Opinion | Why Hong Kong was glad to see the back of ‘white coolies’

Late on the morning of Hong Kong’s first day under Chinese rule, following an evening of fireworks, pageantry and a torrential downpour, the streets were strangely quiet when I wandered out of my MacDonnnell Road apartment looking for a cab. It was like the entire city was sleeping off a hangover after an all-night bender.

I finally found a taxi driven by an elderly, white-haired driver who quickly started up conversation. Where was I from, he wanted to know. “America,” I told him. He smiled broadly, then said; “And you stayed!”

During 150 years under British control, Hong Kong went from a barren rock to a prosperous trading port to one of the world’s most prosperous and dynamic cities. The British who descended on the rock in an earlier era were adventurous seafarers, missionaries, taipans and more than a few opium dealers. By the time the territory was handed back to China, 20 years ago on July 1, a large chunk of the British expats still hanging on were unemployed or down-on-their-luck dead-enders in Britain who had decided to start over in the exotic East.

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For all the investment bankers, businessmen and consultants, there were thousands of others working in low-end jobs as bartenders and bouncers, construction workers, food deliverers, even shoeshine boys. Many were transients who came backpacking and bumming around Southeast Asia before taking advantage of visa-free entry and the right to work in one of Her Majesty’s last remaining crown colonies.