Ethnic minorities integral to HK

November 18, 2018

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung: 
Given the diverse needs of our ethnic minority communities, the Hong Kong SAR Government has set up a Steering Committee on Ethnic Minorities Affairs, chaired by myself as the Chief Secretary, to enhance cross-bureau collaboration and announced a series of new measures to strengthen support for ethnic minorities. 
To help our ethnic minority groups to integrate into society, breaking the language barrier is the key to success. To this end, the Education Bureau will provide more funding to schools admitting non-Chinese speaking students to support their learning, particularly Chinese language. 
The Labour Department will also enhance support for ethnic minority jobseekers through a case management approach to help them move up the social ladder. The Social Welfare Department, for example, will commission non-governmental organisations like ISS, the NGOs, to proactively, I use the word proactively, reach out to the needy and connect them to mainstream welfare services and also to ensure upgrading (of) their skills. The Home Affairs Department will enhance the services of its support service centres, including interpretation and translation services, and organise more district-based activities to encourage interaction and exchange between ethnic minorities and the local community.

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung

Currently, the HKSAR Government has commissioned International Social Service (ISS) Hong Kong to operate a number of programmes for new arrivals from the Mainland and ethnic minorities. For example, the Home Affairs Department has commissioned ISS Hong Kong to operate a support service centre for ethnic minorities, a mobile information service team at the airport and ambassador schemes for ethnic minority families and youths, as well as expectation management programmes for prospective migrants from the Mainland. We thank ISS for being a long-standing staunch supporter of the Government in this respect and provide services to over 40,000 new arrivals from the Mainland and 160,000 ethnic minorities each year.

Hong Kong is a multicultural city where people from all over the world are welcomed with open arms. Vibrant ethnic minority communities form an integral part of the Hong Kong community. While we may be of different ethnicity, speak different languages or have different traditions, we all call Hong Kong home and work tirelessly to make it a better place to live, work and nurture our future generations.

Given the diverse needs of our ethnic minority communities, the HKSAR Government has set up a Steering Committee on Ethnic Minorities Affairs, chaired by myself as the Chief Secretary, to enhance cross-bureau collaboration and announced a series of new measures to strengthen support for ethnic minorities. To help our ethnic minority groups to integrate into society, breaking the language barrier is the key to success. To this end, the Education Bureau will provide more funding to schools admitting non-Chinese speaking students to support their learning, particularly the Chinese language. The Labour Department will enhance support for ethnic minority jobseekers through a case management approach to help them move up the social ladder. The Social Welfare Department will commission non-governmental organisations like International Social Service Hong Kong to proactively reach out to the needy and connect them to mainstream welfare services. The Home Affairs Department will enhance the services of its support service centres, including interpretation and translation services, and organise more district-based activities to encourage interaction and exchange between the ethnic minorities and local communities.

I have cited all these examples in order to demonstrate the Government's determination and commitment in creating an equal and caring society in Hong Kong. We also count on the support of District Councils and non-governmental organisations to connect the stakeholders and maintain momentum in the community.

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung gave these remarks at the International Social Service Hong Kong Branch’s 60th Anniversary presents: Guinness World Records Attempt: Most Nationalities in a Tai Chi Class on November 18.