Locals snapping pictures of my children?

erina320

erina320

Registered User
What is up with the locals snapping pictures of my children everywhere we go? At first I thought it was just a quirky cultural thing, but they scatter if you try and take a picture of them or even shake their heads no. And on our flight back from Vietnam, a guy a few rows up from us took pictures of my daughter all through the flight. To the point that even she was creeped out by it and she's only 3.

I'm baffeled! I would never take a picture of someone else's kids, or even see the use of it! And with signs all over the pools and playgrounds saying "No Photography" you would think they would be more sensitive to it...So how do I tell them NOT to take pictures of my daughters with out offending them?
 
Some people take pictures of Everything. I've seen people taking pictures of postboxes and walls so in that context it's not surprising that they want to take photos of our kids.

As she's old enough to express her own opinions I would ask her if she wants her picture taken and if she says no then say to the person, sorry she doesn't want it taken, that's what I do with The Boy and sometimes he says ok but mostly he says no.

Often you can take the child out of the situation if people continue to take photos but that's a bit hard on a plane. Places like Disneyland it's pretty much impossible so you just have to know that is a side effect of going there.
 
i've had some ask to take photos. i've always left it up to my kids to decide.

i have found, though, that it's not locals who are taking the photos, but mainlanders.
 
The weirdest thing happened to us a few days ago. Hubby and I were in the MTR with our baby next to us in the stroller and as usual, we were surrounded by people checking their iphones, when coincidentally hubby discovered our baby's picture on one of the screens. Before he could even react, the woman had already uploaded the picture onto her Facebook page!!! We then told her to delete the picture again and to remove it from her page, which she did, but it still bothered me a lot.
It's one thing to take a random picture of a baby, but to upload it to Facebook without asking for permission is a totally different story. Or how would you react?
 
When we arrived in HK, having a new born, I just didn't know how to react. I was proud of my son and of all this interest... till they started to pick him up straight from my arms to take pictures !! Now I see red immediately and it's a "no no". I just learned how to say it in Mandarin, and they generally get it very quickly ! I never cared about being offensive, as they didn't care being intrusive !
 
Well put Frenchy. I'll just have to put my foot down and be a little rude if necessary.

I'm concerned with what these people, often times grown men, intend to do with these pictures of my little girls, especially that guy on the plane!
 
i don't think there is any need to assign perversions to these people. it is more likely that:
1) they don't often get to see little white kids where they come from
2) your child is cute
3) they are the kind that take photos of everyone and everything

if you are uncomfortable, then definitely put your foot down. but really, it is a cultural thing and just because they like to take photos of your child does NOT mean they are paedophiles.
 
Carang- I'm not saying that all of them are pedophiles. Nor do I think that they are just because they snap a picture of my kids, but I'm also not naive enough to think that just because I'm in another country my children are immune to perverts either.
 
would agree- think it is mostly mainlanders and they take pictures of ANYTHING! not great but what my friends have done is just to pick up the baby and leave...they get the picture! it really isn't meant to be offensive in nature, just a cultural thing i believe because they rarely see western babies - particularly blue eyed blonde ones....unfortunately...
 
I will second that they will take photos of anything. At Christmas my niece was stopped on the MTR platform and asked if she could be photographed. They told her it was because she was so beautiful. (This is easy to believe she is a lovely looking young woman.)

So when my best friend and I (two 50 year olds) where stopped to be photographed on Repluse Bay Beach we assumed it was because we too were so beautiful!
 
carang said:
i've had some ask to take photos. i've always left it up to my kids to decide.

i have found, though, that it's not locals who are taking the photos, but mainlanders.
Click to expand...

Yep. It's probably not local HK people--they've got better things to do with their time and have a stronger sense of privacy. You're encountering Mainlanders, I'm pretty sure. If it bothered me or creeped me out I would approach them and tell them not to do it or even contact the air flight staff as that behavior is intrusive.
 
My tactic is, if I realize my daughter is not comfortable, to move really close to my child, either whisper something into her ear or give her a big long kiss on the cheek, to block the camera. The "photographer" usually gets the hint.
 
