INTRODUCTION

The entrepreneurial success of some Indians in Hong Kong is a fabulous story (Das 1990; Kwok and Narain 2003; Vaid 1972; White 1994). On the occasion of the 58th Republic Day of India in 2007, B.K. Gupta, Consul- General of India in Hong Kong noted with pride the considerable and consistent contributions made by the Indian community in Hong Kong in the fields of business, trade, education and social services. He acknowledged that the commitment displayed by the community fostered a deepening of bilateral relations between India and Hong Kong. He added that the Hong Kong- India bilateral trade reached US$7.03 billion between January and November 2006, signalling a healthy growth curve (Gupta 2007). Given the strong ties between India and Hong Kong, it is appropriate to link this deepening of relationship to the emerging conceptualization of “rising India”.

Discussions on the rise of India crossed over from private to the public domain in 2003 with Business Week leading the analysis (Manjeet, Engardio and Steve 2003). Initial opinions and analysis in 2003 on the rise of India focused mainly on technological and software advancement spurred on by professionals with Indian and foreign capital. Subsequent discussions on the rise of India have highlighted how technologies are influencing the lives of ordinary Indians similar to the ITC's e-commerce “e-chaupal” technology initiative linking producers to markets to secure higher prices (Manjeet 2005). Farmers in Sehore District of Madhya Pradesh are already seeing their incomes rise. In what ways are Indians in Hong Kong connected to the rise of India?

The Indian community in Hong Kong consists of the professional, business, working class as well as the transient migrants. Information available on each of these groups varies. Data on transient Indian migrants in Hong Kong is particularly scarce. Staff from the Hong Kong Immigration Department through personal communication with the researcher pointed to increasing numbers of Indians who overstayed their tourist or work visa or entered Hong Kong illegally. In 2003 there were 76 Indians who overstayed their visas. This number rose to 106 in 2004. A steady growth was observed in 2005 when the number rose to167. This trend has continued to climb with no signs of decline. For the first half of 2006 (January to June) there were already 128 Indians overstaying their visas (Wu 2006).