bobad wrote "In Australasia a person of Hong Kong origin is categorised as a Honky." and (I suspect) cited Wikipedia as the source.

Curious. "Australasia" encompasses New Zealand (where I've not yet spent much time) and a few other parts outside Oz but I don't think I've ever come across the word outside references to American race culture. If an Australian wished to be offensive to them, people of Hong Kong origin were more likely to be called "Chinks" (n.) or "Chinky" (adj.) but I haven't seen or heard either word used (outside formal discussions of lore) since my youth.

And, to get back to the original question, Bert's "Just because 'because it is the best paying job they could get.' doesn't preclude them from performing the job with pride and doing the best that they can." expresses, more clearly than I did, what I meant when I wrote "If my destiny is to be a beggar I must try as hard as possible to be the best I can."

Cheers, Rowan