ETHNICITY IN A HOUSING ESTATE IN HONG KONG
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only a few cases in which a Kap Jih person has done so. One example involves a very charismatic and locally powerful man who has cultivated ties in both communities and is involved in the festival organizations of both. Not everyone could successfully do so; it is unlikely that Kap Jih involved in Teochiu networks would be tolerated if they became intensely involved in Hoi Luk Fung activities and relationships. The two sets of relationships would be contradictory in that membership in one requires that one behaves "loyally", and the latter is partially defined in terms of specified action vis-a-vis outside groups. Those individuals who do successfully operate in both communities are in effect manipulating the normative system in breaking some norms, but are possessed of certain attributes that can negate the misbehavior. In the example mentioned here, the individual is sufficiently powerful within the local area so as to demand and obtain the allegiance of Teochiu despite his known involvement with Hoi Luk Fung.
Conclusion
Cognitive classifications and interactional patterns are often treated as distinct analytical entities in anthropological research and theorizing. When viewing the way people act and conceive of things at a lower level of abstraction, the two are obviously inseparable. The study of process, as opposed to the study of frequencies, form and structure, forces attention to be focused upon the interplay between the two, to explain categorizations of groups or individuals in terms of interactional patterns, as in the case of Teochiu classification of Kap Jih in the housing estate. In the latter, the lack of consensus concerning Kap Jih is only confusing for the outsider, in this case the researcher, and has never been a public issue that had to be "resolved". Variation in classification is acceptable and not threatening. This is partly because Kap Jih have loosely modified their history to establish an historical link with Hui Lai and thus become "Teochiu" if they choose to do so. On the other hand, interactional patterns may be influenced by generally accepted and acknowledged conceptualizations of other groups, as in the case of Teochiu-Hoi Luk Fung relationships. In the latter, there is consensus concerning the classification and there is much less variability in interaction with Hoi Luk Fung. Viewed in a simplistic manner, interethnic interaction is a matter of definition — one must decide which category a person belongs to and then
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