Unbelieveable Ethnic Diversity

First published: 30^th June 2011

The first two sentences of this webpage encouraging ethnic minorities to take part in the Hong Kong Census reads:

Hong Kong is an international metropolis with a multi-varied culture. According to the findings of the 2006 Population By-census, some 340 000 ethnic minorities were living in Hong Kong, constituting about 5% of the total population.

I didn't even realise that there were 340 thousand distinct ethnic groups of people in the world! In American English, "ethnic" can be used as a noun, to mean a member of an ethnic minority group, but, even there, the phrase "ethnic minority" means a group (other than the biggest group) of people defined by their customs, language or social views. Ethnic is being used as an adjective.

A possible correction would be:

Hong Kong is an international metropolis with a multi-varied culture. According to the findings of the 2006 Population By-census, some 340 000 members of ethnic minorities were living in Hong Kong, constituting about 5% of the total population.

Which is a bit clumsy. Alternatively:

Hong Kong is an international metropolis with a multi-varied culture. According to the findings of the 2006 Population By-census, some 340 000 people living in Hong Kong belong to ethnic minorities, constituting about 5% of the total population.

The phrase "ethnic minorities" is used elsewhere in the page, but in those places it can sensibly mean the groups, for example:

Furthermore, C&SD will, on request, provide simultaneous interpretation service to assist ethnic minorities in filling in the census questionnaires accurately.

Or, perhaps, we are all members of our own, individual, ethnic minorities. We are all different.