Feature Story

Surrounded by vibrant night life, liquor and music, a brown-skinned man with big eyes, pointed goatee beard and amusing face expressions talked non-stop about stand-up comedy, ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, and his life story, on the steps of Soho.

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Vivek Mahbubani, despite having an Indian family background, recognized himself as a Hong Konger firmly. Born and raised in the city, he thinks that he practises a lifestyle and living pace identical to every other Hong Kongese.

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“Hong Kong is my home,” said Mahbubani in fluent Cantonese.

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Being a bi-lingual stand-up comedian, Mahbubani is especially fond of Cantonese. He considers the dialect as a unique one as it has exceeded its function as a medium of communication and has transformed into an everyday culture affecting people’s mind and personality.

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“Cantonese brings out the essence of everyday conversation,” he said with excitement.

As local as he may be, Mahbubani still upholds some of the Indian core values. He prioritizes family. He is currently living with his mother and in his home, there is always space spared for relatives to stay. The strong hospitality is also an Indian root Vivek holds onto dearly.

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However, with his East Asian appearance, Mahbubani is not unfamiliar with peculiar looks and disrespectful behaviors since childhood. But he suggested to handle racial discrimination with a different mindset. He shrugged, saying that not to look back at the haters with judgmental vision is to make the life of oneself easier.

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Nevertheless, he agrees with the fact that the term “ethnic minorities” is already suggesting discrimination. He questioned why the white people are not categorized under the same label, even when they are just as minority as the East Asians in Hong Kong.

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Mahbubani believes that since appearance and colors are not controllable by us, race is nothing more than a mindset.

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Having the dual identity, he enjoys his life by looking at the world with both foreigner’s and local’s point of view. He described himself as an obsessive person who loves challenges and is keen on learning new things.

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In 2007, Mahbubani by chance entered a stand-up comedy competition and was crowned the Funniest Person. He then joined the industry until now. A decade has passed, but his passion for stand-up comedy is yet to be obliterated.

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“Laughing from the audience is a genuine reaction, you cannot fake it out of politeness,” he describes his all-time drive that brings him high sense of satisfaction, which prompted the talented man ending his web design career to focus on stand-up comedy with single-hearted devotion.

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 “Humor is actually just life in a new angle,” said Mahbubani light-heartedly.

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Indeed, he claims to not be a funny extrovert. He only collects ideas for shows from observing bits and bobs in daily life and thinking the reasons behind everything. What he does is just sharing his world to the audience with a humorous repackaging. He thinks that stand-up comedy is not only about cracking people up, but to inspire their thinking.

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“You never know how big an impact you can create to a certain person with one sentence. Your words can be life changing.” Mahbubani said emotionally.

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In the coming year, Mahbubani wishes to continue promoting stand-up comedy in Hong Kong by introducing different performing styles, He wants to open up choices for the city’s audience.

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“Dayo Wong Tsz-wah is a part of stand-up comedy, but stand-up comedy is not him,” sighed Mahbubani.

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He will also dedicate himself into encouraging non-Chinese youngsters not to be limited by their color and race. Mahbubani finds it to be his responsibility to give back, especially when he is now capable to do so, what he has received at a young age, a lot of kind inspirations and warm support.  

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He is actively collaborating with schools and NGOs to conduct courses about this art of making people laugh and presenting creatively.

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“After all these years of telling punchlines and making people laugh, I would love to be an audience, sit back and enjoy some jokes ,” Mahbubani giggled.

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