Hong Kong emigrant shot dead in Florida restaurant

[SunWuKong]

yet another Asian killed by a black guy in a robbery.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=44574&sid=13621366&con_type=1&d_str=20070516

Hong Kong emigrant shot dead in Florida restaurant
Staff reporter
Wednesday, May 16, 2007

A Hong Kong emigrant has been shot dead in a robbery at a Chinese restaurant in the United States.

Ray Ng Wai, 28, died of a single gunshot wound when a robber opened fire after storming into his family's restaurant Sunday in Tamarac, Florida, before fleeing with cash.

According to a report in the Miami Herald, the victim had offered to work his mother's shift because it was Mother's Day - a move that probably saved the woman's life.

Ray Ng was a teenager when his family emigrated to the United States.

His mother, Ng Pui-chun, had chosen Florida because her daughter had settled there, according to friends of the family.

Ng Pui-chun took over the running of the restaurant, called the Hong Kong City BBQ, after a family member died of cancer about 10 years ago.

According to the report, there were five employees inside the restaurant when the robber entered just before closing time.

A friend who had known Ng for more than a decade said: "He was a good boy from a good family."

US police have issued an identikit of the suspect - a tall black man aged between 18 and 25.

According to US news reports, there were several customers at the restaurant when the holdup occurred, and Ng had given the gunman money without putting up resistance before he was killed in front of the customers.

Officers said they have located a customer who witnessed the incident.

The Tamarac community was shocked by the killing. A resident told a television station the news was "very disturbing."

"I went to the restaurant very often. It seems there isn't a place here that's safe. This is the first time I've heard of such an incident although I've lived here for 15 years."

Steve Duschin, who owns a nail beauty shop nearby, said Ng's restaurant was one of a handful of businesses still open at night. "After dark, it's not safe," he said.

The police have offered a reward of US$1,000 (HK$7,800) for information.

[kasia]

very tragic case. i would caution, however, against categorizing this as another "black on asian" case. it's true that this is more than an occasional occurence. still, i don't think it has more to do with the murderer's blackness than it does his state of living/being raised in poverty. i'm not in any way trying to justify/excuse or minimize the act; i'm only saying that we shouldn't let incidents like this distract us from the bigger picture - that in america, poverty is still closely tied to race.

another perspective is that asians are targeted possibly because of their race and the associated stereotypes - nonaggressive, smaller, and so forth.

i think every asian takes such incidents personally because we know what it's like for an asian family to pick up from their home, move to a new country in search for a better future for the next generation, struggle financially - and we can only imagine how tragic and sad it is when that next generation is senselessly murdered.

[SunWuKong]

very tragic case. i would caution, however, against categorizing this as another "black on asian" case. it's true that this is more than an occasional occurence. still, i don't think it has more to do with the murderer's blackness than it does his state of living/being raised in poverty. i'm not in any way trying to justify/excuse or minimize the act; i'm only saying that we shouldn't let incidents like this distract us from the bigger picture - that in america, poverty is still closely tied to race.

another perspective is that asians are targeted possibly because of their race and the associated stereotypes - nonaggressive, smaller, and so forth.

i think every asian takes such incidents personally because we know what it's like for an asian family to pick up from their home, move to a new country in search for a better future for the next generation, struggle financially - and we can only imagine how tragic and sad it is when that next generation is senselessly murdered.

no i don't think this was racially motivated. at least, i don't think there was any indication. but it is what it is - black guy killed another Asian in a robbery. and honestly, if it's usually white guys doing the killing in these cases, we wouldn't be trying to tip toe around the race issue.

[Tao]

even though the root of the problem is a "bigger picture," the crimes still remains tied to race. Personally, at my school, I know as a fact (NOT speculation or hearsay) that almost all the muggings in the area have been race related. The neighborhood is predominantly Caribbean/ Haitian immigrants, and are very poor, so i'm not surprised that the crime rate is as high as it is. But the problem is most of the muggers target asian students specifically. As bad and un-pc as it sounds, a lot of the times it's just a matter of fact. Obviously I'm not implying all poor blacks are criminals, because that'd just be stupid, but to say asians shouldn't be more careful around my neighborhood is just asking for trouble.

[deez nuts]

it should be looked into as a possible hate crime.

[kasia]

:cool: no i don't think this was racially motivated. at least, i don't think there was any indication. but it is what it is - black guy killed another Asian in a robbery. and honestly, if it's usually white guys doing the killing in these cases, we wouldn't be trying to tip toe around the race issue.

i guess what i'm saying is, even if it is racially motivated (bc i don't think there's any reason to rule that out), we shouldn't lose sight of the bigger picture. but that's not to say that we should ignore the problem of black on asian crime. i personally do think it's a problem.

[Space_Cabbage]

Disgusting