What we’re about
Hongkongers are one of the earliest ethnic minorities to settle in Ireland. Famous Hongkongers in Ireland include John Rocha in Dublin (the renowned Dublin-based international designer) and Anna Lo in Belfast (the respected Member of Legislative Assembly in Northern Ireland). As individuals we integrate very well into mainstream Irish society, but compared to other ethnic groups in Ireland, we don't really organise as a distinct community as the older generations mainly socialise through extended family and business networks. There are however new Hongkongers coming to experience Ireland for the first time since the working holiday visa scheme came to be established a number of years ago, not to mention the second and third generations of Irish-born ethnic Hong Kongers living and thriving in Ireland today. The Umbrella Movement of 2014 brought a bunch of us together, shocked into coalescence by what happened in our beloved home city, but there are many more who, though politically inactive/neutral, are nevertheless very in tune with events and news and culture of our beloved Fragrant Harbour.
So this is a group for those of us who have an invisible, indefinable, but thicker-than-blood bond with all things Hong Kong. There are some things unique about our home city that make Hongkongers Hongkongers, in similar manner to how Newyorkers and Londoners and indeed Dubliners came to become distinct breeds within their much larger national milieus. We may not be a vocal community most of the time, and despite being amongst the earliest ethnic minority groups to put our roots down in Ireland, we tend to shun the limelight when it comes to organising events that highlight our unique cultural heritage (at least compared to our mainland Chinese brethren), but nevertheless, we are here, and there is always a part of us that would always identify as a Hongkonger.
The Hong Kong Club in Dublin aims to create a safe space for us to celebrate our unique cultural heritage, from Hong Kong movies to Cantopop to works by Hongkong writers and thinkers and artists to RTHK documentaries and the latest memes from Golden. We aim to host film nights and debate dinners and poetry readings and book clubmeets, and craft afternoons that relive our childhood handicrafts from the 80s and 90s, and recitals of classic Cantopop tunes and themed karaoke nights, and calligraphy sessions in traditional Chinese of Lin Xi and Wyman lyrics , etc. etc. The sky's the limit :)
We welcome Hongkongers by birth, by family heritage, by friendship/marriage links, by social/business/travel interests, or simply those who feel an affinity with the city through its arts and culture and politics and food and architecture and environment and people. If HK has a special place in your heart, this group is for you :)
