A few months ago, a friend of mine asked me if I could rally volunteers for some help he needed. I was confused, and later on, he took me to a cemetery on the hillside near the Hindu Temple in Happy Valley. I was shocked to see the poor state it was in. There was a war memorial to the fallen South Asian soldiers, and besides it many civilians of Hindu backgrounds were laid to rest. Some were babies as young as a few days old.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw some Indians who were buried in Hong Kong as early as 1890. The tombstones really further proves that we belong to this city.

Unfortunately, just a few days after we visited there in early November and planned to recruit volunteers to help clean the graveyard and do some restoration work, the COVID-19 epidemic broke out, and lockdowns and restrictions began to take place.

In the first week of March, we finally decided it was time to begin to work. I posted a message on social media platforms calling for the people in the community to volunteer for the job, and learn about the history of South Asians in Hong Kong.

I was genuinely touched when over 40 people responded to my appeal and showed up at 10am on a Saturday, some with their children. It was wonderful to have over forty Hong Kongers from all walks of life representing the diversity of our city gather at the scene. Expats, Chinese, South Asians, Africans and Filipinos worked in unison for over eight hours for a common purpose.

After the shrubs pulled out, the mud cleared, the overgrown roots and branches dug out, the whole graveyard looked much better. Everyone was going above and beyond to show respect and care for a place that deserves it.

Then there was a nice break for lunch that the Hindu temple provided us with warm vegetarian meals, some nice hot masala tea and snacks. It was wonderful to see such a multi-cultural gathering that everyone got into conversation. You would’ve been truly touched if you had seen us trying to restore the memorial to those non- Chinese soldiers who sacrificed themselves for HK.

At 5pm when we were done for the day after we had given it a complete facelift with love and care, it was amazing to see the whole cemetery unrecognizable. Next Saturday we will return to complete the work. In the future I aim to bring the younger generation to the cemetery, and tell them the history of the ethnic minorities in our beloved city. Maybe in the future no one will question anymore whether the ethnic minorities have ever contributed to Hong Kong, and the city is a place for them to call home.

(Jeffrey Andrews, social worker)

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