Language
Integration of Indonesians into Hong Kong Community
Social stability is built by the part of social cohesion which is established through the accommodation of diversity understood by bidirectional process(Krumm & Plutzar, 2008). They have to accept the laws and basic values of Hong Kong society, at the same time local people have to respect the immigrants’ dignity and their identity so to design any policies. Since the immigrants are integrating to our society instead of being assimilated, their attempts to learn Cantonese is not for being a Hongkonger. With the help of parental education on their own native language, their language origin will be retained. For the Indonesians, Hong Kong is such a good place since Hongkongers respect their existing identity, it is not uncommon to see massive domestic helpers gathering together for social events on Sundays such as the Sugar Stress in Causeway Bay. In this way, it is easier for them to immerse and therefore integrate to Hong Kong community.
Flexibility enjoyed from Indonesians in Hong Kong
Being able to socialize with other Indonesian and speak Indonesian help strengthen their identity as an Indonesian. Our interviewees revealed that they had been to Singapore before coming to Hong Kong. They prefer working in Hong Kong much more because of having holidays and chance to meet friends. In Singapore, Indonesian workers do not have any holidays. Sidi, one of the interviewees, mentioned that her former employer did not allow her to go outside to take some rest. She rarely had chance to meet her friends in Singapore. As a result, there might be less opportunities for Indonesian speaking their own language in Singapore than in Hong Kong and meeting with people from the same background is rare. Language is closely tied with identity. People may feel restricted if they cannot speak in line with their identification. The interviewees also think they feel more comfortable to stay in Hong Kong rather than Singapore. The reasons might be the way how Hong Kong handle diversity compared to Singapore. In Hong Kong, minorities group constitutes 6 % of the overall population (Hong Kong Yearbook 2011). Immigrants from Indonesia can find their communities scattered across 18 districts of Hong Kong. They are allowed to hang out with their friends and family in the same nationalities. Also, there are numbers of shop organized by the Indonesian for them to have a taste of their food. Their identity as an Indonesian is not lost even as an immigrant in Hong Kong for several years.
According to Krumm & Plutzar( 2008), integration to a new society often includes the mingling of following aspects, political, social, and economic and culture. The capability of speaking the local language (i.e. Cantonese) is often perceived as a prerequisite for newcomers to actively participate in society. Whether it is sufficient or not, remains a question and looking into the linguistic status of minorities in this case shall provide an insight for us.
The shift of Indonesian from a lingua franca to a peripheral language
Will minorities’ right to speak their mother tongue belittled by majorities? Although minorities in Hong Kong are experiencing the shift from lingua franca to peripheral languages. Nettle (2000) states that a language can both be metropolitan language and peripheral language according to context but is not determined by the language itself. The differences in the economies and societies of the people of a certain language is the factor determines peripherality. Indonesian in Hong Kong is peripheral in a way that speaking Indonesian in Hong Kong can rarely bring the workers opportunities and benefits, instead of being oppressed or feeling ashamed by speaking it. The economic function of Indonesian in Hong Kong is limited.
The First Language -- Determining Factor of Self-Identity
Factors such as language habits, resources and attitudes towards language affect their choices on first language and thus affecting their identity. First Language is the centric element of personal identity(CDCC, as cited in Krumm & Plutzar, 2008). It associates important parts of people’s life such as their religious and cultural background and personal life like their own families. In Hong Kong, many of the ethnic groups are migrants, workers who have left their kinship behind their home country. Their first language is a strong tie to their past stable life. Such sense of stability and belonging formulated from their mother tongue may suggest the reason why most of the interviewees turn into trilingual speakers and agree Indonesian is a language not to lose upon integration to Hong Kong society. This psycholinguistic development stems from the loss in status and income explicitly presented in ways like losing familiar surroundings, social networks and their social roles which all might affect their learning on the dominant language or formulate a plurilinguistic identity (Krumm & Plutzar, 2008).