Choice Review

This ethnographic study of Muslim youth in Hong Kong today is also a study of how the tiny minority of Muslims has adapted to the overwhelmingly Chinese culture of the territory. The book is part of a series of studies on the changing sociopolitical and cultural life of Hong Kong. Numbering no more than 3 percent (or 220,000) of the total population, the local Muslims represent a mix of ethnicities and national backgrounds, with Indonesian domestic workers, mainly women, forming the majority. Anthropologist O'Connor (Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong) focuses on the living experiences of the Muslim community as he examines their different associations, their mosques and cemeteries, and the different roles they play in the city's economy. Extensive interviews with Muslim youth indicate that "Muslims in Hong Kong are not politicized; they are not striving to alter Hong Kong society." While the city's unique history and multicultural ethos tends to marginalize non-ethnically Chinese minorities, it does not stigmatize them. There are no ethnic ghettos in Hong Kong, and the Muslim community is but one of several minority communities scattered throughout the large urban territory. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. A. Rassam emerita, CUNY Queens College