Bigotry has little currency in Hong Kong

Mainland people, especially those working and living in Hong Kong, have every right to be outraged by the crude and insensitive comments purportedly made by native Hong Kong netizens on the unfortunate accident that killed 26-year-old Liu Han from Chuxiong in Yunnan province.

The accident was all the more sad because she exemplified the so-called new Hongkonger, those mainland talents choosing to stay and work in Hong Kong after graduating from local universities. Liu was said to have found a well-paying job after graduating from the University of Hong Kong.

It was reported that she was appreciated by her employer and liked by her fellow workers. But news of her death in a traffic accident sparked a flurry of anti-mainlander tirades on the Internet from supposedly Hong Kong people. There were reportedly more than 1,000 such offensive messages branding Liu, and other mainlanders in Hong Kong, locusts for stealing jobs and devouring resources.