free tutoring through referrals from The Zubin Foundation

Wheelchair of Kainat's Son

Rajia's home-made lunch on the home visit day

OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

PUBLIC FACILITIES FOR EM

Despite a high percentage of EMs living in Tung Chung, the local facilities are insufficient to cater to the needs of a multicultural neighbourhood There is a:

Lack of Indian, Pakistani and Nepali grocery stores in the public housing part of Tung Chung. There is only one small vendor in the wet market

Lack of playgrounds

EDUCATION

Many EM primary and secondary students in Tung Chung choose to study nearby, rather than attend a school in another district Therefore, the schools in Tung Chung are serving a multicultural pool of pupils However, based on our findings from families, there are cases of discrimination towards EM students, and some schools are not equipped to support parents from a non-Chinese background. We recommend:

Schools and NGOs to have front-line ethnic-Chinese staff undertake cultural sensitivity training to understand more about the EM community

Schools to have school materials (e g reply slips) and parent-teacher meetings conducted in both English and Cantonese.

Schools to have enhance inclusive attitudes through school wide activities, celebrations of cultural days, learning about different cultures etc

Education support outside of school, in particular Chinese reading and writing, is not enough in Tung Chung because of high demand from the EM community.

District-based NGOs and others to allocate resources to provide subsidised after-school tutorial classes and explore virtual tutorial classes

NGOs to encourage parents to take Chinese language classes so they can also support their children.

SOCIAL NETWORKS, JOBS AND ACTIVITIES FOR WOMEN

Based on home visits and check-in calls, stress level of many homemakers was high during the pandemic as family members were at home They did not have have sufficient time for relaxation and socialising With the pandemic situation under control and children back at school, women shared that they are keen to get jobs We recommend:

NGOs to provide opportunities to up skill EM women.

Employers to offer flexible part-time / work-from-home / freelance roles to the EM women

MENTAL HEALTH

Many ethnic minority women want mental health support but language barriers and the lack cultural sensitivity stop them from reaching out to medical practitioners and local NGOs Some are not comfortable talking to mental health practitioners as they don't see the need for 'counselling' even though symptoms are shown during engagements We recommend:

Schools and NGOs to have front-line staff (both ethnic-Chinese and ethnic minorities) undergo mental health first-aid training to identify problems in the EM community and acquire knowledge on how to react professionally when the service user is sharing mental health issues

Schools and NGOs to normalise and de-stigmatise the conversation surrounding mental health.

The Zubin Foundation is a registered charity in Hong Kong (IR 91/12344), named after Zubin Mahtani Gidumal We aim at improving the lives of Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities by reducing suffering and providing opportunities We do this by outreach in the community and driving systemic change

The Zubin Foundation relies on donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations to fund its work For more information, please visit: www zubinfoundation org