[nation]

Is expat as defined in HK (people from UK, US, Canada residing in HK) coined by HK locals or by the expats themselves?

I read in the SCMP the "expats" getting on the pollution bandwagon sited that if HK doesn't do anything about the pollution problem then less expats will come here. They also commented on various statistics showing "expat" numbers have already dwindled but of course only included those expats that count in their definition of expat. The subtext of their argument of course being without us expats HK will be a rice farming island.

[kirlex]

I define an expat in 2 ways:

1. Goes to another country for work reasons, or is the spouse of someone who working, with the intention of returning home one day. This means you are on a temporary contract for a couple of years.

2. An immigrant who does not learn the native tongue and does not try to integrate into the community. They tend to congregate and live in little communities.

I myself consider myself to be an immigrant because I moved from Canada to be with my girlfriend (who is local HK) and am trying to learn the language and want to live here indefinetely. Yet still some people consider me to be an expatriate.So I guess some people prefer to be called expatriate because the word immigrant has a stigma attached to it.

[Laughing_Monkey]

Originally Posted by nation

Is expat as defined in HK (people from UK, US, Canada residing in HK) coined by HK locals or by the expats themselves?

Hmmm... I think what your driving at here is that those evil westerns dont consider Chinese immigrants as expats isnt it? Well, seeing as Hong Kong is part of the People's Republic of China that would be correct. You cannot be an expat in the country you live in.

its from the latin - expatria - patria meaning ‘native country’.

So if your someone living outside of your native country your an expatriate.

That said the vaste majority of FDI in the PRC comes from HK, and it is considered a seperate entity in regard to a lot of things. But HK is not a political power, its not a country, and so its not somewhere people from the PRC can be considered expatriates.

As for the way the 'expat community' define expats, that prob depends of what expat community you talk to... For the most part i'd assume people will consider other people with similar cultural backgrounds as part of their 'expat community'

[nation]

Yeah good point on the PRC. I've always viewed them as immigrants and vica versa of HKers in China. As to the view of what is an Expat in HK I see it as both sides (local HKers and the Westerners) falling into the trap of classing only Westerners as Expats.

Kirlex seems to have hit the defintion pretty well and explains the prevalence of the word expat in the Asian region rather than in say North America. It's safe to say the majority of Westerners moving to the Asian region are doing so for the temporary career thing. The movement of foreigners to North America has traditionally been for the long term future of a better life in a Western country. Good to see though more locals nowadays are seeing the benefits of coming back to region unlike our parents who wouldn't come back to Asia no matter what you paid them.

[coolgirl]

Originally Posted by TaLL|dUdE

fyi: it's Filipino the nationality
and Philippines the country.

hehe, Mabuhay ang Pilipinas

[Dur]

thx for the replys. I'm planning on taking few months off from school and head back to hong kong to learn some chinese. I can speak pretty fluently but need to learn to write. I moved to US when i was 7, left hong kong after 2nd grade. Planning on staying with my aunts right now since my cousins room is vacant cuz he just moved out. Im hoping to leave around july. So itll be a great experience hopefully.

any suggestion on places to learn chinese? maybe a city university? i was lurking around the site and found http://www.hkllc.com/ . is it any good? any recommendations? thanks for the help in advance lol