At the foot of Hong Kong’s tall residential towers, traditional Indian sports build bridges between the city’s criss-crossing communities, which remain renowned for their cosmopolitanism.
Professional kabaddi leagues are very popular in India and South Asia. But this very physical sport, which consists of touching the opposing team, remains a secret around the world.
Eight years ago, two Chinese anthropologists formed a team in Hong Kong to promote integration in a less inclusive city, especially for non-Chinese and non-Western residents.
“We often hear that Hong Kong is the ‘world city’ in Asia, but we don’t have many opportunities to interact with people from different cultures,” Wyman Tang, one of the two anthropologists, told AFP.
“We live in the same neighborhood, but it’s as if we live in parallel worlds”.
Initially, the Kabaddi United Hong Kong (KUHK) project was a one-time workshop at a university. It now reaches more than 8,000 participants through nearly 80 schools and social organizations.
How surprised Royal Sunar, now the coach of the Criminal Code, saw his childhood game being taught in Hong Kong!
“Kabaddi is one of my interests,” said the Hong Kong-born Nepalese. “On the one hand, the Chinese people here also like this sport.”
– “Emotional connection” –
Kabaddi was born 5,000 years ago in India, with mythological roots, and similar games later appeared in other Asian countries, especially in Iran, which is also said to be his birthplace.
To earn points, a team sends a “raider” to the opposing camp, tasked with quickly hitting the opponent and returning to their base.
Defenses must prevent robbers from returning to their courts, often leading to big scrums.
Rojit Sharma, a migrant from Nepal, joined the Criminal Code in 2019.
This activity allowed him to make Chinese friends for the first time and to practice his Cantonese.
There is “an emotional connection in kabaddi, because we hold hands and then we know more about the other person,” he said.
This 22-year-old youth regrets that apart from kabaddi, ethnic minorities must struggle to be recognized as “local”. He himself experienced discrimination.
“When I arrive in Hong Kong, when I travel by bus or public transport, when I sit down, the person next to me leaves,” he told AFP.
– Daily discrimination –
The association ensures that this kind of experience is the norm.
“There is a significant race-related problem in Hong Kong,” said Shalini Mahtani, president of the Zubin Foundation.
Discrimination is a daily occurrence for South Asians in Hong Kong, he said, giving examples of people not being able to rent an apartment or being told in job interviews that their skin is too dark.
“They’re miscolored in a very color-sensitive spot,” he added.
Ms. Mahtani specifically pointed the finger at the education system.
“The truth is that many Chinese in Hong Kong have never had the opportunity to come into contact with ethnic minorities,” he explained.
This is the case of Christy Tai, a student, who joins the kabaddi team after a conclusive experiment, attracted by the “team spirit”.
He believes that exercise is a good way to overcome the language barrier.
“We have to talk to every member of the team (…) when we talk, we can’t just talk about sports, we talk about our lives, our habits and other things,” he explained.
Hong Kong is far from a professional kabaddi league, but the founder of the Criminal Code, Mr. Tang, pleased with the way Hong Kongers entered the game.
“As long as you follow the same rules, you can enjoy the game,” Tang said.
