Classification

Sindhis in Hong Kong have had varying levels of economic success, leading a class system to develop that is highly referred to as A Class, B Class, and C Class Sindhis. Most easily categorised by residential area. Class distinctions go beyond addresses into behaviour and entertainment patterns. Shopkeepers are considered uncouth and are rarely invited to attend the social functions held by wealthier Sindhis. Class divisions are ferociously maintained - partly because most fortunes have been amassed
within the past generation.

Some of Hong Kong's older generation of Sindhis knew each other back in Sind, where Sindhis attended school together or where their fathers were business associates. Sindhis are philosophical about the extreme disparity in their current wealth, and even though many of Sindhis started out in Hong Kong in the early 1950's with few material resources, the fact that some Sindhis have been far more successful than others is taken with a shrug and attributed to karma, or fate. Local cliches imply that Sikhs are all poor watchmen and Sindhis all impressively wealthy businessmen. Neither, of course, is true. But, most Sindhis started in Hong Kong either working for a larger firm from which they branched out on Sindhis own or with a small family business which they were able to expand.

Because of Sindhis' contacts with Sindhis in other parts of the world, and their willingness to gamble high risks against high yields, many have prospered in the import-export business. Although Sindhis are typically engaged in business, some young people are turning into the law, academia, and journalism. Links were never broken entirely with India, and most Hong Kong Sindhis still have relatives who settled in the Bombay area, providing business connections, offspring for potential mates for Hong Kong raised
Sindhi children, and some recipients of Hong Kong Sindhi largess. Prosperous Hong Kong Sindhis invest money in home in Poona or Bangalore, and some have done well through Indian housing projects sold to fellow overseas Sindhis. As fellow Sindhis in a changing Hong Kong, and despite the inevitable rivalries, there is a strong sense of community.


Sindhis relish the best of life, and support each other through its sorrows. Sindhis are out going, even flamboyant, and can be generous to a fault. At the least provocation, women flaunt their latest gleaming sari or Chanel suit from Paris, set off with the most opulent ruby and diamond necklace. Sindhis retort that other Indians who find Sindhis too flashy miss exulting in the world's riches. When a Westerner commented that jewellery was downplayed at academic functions in the United States, the Sindhi reaction was 'How dull. No diamonds or lovely saris.'