Video: Hong Kong's Version Of "Subway Spaghetti" Fight

In the wake of some optimistic NY lawmakers' proposed bill to ban food on subways, we thought we'd share the video that's been sparking tensions between Hong Kong residents and mainland Chinese visitors. While it's not as knockdown and drag-out as the infamous NYC subway spaghetti fight, it does get pretty tense—because Hong Kong's subway system, the MTR, prohibits food on its rather immaculate trains—and one Hong Kong rider gets upset at a Chinese girl who spilled some dry noodles on the train floor. The girl's mother says, it's not a big deal... and then all hell breaks loose.

Here's a description:

At the start of the video, a Hong Kong man demands an apology from the girl and her mother but the tourists refuse, saying it is not a big deal. Others then join in on both sides.

One of the Hongkongers presses the emergency button and notifies platform staff. An MTR employee tells the tourists they can't eat inside the train and a mainland woman says sorry in English. A Hong Kong man then says sarcastically: "Oh, she knows English".

A mainland woman tries to explain the situation to the MTR staff member but is interrupted by the Hongkongers as the quarrel resumes. At the end of the video, a Hong Kong man says: "No need to speak to them. That's what mainlanders are like."

Oh, no, he didn't! As Bloomberg News's Adam Minter points out, "Hong Kongers grew up accustomed to thinking of mainland Chinese as poor country cousins. A city proud of its British heritage is now part of a country that many Hong Kongers still perceive as an authoritarian, provincial backwater. It’s a quantifiable phenomenon: According to a December 2011 poll conducted by the Public Opinion Program at the University of Hong Kong, only 16.6 percent of Hong Kongers identify first as Chinese citizens. Yet today, Hong Kongers depend on mainlanders for investments, tourism and political largesse."

An ultra-national university professor in Beijing said of the people of Hong Kong, "I know many Hong Kongers don’t think they are Chinese. They declare, 'We are Hong Kong, you are China.' Those kinds of people were British running dogs. Now they are dogs. They aren’t human," and if they can't take people from China, "Go ask for help from your British daddy."

Plans for an "eat-in" on Friday didn't go happen and the MTR, which is now run by the MTA's former CEO, Jay Walder, issued a statement, "We hereby remind all passengers to help maintain a clean subway system. It is everybody's efforts to keep it one of the cleanest railways in the world." The MTR does have HK$2000 fines (about $258) but "this punishment is rarely enforced due to local people's self-discipline and the company's lack of manpower." So, enjoy that, Walder—don't you miss arguments that are as cut-and-dry as this:

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By Jen Chung in Food on January 29, 2012 10:55 AM

Comments [rss]

izzy isou

So which Chinese actor is playing the annoying, overweight white woman who can't seem to mind her own effing business? And which ones are playing the two black ghetto rats that have less social skills than a pair of Rhesus monkeys?

Peanut_Butter

I thought this was Gothamist, not Shanghaiist...

Jay!

It's funny because they're asian.

jza1218

I hate mainlanders too.

They're friggin animals who spit on the ground without any second thought, they don't know how to line up for anything and just push their way through like uncivilized brutes and are basically a disgrace to Chinese people

Rocknrope

So interesting, I've heard the exact same to describe the Cantonese.

Jake_Lim

ANY individuals from mainland, whether Cantonese or Fukienese or whatever, can act like uncivilized idiots. It's the thinking that makes the difference.

diablofreak

just to let you know, a lot of these mainland people visiting Hong Kong ARE Cantonese. Cantonese are people from the Canton province of China.

The conflict between mainland chinese and hong kong residents is rooted a lot deeper than this incident. Basically, the economy wasn't doing so hot in Hong Kong after the 97 handover from the brits, and SARS outbreak made things a lot worse and the city was hitting rockbottom, Hong Kong government opened up its normally shut-off borders to Chinese visitors. The economy bounced back due to the influx of chinese visitors, these are rich visitors spending a lot of money as tourists and a lot of stores in HK began to cater to mainlanders rather than their own citizens. Also a lot of women also take advantage of the law by giving birth to children in the region due to better health care. Hong Kong hospitals are overrun by these mainlanders. a lot of resources are being taken advantage of. The residents are complaining that their own government is spending too much of its resources on mainlanders and not giving them preferential treatment, while the mainland chinese believes that the sole reason Hong Kong economy bounced back is completely due to their visitors, that this Hong Kong needs China.

TL;DR - it's a love hate relationship, this incident is simply the tipping point of a complex and deep conflict between two groups of people from the same region.

Peanut_Butter

Growing pains. To be expected. Both sides need some understanding and compassion. In a few generations, none of this will matter.

By the way, I thought Canton = Guangzhou? Hence, Cantonese = Guangzhouese? Distinguished from the other dialects of Guangdong Province.

Knightmare6

The city of Canton is now Guangzhou correct, but Cantonese is the common name for Yue, which is the main lingual branch, from which many other dialects form from for that region. While the different dialects can be called Cantonese, they may have subtle differences like words, not every region may use or pronounce the same. Taishanese, for example, could be called Cantonese when used in a general manner, much like when we just throw different dialects of Spanish into one category.

As for understanding and compassion... for many it's not so easy when they believe they are right, and this doesn't just apply to Chinese, but people of any ethnicity, culture, and religion, otherwise this world would be much better than it is.

zombiebob

a well-reasoned and nuanced post. Way to go asshole!

Ywoogrr

we need General Tsao to smack some ass

Jake_Lim

And that was the dumb opinion

Rocknrope

The tourist has her backpack turned frontwards, not taking up space, and the complainer has his bag strapped across his back. I can tell which one is the asshole.

milkham

you are misinterpreting the backpack on the front thing. if you walk around with your back pack on your back on the mainland someone wil steal things out of your bag.

Rocknrope

God, I hate the way Cantonese sounds. Mandarin sounds so much better.

Peanut_Butter

Cantonese is more complex, and depending on who you talk to, has 7-9 tones, while Mandarin has 4. I memorized the multiplication table while in kindergarten and to this day, it has not left me. I remember phone #s from years ago based upon their tones. If you get beyond the first level "hearing" part, and study it, it's quite a poetic, versatile, and lively dialect.