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Foreign devils: Gweilos behaving badly

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In an open letter to a gwai poh he collided with in a DB 7-Eleven, Peter Sherwood expresses his disgust with everyday racism.

Rarely is it I venture into a 7-Eleven, and not because I’m a closet snob or because I don’t find convenience stores convenient. It’s just that I have an aversion to the vacuous 21st century pastime of recreational shopping. Even a trip to the supermarket fills me with dread. So when I found myself queuing in a DB 7-Eleven one Sunday afternoon it took me a few seconds to remember what the hell I was doing there, and a few minutes more to wish I’d never bothered. Then, shazam! You came along, and like Clint Eastwood in a Dirty Harry movie you made my day.

You started arguing with the staff as a long queue formed behind you. You were oblivious to the disruption you caused, happy to make everyone wait as your voice turned to roaring condescension. The staff were unable to fulfil your needs, so you berated them until they cowered behind the counter. You demanded to see the manager and a Chinese man half your size appeared. He looked visibly shaken and in fear for his job as you continued your blitzkrieg, while throwing pejoratives his way.

Forty years in Hong Kong and I have witnessed this aggression before from we expats, but thankfully not a lot. So I left my place in the queue and intervened, asking if you would speak like that to people in your own country. You said you would: “If they were stupid.” (This I seriously doubt – if any of us behaved like this back home we would get our rear ends kicked, and deserve it.) I let slip a pejorative or two of my own, which is naturally not like me at all. And you responded in kind, ending with: “You are a nobody!”

Racism is endemic

Madam, you may be right. But I have news for you. I am somebody enough to take you to task. If you don’t see this article, I’m sure friends and acquaintances will, and they will recognise you. There’s scarce chance that this was the first time you’ve been patronisingly rude to local people. We are who we are 24 hours a day after all.

The racists among us persist with their pathetic manipulation because they know very well, based on results, that they will get away with it. Expats don’t pay a price for their belligerence and discourtesy – local people just suck it up. In Chinese culture, it’s harmony at any price. And so gweilos can go about their bullying, and after doing it so often, become confident in their aggression and pompous superiority.

After four happy decades among Hong Kong people, and with two adopted Chinese children, I’ve had it with the likes of you. Should you see this article, you may want to make a few copies to send proudly to family back home. But I don’t think
you will.


Peter Sherwood has lived in DB for 18 years. The former head of an international public relations firm, Peter
is the author of 15 books and he has written around 400 satirical columns for the South China Morning Post.

Image: wikimedia.org

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