Opinion | How learning Cantonese allowed me to fall in love with Hong Kong
- Learning Cantonese has helped me to surrender my ego, sense of entitlement and expectations of how Hong Kong is ‘supposed to be’
Adjusting to Hong Kong was more difficult than I imagined. The first two years went by too quickly, and my recollections are mostly of emotions.
I remember shame boiling over into angry hysterics over wet market stall operators who would wave me and my timid English orders off. Self-loathing when I couldn’t fix my shower drain without my partner on the speaker phone with the plumber. I once cried on the steps outside a post office after a postman showed his frustration after realising I didn’t speak Cantonese.
It might have nothing to do with language. If Hong Kong is a pressure cooker, the past few years have made life feel as if the valve is broken.
It doesn’t help that I am Korean, so I look like I would speak Cantonese. With every passing day, it felt like Hong Kong was telling me “you don’t belong here”.
It took me two years to sign up for a Cantonese course. Much of that time was spent searching for the right programme but also introspecting on what was causing these feelings of fear, anxiety, shame, anger and self-hatred. After sitting with these feelings for long enough, my grudges revealed their true self.
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Why do Hongkongers care so much about Cantonese?
