- Founder says he started HK Books Borrowing and Sharing Centre in the UK to help his children and other Hongkongers in Britain learn about their heritage
- Every week, Talking Points gives you a worksheet to practise your reading comprehension with exercises about the story we’ve written
The website has traditional Chinese books about Hong Kong culture and Cantonese. Photo: HandoutFor the sake of his children, Jonathan* made the decision last year to leave Hong Kong – his home for more than 30 years – to live in Britain. He brought along some of his most prized possessions: books about Hong Kong.
The immigrant recalled how his kids used to enjoy reading Chinese books at Hong Kong’s libraries. But after moving to London, the father wondered: “How can I keep my children reading Chinese books?”
Jonathan soon met two other parents who moved to the UK from Hong Kong, and they shared similar concerns about keeping their culture and language alive for their children and other Hongkongers.
The three of them had carried many Hong Kong and Cantonese books to Britain, but they did not have a platform to share their collections with others.
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In February, they created the HK Books Borrowing and Sharing Centre in the UK. The online library aims to preserve Hong Kong culture by sharing its literature.
“We hope to keep seeing people share their collections to give Hongkongers in Britain more Chinese reading options,” Jonathan said in a virtual interview with Young Post.
Currently, the website has more than 800 titles.
“The immigrant carries two identities, not only a resident in the UK but more importantly a Hongkonger. So we ought to know our language and pass it on to the next generation,” the founder added.
Platform for Hong Kong stories
In 2021, the UK government introduced an immigration pathway for British National (Overseas) holders. Since then, there have been more than 182,600 Hong Kong applications for the scheme and at least 123,800 Hongkongers have moved to the UK.
“I don’t want our lives to be different from what we had in Hong Kong because of distance and language barriers,” Jonathan shared.
Uploading hundreds of book covers and summaries to the website took time, but the founder said it was worth the effort: “We hope ... Hongkongers in Britain read the books they are interested in and continue to pass on the culture and history of Hong Kong.”
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When a reader borrows a book from the website, the current book-holder sends it directly to their home. After a month, the borrower posts the book to the next person and pays the delivery charge. If someone new has not borrowed the book yet, the current holder keeps it until further notice.
“Our platform is more like a database to help people know ... who is keeping the book they want. Our service aims to cover the whole country, instead of just being available for a particular community,” the founder added.
So far, more than 140 books have been borrowed through the platform. The website’s most popular books are about the city’s political upheaval in recent years.
“At first, we were worried that the books might be lost or damaged during the process, but luckily the readers were cooperative, and their feedback was positive,” Jonathan said.
For the next generation
After living in Britain for over a year, the founder has observed strong bonds between Hongkongers there.
“In my neighbourhood, nearly every Hongkonger knows each other, and we will have gatherings occasionally. Everyone is helping each other, so it’s not hard to adapt to the life there,” Jonathan said.
“Since we know there are not many Hongkongers around, we will treasure the relationship.”
The book-sharing website has also inspired collaborations and events about reading that have helped more Hongkongers connect.
“There is a rising number of pages [online] to promote Hong Kong’s culture, and [I] am happy to see more events initiated by Hongkongers in the UK to preserve the city’s culture,” Jonathan added.
The Chinese language is not a compulsory subject in UK education, but Jonathan said many Hong Kong parents still wanted their children to learn traditional Chinese and Cantonese.
“I hope our platform can help make an effort to promote Cantonese. There are ... reading sessions for children and also some Hong Kong books displayed at the shops,” the parent said.
“For the next generation, it [reading] helps them to know their roots.”
*Full names withheld at interviewee’s request.
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