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Does the concept of diversity really resonate with what you consider it to be ? 

 

When you first think about applying to a higher educational institution outside of your home country, the few things that make you feel anxious and excited are the diversity, cultural inclusivity and the fact that you will get to meet, connect and grow with people from different cultures for the next four years of your life. This prospect acts as a huge catalyst in helping you make the decision(s) while choosing said higher educational institution. The diversification of the campus infrastructure and life by the management is also a major marketing criteria for universities to make their institution an attractive option for potential students, one which surely attracted me given that I am a part of HKU at the present moment. But the reality may not be the same when it comes to actually experiencing the over-glorified idea of diversity. 

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Even though on paper, 30 to 40 % of the student body at HKU consists of international students (excluding students from the Mainland), the overlapping of this so-called diversity in reality is very bleak. Objectively speaking, this spectrum of cultural representation exceeds expectations, the actual internationalization on the fundamental level just remains on that very paper, at least for the most part as exceptions always exist. But for a new student, you might argue that the things that I have to say about this topic are inaccurate or false as, to someone outside of or new to the HKU family, you might see a lot of people from different countries and cultures.

 

 

To make it easier for you to understand what I mean when I say that this internationalization is only on the surface, a good analogy to explain this would be to use a few of my past experiences that I and people I know have had. In the beginning, when everyone is new and everyone has that energy to put in effort to get to know people, acquaintances are formed. As time passes by, people begin to drift apart but remain attached to others of the same or similar culture and lose the ability to maintain or add onto the effort to get to know people from other cultures and regions. This is the case with most places on the planet. So what is it that makes it exceedingly hard at HKU? 

 

It's the lack of implicit inclusivity. According to me there are three major factors, even though all of them kind of revolve around the language barrier issue, that contribute to this. Firstly, unlike most places that students chose to go to attend an international university(United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia etc.), the main language of communication here in Hong Kong is Cantonese and even Mandarin to some extent. People speak English only if they absolutely need to, which makes it harder to get closer to the locals. 

 

The previous point talks about the language barrier between locals and international students but what about the communication gap between one group of international students and another. This has a lot to do with today’s underlying social structure and the fact that the times have made our brains hardwired to be highly opinionated. We as individuals choose to stick with people that we have been familiar with our entire lives even when we attempt to get to know others, kind of like a social safety net. We have become too judgemental  towards people because of the way they look, the “vibe” they give out etc. due to which we sometimes walk into a conversation with a pre made mind as to how we intend on reacting. 

 

The above mentioned social constructs lead to the formation of virtual walls where we tend not to accept or appreciate someone just because we don’t agree with the other’s opinions or like what they have to say. Again contrary to my previous statement this is an opinion I have because of my past experiences either directly or indirectly, feel free to disagree. 

 

To add to the three major factors, the second one might be the closure of the HKUSU towards non-Cantonese speaking individuals. One of the most valuable memories and experiences people have of university life is that of their fraternity, club or student bodies. This is where most of the bonds and relationships are formed. Unfortunately for the students of HKU this pot of memories and experiences is VIP(Cantonese speakers)only. Other than this, clubs or bodies at HKU are either too dominated by another cultural group or aren't as active as the HKUSU. 

 

Lastly, the lack of initiative by the upper management to change this situation. Most universities  have events such as mixers or annual gatherings which are informal and give students the opportunity to explore social opportunities. Every activity at HKU is either very formal or dominated by students of a particular culture that it becomes very intimidating for others to feel welcome and very easy to feel out of place. These steps need to be taken right from the beginning and at regular intervals so that students don’t lose their social strengths and eventually give into social anxiety which has put us in this situation in the first place. 

 

To conclude I would like to clarify that the issue of pseudo diversity at the campus of HKU is in no shape or form a consequence of the lack of effort made by the students themselves. It’s the lack of explicit and “meet new people” intensive means which just fail to provide everybody with the same levels of opportunity to channelise their social efforts.  

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