Beyond silent organisations : a reflection of the UK Chinese people and their community organisations

The UK Chinese community has long been perceived to have a high degree of solidarity and self-sufficiency. On the other hand, it is argued that the sense of community and mutual help among Chinese people has been weakened by their competitive approach to business. Based on findings from an ESRC-funded national study of the UK Chinese people's help-seeking behaviour, this study found that Chinese people, both where their population is dispersed and where it is concentrated, actively formed organizations to meet their social and cultural needs. However, Chinese organizations were weakened by inadequate resources and the diverse needs of different Chinese groups. Thus, the UK Chinese people were neither self-sufficient nor isolated from each other. The experiences of Chinese organizations further show that in spite of government expectations of community organizations, state input has been mainly in terms of regulations and control. Without financial support, UK Chinese organizations will slip from being weak organizations into `silent' ones.