Background of the radio announcement
In 1988, the Government of Hong Kong announced the policy of Comprehensive Plan of Action in an attempt to stop the continuing influx of boat people after the communist takeover in Vietnam and Laos. After the "cut-off day" on June 16, 1988, the Indochinese people who fled to Hong Kong would no longer automatically be considered as ''prima facie'' refugees, but only asylum seekers. They had to be screened to qualify for refugee status. Those who were screened-out would be sent back to Vietnam and Laos under an orderly and monitored repatriation program.
One way for the Hong Kong Government to propagandize this policy was to make an announcement in Vietnamese on Radio Television Hong Kong , which is a radio corporation operated with funding from the Government. The Government intended to use this radio announcement to inform the Indochinese boat people that they might be repatriated, and to discourage them from coming to Hong Kong.
The radio announcement was broadcast several times in a day. Although most Hong Kong people didn't know Vietnamese, they gradually memorized the pronunciation of the announcement.
The content of the announcement
Original text of the announcement
The radio announcement began with a sentence in , the most commonly spoken Chinese variant in Hong Kong.
香港對越南船民已經實施甄別政策。跟住嗰段越南話廣播，就係向佢哋講述呢個政策嘅內容。
This was then followed by a paragraph in Vietnamese .
B?t ??u t? nay, m?t chính sách m?i v? thuy?n nh?n Vi?t Nam ?? ???c ch?p hành t?i H?ng K?ng. T? nay v? sau, nh?ng thuy?n nh?n Vi?t Nam ki?m cách nh?p c?nh H?ng K?ng v?i th?n ph?n nh?ng ng??i di t?n vì v?n ?? kinh t? s? b? coi là nh?ng ng??i nh?p c?nh phi pháp. Là nh?ng ng??i nh?p c?nh phi pháp, h? s? kh?ng có chút kh? n?ng nào ?? ???c ?i ??nh c? t?i n??c th? ba, và h? s? b? giam c?m ?? ch? ngày gi?i v? Vi?t Nam.
After that, the announcement ended with another sentence in Cantonese Chinese.
剛才嗰段越南話廣播，係向企圖進入香港嘅越南船民，講述香港對佢哋實施嘅甄別政策。
Meaning of the announcement in English
The use of the phrase to refer to Vietnamese people
The announcement was aired frequently on RTHK, one of the most popular radio channels in Hong Kong. Due to the fact that the announcement was in a foreign language, it drew the attention of a lot of the audience in Hong Kong. Gradually, a lot of Hong Kong people remembered the pronunciation of the first phrase, "B?t ??u t? nay". They often transliterated the phrase in Cantonese Chinese as "北漏洞拉" or "不漏洞拉", although the actual pronunciation is closer to "不竇杜拉". As more and more Hong Kong people learnt this Vietnamese phrase, they started to use its Cantonese transliteration to represent Vietnamese people.
However, this phrase is usually considered as derogatory, or even racist. Some Hong Kong people that do not know the meaning and the background of this Vietnamese phrase often think that it has a positive meaning like "Sawadee" in Thai, or as "your attention", "dear friends", "dear compatriot", "dear comrades", or even "hello". If they use this Vietnamese phrase to greet a Vietnamese person, the Vietnamese person would probably either be offended, or not understand what is going on.
Portrayal In Hong Kong Media
Early portrayal
The first recorded instance of the usage of "B?t ??u t? nay" in Hong Kong entertainment programmes was during the 1980s, when it was used in a segment of the light entertainment show Enjoy Yourself Tonight. In the segment, a fight in the refugee camp was parodied, and two actors, using the stage names "B?t ??u" and "T? nay", roughed up one of the audience in the "legislative council" meeting who was well known for creating commotions during Legislative Council meetings.
1990s
During the 1990s, some asylum seekers managed to use self-made tools to cut through the fence around the refugee camps and escaped. This incident was replayed on RTHK's news parody programme . In the video, the phrase was split into the following
*B?t ??u?
*t?! .
*nay! .
2000s
In the early 2000s, Vietnamese cuisine became popular in Hong Kong, and the phrase, which had faded out of memory after the resolution of the refugee problem, resurfaced in an advertising campaign for a Vietnamese restaurant.
During the 2003 SARS epidemic in Hong Kong, Eric Kot , a local comedian, phoenetically spoofed the original refugee policy announcement to parody the SARS crisis.
Text of the Spoof Announcement
The format of the spoof was similar to the original announcement.
越南政府已經向香港市民入境限制。越南政府已經向香港疫民實施隔離政策，以下嘅一段廣東話廣播，係向企圖進入越南嘅香港疫民，講述呢個政策嘅內容:
This was then followed by a paragraph in Cantonese .
一入就拉，疊起一堆，莫問到越南，驗疫執行大行動。唔理肥瘦，請勿進越南，遵守入境奉告，強闖者入境隨時係咁大，帶銀來入境照「烹」，藏匿者將公刊樣貌，發現會被控，兼大碌竹蹦，傳播者被監禁，之後照踢出越南！
After that, the announcement ended with another sentence in normal-toned Cantonese Chinese.
以上係越南政府已經向香港嘅市民入境檢疫嘅政策。
No comments:
Post a Comment