Pro Bono Hong Kong Seminar – Promoting Opportunities for Ethnic Minorities – 1 June 2023

With its plethora of restaurants, plush hotels and high-end shopping malls, Hong Kong is known to be a cosmopolitan and diverse place, but this diversity often comes at the price of widespread inequality of both income and opportunity.

The Pro Bono Hong Kong seminar on Promoting Equal Opportunities for Ethnic Minorities aimed to promote equal opportunities for people from the many ethnic minorities which make up a significant part of the population of Hong Kong.

The event was chaired by Aaron Chan and Jason Lo, both Associates at DLA Piper in Responsible Business and Employment respectively. They outlined the current law on racial discrimination in the workplace and spoke about ways to prevent discriminatory practices in the recruitment and retention of employees.

We also heard from guest speaker Dennis Wong, Director of Talent and Culture at Rosewood Hong Kong, a luxury hotel that employs many people from a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

He described the ways in which the Rosewood actively sought to integrate people into the different teams which work at the hotel and to mentor and guide people who may have had no experience of a luxury environment.

He mentioned offering orientation sessions and one-to-one guidance so that individuals could find the roles best suited to their specific talents and interests. Such guidance also helped make them feel more at home in a potentially intimidating environment.

Language barriers were a frequent obstacle to effective teamwork but technology in the form of apps such as Google Translate was making things easier.

Pro Bono Hong Kong would like to thank DLA Piper for the use of their offices and Bread Bunch who provided a lavish spread of snacks and refreshments. The caterers Bread Bunch are a social enterprise which has a policy of employing people from disadvantaged backgrounds as well as from ethnic minorities.

Pro Bono appreciates the organisation and support of our EOC Committee and volunteers Davyd Wong, Chantal Chung, Anne Cheng and the Community Participation Funding Programme on Equal Opportunities of the Equal Opportunities Commission.

Written by Anne Cheng, Co-Chair of the Pro Bono Hong Kong Education Seminars Committee

Photos from the seminar

From left to right: 1) Chantal Chung, Legal Clinic and Project Manager, PBHK (2) Joyce Lai, Senior Corporate Communications Manager, EOC, (3) Hailey Chan, Head of Experience Economy (Creative), British Consulate-General HK

From left to right: (1) Ada Ng - Director of Social Impact, Rosewood Hong Kong (2) Dennis Wong, Director of Talent and Culture, Rosewood Hong Kong (3) Aaron Chan, Pro Bono Associate, DLA Piper (4) Jason Lo, Associate, DLA Piper (5) Chantal Chung, Legal Clinic and Project Manager, PBHK (6) Florence Chan, Culture & Inclusion Specialist, DLA Piper

A full house!