A Hong Kong student who moved to the UK with her parents four years ago has opened up about struggling to fit in, saying she still feels she does not fully belong in either British or Hong Kong social circles and even feels conflicted about spending time with fellow Hongkongers.
In a social media post on July 2, she described finding it difficult to connect with local peers, classmates and other Hongkongers despite having lived in the UK for four years.
She said she still speaks English with a noticeable accent and often stumbles over her words when nervous, while also starting to forget some Chinese vocabulary. She added that she identifies with neither Western nor Asian beauty standards, leaving her uncertain about her own sense of style.
Although her parents had intentionally avoided living in areas with large Hong Kong communities to help her integrate into British society more quickly, she said she still felt she belonged nowhere.
She also said she felt conflicted about spending time with Hongkongers or other Asians, believing she should focus on integrating into British society rather than remaining within familiar cultural circles. At the same time, she felt she should preserve her identity because she still considered herself a Hongkonger. However, she did not want to limit herself to Hong Kong communities, saying life in the UK had made her happier than her life in Hong Kong.
The post drew sympathetic responses from other overseas Hongkongers, with many encouraging her to practise English regularly, take up hobbies to meet like-minded people and avoid rushing to define her identity.
One commenter who had also studied abroad said that not fully belonging to either side could also mean having the freedom to move comfortably between both cultures — a perspective that appeared to resonate with the student's experience.