My son (almost 7) gets pretty uncomfortable when people try to take pics of him so he says no but my daughter (almost 2) loves it now! We were in central yesterday and she was out of her buggy in a shopping mall and there were mainland tourists taking pics of themselves, she smiled at me and said "mummy pictures... cheese" and walked straight into the middle of them to get her pic taken too! They were all laughing and then asked could they take a pic of her... I could hardly say no when she instigated the whole thing!
 
That's pretty cute Amy:) I have mixed feelings about the topic but if a situation were to ever make me or my child feel uncomfortable I'd definitely make it known. I get the same treatment when I'm out with my standard poodle. People are just fascinated to see one and can't help but take pictures.
 
I also am very mixed about this subject. In some ways, I don't really care, particularly if my kids aren't objecting... my first daughter has ALWAYS been "paparazzied" - she is mixed and is quite pretty if I may say so myself. My 2nd daughter is also gorgeous - but she has a form of dwarfism, and I'm much more protective of her. When people photograph her, it's easier for me to assume that it's because she's noticeably different. Many people around the world with dwarfism "struggle" with people taking photos of them everywhere they go - and if you look on youtube, there are a lot of videos of them obviously taken by strangers on their cell phones etc... It bothers me that my daughter may have to deal with that all her life, just because she looks "different". So for her, I have a MUCH stronger reaction now than I previously did before she was born...
 
Nicolejoy- I feel for your situation. Just reading your story makes my "Mommy instinct" kick in to over drive and want to protect your little girl from what in time could make her self-conscious.

Honestly, I didn't/don't have a problem with people taking pictures, that is until the guy on the plane. It was so intrusive and he took SO many pictures throughout the flight that it made my daughter, myself and my husband uncomfortable. In hindsight I wish I had asked the flight attendant to ask him to stop.
 
You know what? A mainlander actually TOOK my baby out of my arms and took him to her seat a few months back when we were on a plane! She didn't take the hint when I turned away from her (with baby in my arms). She just leant over and TOOK him! I was shocked but when I looked over at my husband, he just gave the look of "she can't go far" (she was only two rows behind us) that I didn't react. Luckily, they didn't take him for long. Felt really uncomfortable and don't think I'll let anyone do that again!
 
Purple Flower -- I would have complained to the air crew. That is totally unacceptable.
And I'm sorry to stereotype, but I bet the majority of the staring / unwanted photo taking / touch other peoples' children are from mainland Chinese. Hong Kongers may be loud, but they are much more aware of privacy / etiquette issues with other peoples' kids.
 
I'm very defensive when it comes to protection of my baby especially when it's a mainlander that approach us. Aside of germs that any strangers can transmit to baby, I heard too many horror stories of baby traffickers. My friend was even offered to "sell" her baby while we were in Shenzhen few years ago..

http://english.cri.cn/6909/2011/07/28/53s650762.htm


To all mommy out there, beware. If someone were to make me n my family uncomfortable, I would deal it directly. I doubt the flight attendant would be able to stop this... It doesn't seem the person that took those pic know how to respect ppl at the first place... I cant speak the same "language" when the situation required...
 
This is a very hard topic to deal with. If they are determined to take a photo of your child, they will all but stalk you to get the right shot. My daughter (6.5) in particular has been "paparazzied" (love that term Nicolejoy) since the day we got to HK. I go through phases of 'eh - whatever' to 'extremely annoyed' and so does my daughter. There are a few hot spots for us where it can be almost prolific - HK Disneyland, Ocean Park, anywhere in TST and the beaches being the worst. It is mostly mainlanders, but we've also had issues with Japanese and South African tourists among others. We had several incidences yesterday at HK Disneyland where people were constantly trying to get a shot of my daughter to the point I just put my hand over her face for much of the time we were there. On top of that, we had a mainland chinese man keep trying to get close enough while we were in line for "Small World" to try and touch her. He reached out a couple of times and I pulled her away so that she was eventually shielded by my husband and myself. It is one thing to take a photo, entirely another to touch. Some people seem almost obsessed with wanting to touch her hair and head. What is up with that? She hates it and it creeps me out.
Most of the time I ask my daughter if she is ok with people taking her photo and depending on her reaction allow, or not. Of course, people don't seem to understand no and just become more discreet (or so obviously indiscreet you can't help but roll your eyes) about it.

PurpleFlower - what that person did is totally NOT ok in my opinion. If anyone tried to wander off with one of my kids, plane or not, I would be going off at them and complaining.
 
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