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Chinese in Britain - Advancing Social Cohesion |
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Viewpoints
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Saturday, 13 October 2007 |
With the season of conferences of the main political parties over and the fever of a snap general election extinguished by the Prime Minister, I have had time to reflect on the future of the Chinese community in Britain.
The Chinese presence in British cities seems to be noticeably increasing of late, but more significantly, this appears to be due to greater influx of Chinese from mainland China, compared with those who are of Commonwealth origins and those who are born here.
The globalisation of migratory pressures has seen both positive and negative impacts on Britain and elsewhere. Of the latter variety, the rise of indigenous and importation of Islamic fundamentalism have focussed the attention of the British people on the destabilising aspects of immigration and of multiracialism.
Thankfully and much to the credit of our Chinese community, we have never been involved in anything of such a scale, and I am confident we will never be found wanting in doing everything required of us to preserve the good order of society here. In particular, we pride ourselves in being hard-working and law-abiding, and our children are consistently held up as exemplars of educational achievement. Indeed, the more recent Chinese entrants are largely students, professionals and workers, all of whom are net contributors to the British society.
I myself arrived in Britain from Malaysia some thirty-five years ago. In that time, I read medicine and law, married and now have three children. But for the burgeoning difficulties in the NHS, I would have been quite contented to continue dedicating my life to my vocation. Rising to the challenge, I sought solutions in politics.
But there is more to politics than health, although it would seem to be a natural progression. Becoming involved in politics has made me aware of my own personal background. At the last General Election, media crews showed interest in my campaign in Bradford, not so much from a party perspective, but from that of a Chinese candidate.
To me, that media interest epitomises the belief that the Chinese community in Britain has reached a historically critical point in their citizenship. Various dignitaries in the Chinese community I have spoken with, notably Miss Christine Lee, Mr Lee Kam Yee, Mr Edmond Yeo and Mr Ng Heng, all share my view that we now need to progress beyond having only surrogate parliamentary representation.
A substantial, direct and credible Chinese participation in the political arena of British society is, I believe, overdue. Let's awaken ourselves to this new endeavour!
© Dr. T K Khong
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Viewpoints 
