Minority Ethnic Communities in Northern Ireland
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THE CHINESE COMMUNITY
BACKGROUND
The Chinese community with an estimated population of seven thousand people, is by far the largest ethnic minority group living in Northern Ireland. A high proportion of this community originates from the New Territories in Hong Kong's rural area but it is also important to note that there are many Northern Irish-born Chinese people living here as well as Chinese people originating from China, Malaysia and Singapore. A high percentage of the Hong Kong Chinese community resident in Northern Ireland is employed in the catering industry.
LANGUAGE
The three main spoken forms of the Chinese language are:
Cantonese
Many Chinese people from Hong Kong mainland, the New Territories, Malaysia and Singapore speak Cantonese as their first language.Hakka
This dialect of the Chinese language is largely spoken by people from the New Territories.Mandarin
This is spoken as their first language by people originating from China and Taiwan. It is spoken by a small proportion of Chinese students from Singapore and Malaysia.There are many different dialects of the Chinese language which are often not mutually comprehensible even though they are written in one standard form.
Although the universally-accepted official Chinese language is Mandarin, it is recommended that this language - which - is often written in a shortened form - should not be used in translations in Northern Ireland. This is because most Chinese people who experience English language difficulties in Northern Ireland originate from Hong Kong, where written Chinese is taught using traditional characters which differ from the shortened form.
As many of the first generation Chinese who came to Northern Ireland were illiterate in their own language, they found English difficult to learn and have little or no English at all. This is also not unusual for individuals who have moved here in more recent years, particularly those who are employed in the catering business. They have had little opportunity or incentive to learn English. In these situations, Chinese is spoken in the family home all the time. Young children are often unable to speak English when they start school.
RELIGION
The Chinese do not have an institutional religion. Some of the Chinese community in Northern Ireland are Christians. Others may be influenced by Taoism (ancestor worship) or Buddhism although very few Chinese residing here strictly practise these faiths.
FESTIVALS
Festivals celebrated by the Chinese community represent important days in the Chinese Lunar Calendar. As the Chinese calendar is based upon the changes of the moon, the dates of each festival change each year. Some of the most important Chinese festivals are given below.
Chinese New Year
This usually falls in January or February and is the most important festival of the Chinese calendar lasting three to fifteen days. Children receive new toys and clothes. Married people give money inside red packets (known as Lucky Money) to children and, sometimes, to single adults.Ching Ming and Ching Yang
These occur in April and October respectively. It is a time for paying homage to ancestors by visiting their graves.Moon Festival
This festival occurs in August or September each year. "Moon cakes" - round "cakes" filled with lotus paste - are popular during this celebration. Children enjoy playing with their lanterns, lit by candles.DIET
The traditional staple diet for people of Chinese origin is rice or noodles. Proteins are taken in the form of meat, fish, cereals and soya bean products; vegetable oil is the main source of fat intake. There are no dietary restrictions except perhaps for personal reasons. It is not uncommon for patients in hospital to be brought in food by relatives, especially well boiled soups which are believed to cleanse the system and speed recovery.
Most Chinese people believe in the concept of "yin" and "yang" - the balance of "cold and hot" energies in the human body. Diet plays an important part in maintaining the individual's normal health balance and in correcting imbalances as different foods are believed to have either "heating", "cooling" or "neutral" properties. To reduce the "heating" property of milk, some mothers may add sugar or rusks to it. Dental hygiene skills need to be emphasized.
LIFESTYLE, CUSTOMS AND SIGNIFICANT RELIGIOUS PRACTICES
Health and Medicine
Western influences on the lives of the Chinese population living here mean that Western medicine is widely-accepted. However, most individuals may still prefer traditional Chinese medicine which takes into account the relationship between the whole person, his environment and culture. A traditional practitioner may prescribe exercise, herbal treatment, acupuncture or a therapeutic diet. It is important to establish the patient's views on this.
Birth and Childcare
At the birth of a child, relatives may celebrate by bringing gifts of eggs dyed red, chicken, soup and new clothes.
After the birth, the mother may not bathe or shower for the first few days and only a bedwash will be acceptable. It is widely believed that a woman should rest for up to one month after giving birth and she may be reluctant to go out during this period.
A dinner party will probably be held when the baby is one month old to celebrate its birth. A larger scale party will be held to celebrate the birth of a male child. At around this time, the baby's head may be shaved in the belief that it will make the hair grow stronger. This is an old custom which is not so widely practised now.
Most Chinese women will prefer to bottle-feed their babies. This is largely due to the
modesty of Chinese women and the non-availability of literature in Chinese explaining the benefits of breast-feeding. An almost compulsory inclusion of rice wines and ginger soups are included in the postnatal diet, which would affect breast milk.
Weaning of babies tends to start at around ten to twelve months when they will be introduced to solid foods reflecting the family diet. As salt is an essential ingredient in
Chinese cooking, health visitors may need to explain the importance of non-addition of salt to a baby's diet.
For many Chinese, it is very important to have a boy in the family to carry on the family name. This is particularly true in the Hakka tradition. When parents have been trying for a long time for a boy and if there is only one boy in the family, this child is deemed to be very precious. Under such circumstances, it is not uncommon for the parents to try and protect their son from ill-health and misfortune by dressing him as a girl until he is two or three years of age.
Traditionally, Chinese grandparents play a significant role in childcare but the absence of extended family for many Chinese families in Northern Ireland has changed this.
Some Chinese families employed in the catering trade find that unsociable working hours, and the lack of extended family support leads to problems with childminding. Many of the Northern Irish Chinese community are self-employed and women are depended upon to return to work in the family business soon after the birth of a baby. Some mothers may have no option but to care for their babies and young children on the business premises.
Parents may resort to sending their babies back to Hong Kong to be brought up by grandparents or relatives. The repercussions of this are that when the child is brought back to Northern Ireland to commence school, she/he may not speak English and may also experience difficulties in adapting to the new environment.
Most of the Chinese community will have been influenced by the ethical philosophy of Confucius which emphasises harmony in life through moral values. Showing respect and obedience towards supervisors and family elders is very important. Family ties are strong and children are taught to be respectful to parents. They learn from a young age to avoid disputes which might disrupt social harmony and will often hide personal feelings for the sake of politeness.
It is not uncommon to find that Chinese parents expect their children to be capable of far more responsibility than their Northern Irish peers.
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