The Other Side of Rude

We visited both Macau and Hong Kong recently. Posting our trip on social media, several comments came up all warning me of the “rude” I am to expect in Hong Kong.

Somehow, Filipinos found as reason the huge number of Filipina domestics employed in that place to equate rude with racism. While “rude” may be true, the view it is racism prompts me to write this entry.

I have had my share of “rude” in that place. I have been visiting Hong Kong for many years and “rude” is something I learned to live with. My sister, who spent a good number of years working as logistics specialist of a semiconductor company before moving to the United States, who faced “rude” almost on a daily basis, admits it is a part of the native’s psyche. But is it fundamentally racist?

I love Hong Kong’s MTR for its efficiency. But what amazes is the speed of their moving staircases or what we Filipinos call escalators. Man, they are fast!

However, there is a certain decorum one needs to observe when using them. While they are fast, there are people who needs faster. Those perfectly happy with the pace of these high speed people movers must keep right to allow those who are in much hurry to pass. 

On my continued visits to Hong Kong, these fast moving staircases helped explain the “rude”, this nation’s progress and why among its neighbors it remains preferred by many as location of their centers for business in this part of Asia.

Why the lingering perception of the “rude” by many Filipinos all over when talking about Hong Kong?

Filipinos loved being waited on. Take Jollibee. I find it irritating that after waiting in line for sometime, upon reaching the cashier many are still undecided on what to order. So they carry on with their “food conference” unmindful of the people, equally if not hungrier than they are, waiting for them to finalize their plans. 

In Hong Kong, they expect that you have fully decided and ready to commit once you are at the counter. They expect that you have identified what you truly want before you order. They expect that you do not to waste their time and those waiting to be served.  They expect you not to join the queue if what you want is still a figment of your imagination. If you behave otherwise, expect to get the “rude.”

Not only on food joints, businessmen friends as well as an acquaintance from one embassy told me the same practice happens even at high levels of exchange.

Yes, they all expect you not to interrupt their business because there are those truly deserving waiting to benefit.

As well, we Filipinos believe on runaway entitlement. On our flight back, a kababayan across the aisle from me insisted on playing his laser sword game in his smart phone at full volume, perhaps to drown the sound of the plane’s engine. He completely ignored fellow Filipinos around him who prefer to sleep through a 3 hour flight. Like me. The hum of those Rolls Royce engine is already a struggle for the tired and weary wanting to rest without his noisy game adding to the din.

Oblivious is what many of us has become. We have forgotten there are others sharing our space and has equal privilege to it. When we violate this, others are within their right if they choose to give us the “rude.”

It may perhaps console those who have fleeting visits in Hong Kong that this treatment is not limited to Filipinos. I have seen folks from Mainland China being told off loudly for barging the line because they find the end of the queue beyond sight. We have witnessed yelling between the manager and a local inside a cozy pizza place along Granville Road, something that will never happen inside California Pizza Kitchen back here.

Surprisingly, in spite of the “rude” people still flock to Hong Kong. Many had seen what this “rude” really meant and with it understood the astounding progress that engulfs them.

Am I going back to Hong Kong? Yes.

For one, they have great biking tracks in that little island that I must try. As for the “rude”, it is a comeuppance. People there do not bother you if you do not bother them. For someone coming from a place where people bother you for reasons only they understand, Hong Kong’s reason for the “rude” is much more transparent. It is, for this student of efficiency, something he can happily live with.