| MP candidates are urged to address key issues facing the Chinese living in Britain |
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| Sunday, 18 April 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The grand launch of the first ever British Chinese manifesto last week at the House of Commons appeared the type of occasion the western press often dismiss as symbolic but insubstantial. But knowing the humble culture of the Chinese and its 150 years of "silent" history in Britain, I'd argue that it is a milestone in our path towards social recognition and integration. Copies of the 27-page manifesto were presented by Gary Li, President of the Confederation of Chinese Association and Christine Lee, founder of the BC Project, to MPs from UK's three biggest parties. By accepting the manifesto, they implicitly acknowledged on behalf of their parties that British Chinese have their specific needs which ought to be addressed. The BC Project team subsequently posted more than 1000 copies of the manifesto to key parliamentary candidates urging them to take the Chinese community into consideration when drafting policies for the upcoming election. "The Chinese community traditionally is reluctant to seek help, which gave politicians the incorrect impression that their needs are met. The purpose of having a manifesto is to help policy makers understand the issues British Chinese face and how they may be addressed", said Christine. The idea of creating a manifesto was first suggested by Lord Dholakia to Christine 5 years ago when she campaigned against the Immigration Asylum and Nationality bill. She said, "Lord Dholakia asked me, how can the Chinese community have a say in policies that directly concern them if they do not have a manifesto?" This question inspired Christine to subsequently found the BC Project (Integration of British Chinese into Politics') in 2006. To be able to speak to British Chinese across the country and compile their stories, views, opinions and needs into one document alongside her dedicated team in the last six weeks, and finally present it in Parliament in Lord Dholakia's presence, Christine has come a long way. The manifesto itself is divided into 11 chapters, clearly highlighting the concerns of British Chinese, (including funding for Chinese community associations, racism, support for the elderly, Chinese catering industry, health and integration), which are supported with sound and logical justifications explaining the historical and political reasons that created these problems. For example, the Chinese catering industry is threatened because UK's latest immigration rule changes have made restaurants unable to get enough migrant workers. And because of Chinese cuisine's complexity, restaurants are reluctant to substitute western workers who are unfamiliar with the Chinese work culture. Overall, the manifesto demonstrated in-depth research, clear insight and accurate judgement regarding the characteristics and needs of the Chinese community. During the launch, the comment "the Chinese community is indeed modest for asking so little in their manifesto" became a common line across several key speeches. Indeed, the tone of the manifesto is suggestive and confident, not forceful nor compelling. For example, after acknowledging health as a problem in the community, the manifesto reads, "There is much talk of setting up a regulatory system for practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the Chinese community believes that they should be involved in consultations for this." While this suggestion is an ingenious way to accelerate the Chinese community's integration into mainstream society, its reasonableness and politeness gave the impression of modesty. No wonder China brands itself with "soft power". "I hope our manifesto demonstrates our community's difference and uniqueness", Joseph Wu, Election Campaign Manager of BC Project, offered his perspective on this modesty, "although we are the third biggest ethnic minority group in Britain, we have a much shorter immigration history. We don't ask much but we ask to have a say in policies that affect us." Since the BC Project's founding its team consisting entirely of volunteers has increased to 500 members. "Juggling BC Project and my radio job is intense", admits Joseph, "but I am proud to make a difference to the Chinese community especially at a time of historical watershed when we had no Chinese MPs before but may potentially have 8 in two weeks' time!" Since 2008, BC Project has cooperated with many local Chinese associations to conduct the Get Active campaign, which sent a wide network of volunteers into all the hard-to-reach corners of the British Chinese community and helped them register to vote. Consequently, a sense of collectivism tightened around the historically dispersed British Chinese population and also the manifesto was able to include the voices of many marginalised members of society who do not traditionally involve themselves in political lobbying. Currently 30% of Chinese in UK eligible to vote have not registered compared to the overall figure of 8% - a shocking fact that Christine and Joseph's team is trying to change. Does the fact that more Chinese are voting lead to policy changes? Some suspect no because electoral registration does not ask for ethnicity information and to check voter's names against ethnicities from census information is simply too resource draining to do. But Joseph has his answer ready, "when people have voted, they have a sense of commitment in society. This allows them to speak up regarding issues that affect them, and over time they will be heard." The manifesto launch ceremony ended amidst memorable camera flashes from a large crowd of journalists working for Chinese publications, whom Joseph addressed as "our media friends". But I noticed that no British press believed this story worthwhile covering. "I understand", replied Joseph to my rather embarrassing question, "but until the British public recognise the key role Chinese play in this country, we'll never get extensive press coverage." In time, things will change. And the British Chinese manifesto will be an important first step.
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