Comparing Asian Nationalities | Asian American Poll

COMPARING ASIAN NATIONALITIES
(Updated Wednesday, Jan 22, 2025, 06:39:09 AM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

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WHAT YOU SAY

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To ABC and AC Dropout,

I think if the British never held HK, she would have been a place of tension and fighting among the different groups of Chinese instead of this city of commerce and international trade.

Some Chinese think that the British were oppressors and took Hong Kong through manipulation of the Southern Chinese during the Opium war. This in fact might have been the case. However, I think the British somewhat acted out in goodness by imposing HK as a commercial area. Most modern day Chinese in HK have abandon their old provincial ways of categorizing and dividing the different group of Chinese. Although Cantonese is the dominant dialect in HK, and anyone who doesn't speak Cantonese might be discriminated or disrespected, most HK Chinese don't fret over on which group of Chinese are the most superior nor do they ask people what part of China do they hail from. I think the money-oriented society of HK has allowed the Chinese to put their differences aside. Take a look at other modern day Asian countries with a substantial population of overseas Chinese such as Singapore and Malaysia. Chinese people are very divisive in these areas and each group hold on to their clannish ways. You could even say that they are downright racist. For example, Singapore's ex prime minister Lee Kuan Yew was a notable intellectual racist, he was always preoccupied with his Hakka identity and wrote articles on why certain ethnic groups are more intelligent than others.

Before HK was controlled by the British, the land was somewhat desolate. The Cantonese were the intial group of Chinese to settle there. The Cantonese called themselves "aborigines or natives of the heavenly earth". Then another group settle in HK as well, and they were called the Hakkas "strangers, guests". Since all the best land were taken up by the native Cantonese, the Hakkas had to settle in less desirable areas. There were tensions between these 2 groups as they cross each other paths. The third group of Chinese to make HK their home were the sea faring Hoklos or what we call the modern day Teocheows, and to a certain extent, the native Taiwanese. They make up a smaller percentage of the HK Chinese when compared to the Cantonese or Hakkas.

Strangely, the British recognized and exploited the chracters and manners of these 3 different groups of Chinese and incited hatred between them so they would eventually take hold of HK. The Cantonese were known to be intelligent, cunning, opportunistic and untrustworthy. The Hakkas were good natured, law abiding, less intelligent than the Cantonese, and industrious. The Hoklos were known for their ferocity and courage as sea pirates, they were bolder than the Cantonese and Hakkas and that helped the British smuggle large amounts of opium through the sea.

Currently I am trying to gather books and a wealth of information regarding the conflicts of the SOuthern Chinese for my own personal enrichment. I believe the past conflicts of the Chinese have caused this large diaspora of Overseas Chinese to many parts of the world which would ultimately shape the economy and identity of China.

Chinese are never united Wednesday, January 02, 2002 at 21:37:52 (PST)

Joe Next Door:
There was once a time when nobody had a problem with Blacks. Africans traded with EVERYONE, traveled, & even mixed with others with no troubles. In recent history (okay about 200 years), Blacks have been defamed. For what, no one will ever know. I just find it sad that a lot of people will just ignore/deny/hate one part of their history & blow up the other as if it is the greatest thing in the world! We (the whole world) are more alike than we care to admit.
AsioPhile 81 Wednesday, January 02, 2002 at 20:20:37 (PST)

George,

“Your definitions and labeling of 5 races is not so clear cut. There is much heterogenous genetics”

This is very true. And that is the also the reason I added the following comment in my post; “Anything apart from these five is a mix of two or more of them, for example Indians from the Indian Sub-Continent.”

More examples would be Malays (primary Mongoloid with some Australoid admix), Australoids (Caucasoid, Ethiopian and Mongoloid admix at varying degrees), Middle Easterners (primary Caucasoid, with some Ethiopian and Mongoloid admix) Slavs (primary Caucasoid with some Mongoloid admixture), Hungarians (primary Caucasoid with Mongoloid), Hispanics (Caucasoid and Amerindian at varying degrees).

All the above mentioned don’t fit neatly into any of the 5 race mould. And this 5 race mould has become cloudier and cloudier, and to some extent even futile in its employment due to the trends of modern humans to interbreed. Earlier in history, interbreeding was not as common due to regional isolation caused by natural barriers such a mountains and rivers, oceans, etc. These, however, have been overcome by modern transport and now ever more because of globalism.
The differences these five races once had will diminish in futures human populations, and this will be experienced most where immigration patterns are highest and it will be experienced least at locations from where mass waves of immigrants depart from. Immigration has been significantly high in Europe, North America, Latin America and Australia and the faces of these populations will change in time to blend in with the populations from which migrants have come from, hopefully for the better.
Walking Talking Library Wednesday, January 02, 2002 at 18:39:57 (PST)

Joe next door
You fool, just because some little monkey started to walk upright in Africa (so far as we know, until the next scientific breakthrough)we are all African? What great exchanges have taken place between the Asian and African cultures? Not very much.
Most great civilzations were developed in Asia (inclding Middle east)and Europe.
I find it very amusing that alot of blacks like to talk about Africa but know very little about it.
Ignorance is bliss Wednesday, January 02, 2002 at 17:49:38 (PST)

motherland:
white people and most Asians will never admit that their ancestors are from Africa !
It's just something they can not get past !
joe next door Wednesday, January 02, 2002 at 07:31:04 (PST)

does anyone ever wonder what hong kong would be like today if the british never held it?
ABC Sunday, December 30, 2001 at 21:50:45 (PST)

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