In economic powerhouse China, an extremely wealthy upper-class has emerged in recent years. International luxury brands have rushed to the country to cater to the wealthy mainland Chinese. This same group of rich Chinese has started to venture out of the country, whether for leisure trips, for medical care, or to acquire property overseas.
Apart from long-haul destinations in Europe and the Americas, places in the Asian region have become popular spots for mainland Chinese to visit. As far as international visitor numbers to the Indonesian island of Bali are concerned, for example, the Chinese are closing in on the traditional source markets of Australia and Japan. And cities and resort areas in Thailand and Vietnam are also welcoming increasing numbers of Chinese tourists. At the same time, Asian cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok have become popular shopping destinations for Chinese.
In particular Hong Kong has seen an spectacular infux of mainland Chinese, whether for shopping or for medical care. Over 28 million mainland Chinese visited Hong Kong in 2011, an increase of 60% since 2008. Mainland Chinese buyers accounted for around 20% of purchases of apartments in Hong Kong, last year. Along with contributing economically to Hong Kong, they also bring their own cultural identity, which sometimes clashes with that of Hong Kong citizens.
A recent trend whereby pregnant mainland Chinese women travel to Hong Kong to deliver their child and thus receiving better medical care as well as Hong Kong residency status, has enraged Hong Kong’s 7 million citizens. Estimates indicate that 4 out of 10 births in Hong Kong in 2011 were from mainland Chinese and the Hong Kong authorities have now lowered (and pledged to actually enforce !) quotas on births from mainland Chinese.
In recent months, there have been several incidents in Hong Kong whereby the culture of the so-called “sophisticated” Hong Kong Chinese clashed with the culture of the “nouveau-riche farmers” from the mainland: quarrels, even fights, in the subway, cynical writings on Facebook and blogs mocking the rude behaviour of mainland Chinese.
A similar culture clash is currently taking place is in Singapore. Although the majority of the population in Singapore is ethnic-Chinese and the island-nation’s political and economic power is controlled by ethnic-Chinese, Singaporeans consider themselves a world apart from mainland Chinese. The recent influx of mainland Chinese tourists, businessmen and students has resulted in anger and nationalism among Singaporeans.
Singapore’s thriving real estate sector is dominated not only by wealthy (primarily ethnic-Chinese) Indonesians, but also by mainland Chinese, who are buying exclusive US$500,000- 1,000,000+ condominiums.
In May 2012, a mainland Chinese businessmen crashed his brand-new Ferrari into a taxi, thereby killing himself and 2 others. This accident outraged Singaporeans and further fueled the anti-mainland Chinese sentiment in Singapore. Harsh anti-Chinese comments were posted on social media. Other voices in Singapore are expressing their concern over the increasingly heated anti-mainland Chinese debate in the country.
Although Singapore is an immigrant society with third-, or fourth generation immigrants from China and India, the cultural divide between the Singaporean Chinese and the newcomers from mainland China is deep.
This article appeared earlier in e-magazine Business Trends Asia
