It’s a given that a kindergarten would seek an experienced teacher who’s “loving”, “kind-hearted”, and white. Wait, what?
The Mission Covenant Church has apologised after their Sister Annie’s Kindergarten and Nursery, located in Tseung Kwan O, put out a newspaper ad seeking a part-time English teacher, specifying that they’re looking for someone “Caucasian”.
Yikes!
(If you’re interested – and white – it pays HKD250 to HKD280 per hour for eight to nine hours a week.)
A woman by the name of Wai Ling Nicola Yip posted a photo of the newspaper ad in the “British Born Chinese (BBC) & Friends in Hong Kong” Facebook group on Sunday, prompting a barrage of criticism.
“Caucasian means ‘white-skinned’ or ‘of European origin,’ according to the Oxford dictionary,” wrote one Facebook user named Maggie Chen.
“Many Caucasians from European countries are not native English speakers,” she continued. “This should be a no-brainer, but blanket stereotypes continue to prevail.”
If only societies worldwide could rally against the perpetuation of the stereotype that Caucasians speak English!
The Mission Convenant Church’s executive secretary, Yeung Lap Yan, posted an apology on Facebook yesterday, saying that the kindergarten had “inadvertently used an inappropriate word”.
In fact, the school was looking for a “Native-English-Speaking teacher”, and not necessarily a white one.
“Our church and our organizations have absolutely no intention to discriminate against any ethnic groups in our staff recruitment,” the post continued.
“Our faith will not, and does not, allow or tolerate discrimination of any forms.”
Under the Race Discrimination Ordinance, which was enacted in 2008, it is illegal to discriminate, harrass or vilify someone based on their race. (Duh.)
