Rude Hong Kong? Excuse Me

When friends talk about their experiences in Hong Kong, the topic touchstones of the conversation will often include shopping, and rudeness.

Hong Kong seems to have a reputation of having some rather rude people. Dodgy shopkeepers who prey on tourists surely tops the list. Although a very small minority, an encounter with one leaves a bad taste in the mouth that's hard to forget.

Most visitors never have such encounters, and apart from the fantastic sites, helps explain why Hong Kong is a top tourist destination in Asia. People who've been here recommend it to their friends. Nevertheless, it is the stories about bad experiences that travel the fastest and farthest and get the most attention.

Apart from unscrupulous individuals, the general public is also sometimes viewed askance as having some rude social behaviour. One that's often noticed involves people using the lift. Would-be passengers will try to rush themselves into a lift ('elevator' in American), sometimes even before the last person to come out has had a fair chance to try and come out.

On the other hand, it's seldom noted that people queue up automatically while waiting for their bus. If you come from a society where people ordinarily queue up for a lift, you'd find the lift-pincer attack custom in Hong Kong a bit rude. One the other hand, if your background comes from a society where people do not queue up for a bus, you'd find Hong Kong quite civilised.

Whether the reputation of rudeness is deserved or not is arguable, but it does exist. We all have our opinion, whether built from expectations, the stories we hear, and from our own experiences. Regardless of your view, it is undeniable that some of the most commonly heard words in this 'rude' city are words of courtesy and common etiquette.

These words are among the first we need to know, and the ones we will be using many times each day.

Excuse Me

Perhaps the first phrase most people learn how to say is 'excuse me'.

The Cantonese phrase for excuse me is m goy. The m is said as 'mm...', not as 'em'. The goy rhymes with the English word 'toy'.

You have to say m and goy running one after the other, with no distinct pause in between. But they do consist of two syllables. I would like to meet you if you manage to pronounce them with one syllable.

The following are wrong:

• m one second pause in between goy (wrong).
• m breath in between goy (wrong).

If you are at the back of a lift and you want to get out but people are blocking your way, say m goy to attract their attention and make way for you. You can say m goy sweetly, or you can say it assertively (m goy!), and even repeatedly (m goy! m goy! m goy!) depending on your urgency in attracting attention.

You also use m goy to attract a shopkeeper's attention if you want service. If you wanted to stop someone in the street to ask for directions, the first words you say are m goy.

If you accidentally bump someone and want to say 'sorry, excuse me', you also use m goy.

You can use m goy in every situation where you would use excuse me. It's a handy word to know. It's a word associated with politeness and courtesy. By using it often, we help dispel some of the myth of rudeness in Hong Kong.

Next: The most commonly used word in daily Cantonese is m goy. The second most used word is also m goy.