Historical Analysis of Islamic Community Development in Hong Kong: Struggle for Recognition in the Post-colonial Era

Danish cartoon controversy in the Chinese context: transnational Islam and public visibility of Hong Kong Muslims

“…In response to the debates about the Danish caricatures and their eastward movement to Indonesia in Southeast Asia, the Muslims in Hong Kong, however, did stand in solidarity with the global Ummah's rally to condemn the cartoons. In contrast to the low public visibility and perceived political apathy of Hong Kong Muslims in the past, as narrated by Mr. Mohamed Alli Din, a famous local Muslim activist and Chairperson of United Muslim Association of Hong Kong (Ho 2001(Ho , 2004, the Islamic emergence in the Hong Kong public arena is significant enough to deserve further research. Preparing such an active stance, Muslims in Hong Kong initiated an unusual and symbolic appealthe first public demonstrations since the protest about the 1989 Rushdie Affair.…”

“…Facing the crossroads of 1997, Hong Kong transitioned from being a former British colony to becoming a postcolonial Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. Under the guardianship of the socialist regime of China, the local Muslim minorities have been struggling for social recognition from a postcolonial Hong Kong (Ho 2001(Ho , 2002, as the ethnic Indian and Pakistani Muslims expressed anxiety that the social rights granted in the colonial past would no longer exist under the Chinese rule. Though claiming to be a global city with international horizons and mentality, many recent studies show that racial discrimination is still widespread against South Asians, with their social rights being ignored and some of their basic needs, such as education, not highly prioritized in Hong Kong (Ku 2006;Heung 2006;Ho 2001).…”

“…Under the guardianship of the socialist regime of China, the local Muslim minorities have been struggling for social recognition from a postcolonial Hong Kong (Ho 2001(Ho , 2002, as the ethnic Indian and Pakistani Muslims expressed anxiety that the social rights granted in the colonial past would no longer exist under the Chinese rule. Though claiming to be a global city with international horizons and mentality, many recent studies show that racial discrimination is still widespread against South Asians, with their social rights being ignored and some of their basic needs, such as education, not highly prioritized in Hong Kong (Ku 2006;Heung 2006;Ho 2001). Historically, many descendents of the ethnic minorities living in Hong Kong came from South Asia due to the British colonial policy and they have Muslim family backgrounds (Ho 2001(Ho , 2004.…”

“…Though claiming to be a global city with international horizons and mentality, many recent studies show that racial discrimination is still widespread against South Asians, with their social rights being ignored and some of their basic needs, such as education, not highly prioritized in Hong Kong (Ku 2006;Heung 2006;Ho 2001). Historically, many descendents of the ethnic minorities living in Hong Kong came from South Asia due to the British colonial policy and they have Muslim family backgrounds (Ho 2001(Ho , 2004. Even though a Muslim community and other non-Chinese communities have been living in Hong Kong for generations, their presences are seemingly regarded as 'invisible' (Lo 2007;Ho 2002).…”

Becoming different while becoming the same: Re-territorializing Islamic identities with multi-ethnic practices in Hong Kong

“…In addition to interviews and participant observation, it is an important primary source of information for this analysis. 1 Sunnis and Shi'ites from India have settled in Hong Kong since 1841, when the island came under British control (Vaid 1972;Thoraval 1988;Weiss 1991;Bard 1993;Sinclair 1994;Tang and Tian 1995;White 1995;Tang 1996;Plü ss 1999Plü ss , 2000Ho 2001). These Sunnis were traders, clerks, contractors, soldiers or policemen.…”