1 March 2002
Wong Yew Yun

A recent article published in the Financial Times titled 'Ethnic minorities lose out on promotion despite their qualifications, study finds', date of publication 20 Feb 2002, states that "Britons of Indian extraction are paid less and find it harder to win promotion than their white colleagues even though they have better educational qualifications, according to a government study. ...The report paints an even bleaker picture for people of African, Caribbean, Pakistani and Bangladeshi extraction. They appeared to have great difficulty breaking into managerial and professional jobs, regardless of their qualifications or social class."

The article did not mention the Chinese minority group. I wonder how many Chinese people reading this article felt that they have been overlooked. I feel that the Chinese in the UK are in danger of being treated as an invisible group due to our demographic size. We may not be the largest minority group in the UK but make no mistake, we contribute substantially to the British society. Does anybody have an idea how much wealth (in terms of GDP) an area like London Chinatown generates every year for the country? Not to mention the foreign currencies earned from feeding tourists year after year.

It will not surprise me at all, if a similar study is done on the Chinese in the UK, we find ourselves in a similar position as the 'Britons of Indian extraction'. The only issue here is the degree of discrimination and the transparency of it. Some of you may have already experienced discrimination. UK Chinese do not need to feel inferior or discouraged if they find themselves discriminated at any level. We have a place in this country. We have worked hard. We have earned our place here.

The common absurdity are white Britons feeling threatened by the city's multiculturalism, preferring to live in predominantly white sub-urban areas at the cost of long-hours commuting into London for work. It seems to me that these people come into the city to 'grab' as much as they can, and then scrambled out of the place at 5.30 pm; but at work they have no genuine interest in establishing inclusive social and professional relationships with their ethnic colleagues. This is a sad sight.

True, nobody should be discriminated anywhere. But with London being so multicultural, any kind of discrimination within the city is a fairly ridiculous affair.

You can read the article 'Ethnic minorities lose out on promotion despite their qualifications, study finds' at http://www.ft.com/uk.