As the saying goes, "when you leave your homeland, you lose your worth."
A Hong Kong migrant in the UK took to social media to vent bitterly, "I've been constantly exploited in this job for two years."
They said they've been pushed around: colleagues get unlimited break times, while they themselves are always the ones left to take the blame. But because their English is limited, they had to rely on AI to draft a complaint email to HR. They also said that from now on, they will "let go of the Hong Kong way of doing things," so as not to end up ruining themselves.
The migrant posted in the Facebook group "UK Hongkongers Work Support Group" to share their work experience locally. They said they had always approached their job with the attitude of "not bringing shame to Hong Kong people," yet in the end, they kept being taken advantage of.
"I've been in this job for two years and have constantly been exploited. Because I'm the only Asian and a Hongkonger, I just wanted to do a good job and not disgrace the Hong Kong people. As a result, I never stopped working, while colleagues get unlimited breaks, a full hour for breakfast, and whenever something goes wrong, they dump the blame on me because basically, I'm the one doing all the work."
The migrant decided to fight back, but since their English is not good, they could only turn to AI for help. "I sent an email and even had a meeting with HR – it wasn't too difficult. Thankfully, there's AI. Just because my English isn't good doesn't mean I have to suffer in silence."
The migrant said that after this incident, they realized it was time to let go of the Hong Kong mindset. "The burdens of 'not bringing shame to Hong Kong people,' 'not fearing doing more or less,' and 'performing to show off' as well as the notion of 'perfectly demonstrating independent ability' need to be dropped."
The migrant also said that "Whatever you do, never just say 'okay!' and then struggle on your own to get it done," because colleagues from other races don't care. "They won't feel embarrassed that you've done so much, nor will they feel guilty. There's no shame in their dictionary! So the most important thing is to stay alert and demand fairness."
Some netizens commented, directly blaming Hong Kong people for their own misfortunes, "I hate it when people always use 'don't bring shame to Hong Kong people' as a motto. If you insist on taking on everything yourself, that's your own problem." "Working here means no responsibility – when work's over, it's over. Take it easy. They won't appreciate your efforts; don't be foolish." "Dignity will wear you out. They'll just think you're foolish, not grateful." "Working faster won't get you a pay rise, so don't try to prove yourself – you'll just be taken advantage of." "Trust me, in the UK, people are shameless with everyone – the more shameless, the more invincible you are."
Other netizens also shared their own miserable experiences as employees in the UK.
"When something goes wrong, whether you've done a good job or not, they'll immediately find all the Hongkongers to take the blame. Compared to other ethnic groups in the UK, the Hong Kong community is small and scattered, so it's easy to be bullied." "Like in my previous job – the whole factory had over a hundred people, with only 4–5 BN(O) holders, but they worked like crazy and took on work they weren't even responsible for. The white supervisor was delighted, of course, and wanted other white colleagues to help out as well, but they couldn't care less. This made the other white colleagues really resent the BN(O) holders. Looking at it from another angle, that's actually bringing shame to Hong Kong people."
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