RAS-1976 — Page 82

ETHNICITY IN A HOUSING ESTATE IN HONG KONG

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to clearly demarcate the two groups, Organizations, ritual differen- ces and stereotypes will be discussed shortly.

The number of Hoi Luk Fung in the housing estate is not more than one-tenth of the number of Teochiu, and there are only several hundred people from the Kap Jih area. The latter are sufficiently large in number, however, to be considered socially significant by local Teochiu, and for the label "Kap Jih" to have meaning within the local area. The primary concern of this paper is that the label has different meaning for different people, and some are not at all sure of the appropriate meaning.

The largest, most active and organized Teochiu association within the housing estate maintains an office and a small temple, which has been recently expanded, and is primarily concerned with the organization of public rituals. The latter are almost entirely supported by the local Teochip population with very little participa- tion by other ethnic groups. The other registered Teochiu associa- tion is organized around a spirit medium and his public presenta- tions, and has recently built a tiny concrete temple (which is not in the immediate local area). The third Teochiu association is informal in that it is not registered with the government and is only active during a period of several months each year during preparations for the major Teochiu religious festival, the Hungry Ghost Festival. Most of the members of these associations are Teochiu, primarily from the district of Hui Lai, a few members are Kap Jih, and there are no Hoi Luk Fung members. There are a number of other Teochiu associations within Tsuen Wan, the industrial town within which the housing estate is located, as well as a large number of temples and temple organizations. The Teochiu associations dis- cussed above have no formal contact with most of these; formal contacts between associations tend to follow the personal networks of the members. Thus, there are close formal ties between the three associations in the estate and other Teochiu associations in nearby housing estates in South Kwai Chung. These ties are very clearly a function of the extension of friendship and kinship networks from the one estate into the other estates, where fellow villagers, kinsmen, and old friends reside.

There is only one informal Hoi Luk Fung association within the housing estate, whose sole function is the organization of a five day religious festival which in most respects is similar to the Teochiu Hungry Ghost Festival. The only substantive difference