Islam as a Cultural Heritage in Hong Kong

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Islam Culture
Islam culture has not been very popular in Hong Kong. It has been always viewed by the public as an ethnic minorities’ religion and separated from our society. However, people have been ignoring the fact that this culture have established in Hong Kong for a long time. Back to the early 19th century, South Asian sailors and merchants were brought to Hong Kong by Europeans and they have started to promote this religion to people here (O'Connor, 2012).Since then, the Muslims have becoming part of our society and the Islam culture have been laying its roots under Hong Kong’s ground. Walking through Wan Chai, It is obvious that Islam culture have its own significance in Hong Kong and it is a cultural heritage that worth our concern. In the following essay, the importance of Islam culture and the current situation of this culture will be examined.
Importance
As a culture that comes from foreign country, people barely recognize Islam culture as a local culture and a cultural heritage. However, Islam culture in Hong Kong has developed its own network and culture that is different from the others. Cultural heritage is something that plays an important role in helping people to form their own sense of self and identity. It helps sustaining communities and allowing people to share a collective history. It is a social capital of a society (Chu & Uebegang, 2002). In Hong Kong, people have been defining the city as a “multi-cultural” and “international” city for a long time and the presence of different cultures could contribute to this definition of the city. As Muslims have been part of Hong Kong community since long ago, Islam culture is a collective history of people, and it has its own importance in the society.
Firstly, Isl...

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...unities and allowing people to share a collective history. It is a social capital of a society (Chu & Uebegang, 2002). In this case, the Islam culture in Hong Kong helping Muslims to find their identity in Hong Kong, they have a shared collective history inside the Masjid Ammar & Islamic Centre. Moreover, it is a social capital. As Hong Kong people identify the city as a multicultural and multi-racial one, with the respect of Islam culture also could reinforce the identity of Hong Kong citizens.

References
Cecilia Chu & Kylie Uebegang. (2002). SAVING HONG KONG’S CULTURAL HERITAGE. Hong Kong: Civic Exchange.
J.Elias, J. (2004). Islam. London: Routledge.
Muslims in Hong Kong. (2013, September 2). Retrieved from TaKungPao: http://news.takungpao.com.hk/special/cp1566//2013-09/17117-3.html
O'Connor, P. (2012). Islam in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

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