Institutional encounters and Hot topics in HK

I managed to beat the system and get my cash card pin number and use it!

Next challenge is the card for the gym--I am now signed up for the one hour course afterwhich I can get the card and use the gym.

I finally found my way to a local market where I can get things like kitchen items like drinking glasses, fruit, and vegetable without it being at american prices. It is within walkable distance.

The mall and everything else is being decorated for chinese new year--red for good luck and gold for prosperity. Everyone also fills their houses with flowers so the flower markets are arising. You are not supposed to clean on New Year's and if you sweep the day after, you are supposed to sweep inward. I will have to get some "lucky money" pouches and put some cash in it and put it under Karis's pillow on New Year's eve. You are supposed to have these to give our for two weeks to children you know.

I was at a meeting of the general education committee, overseen by the assoc. provost. I sat next to a woman who I work with and she would lean over and say "you need to weigh in on this point and emphasize the importance of this or that." Though a senior person, she did not say much. And you have to figure out what can really be discussed out in the open and what should be discussed behind the scenes. I've asked several people about westerners and "the rules" and they unanimously say that westerners do not have to follow any of the rules--you can speak up and say whatever you wish, etc.

I had lunch with a social work professor and asked questions about social problems and such. She said that social work is just starting in mainland chinese universities. I asked about the length of the work day. She said it was impossible to say "no" when your boss wanted you to work late. People don't want to lose their jobs and home obligations are not excuses of any kind. Both parents have to work to afford to live here and so the live-in houseworker is crucial. These, of course, are philipinos, who take children to lessons, etc. This all makes life incredibly intense. And you wonder if the time at work translates into greater productivity.

This professor also talked about gender issues--the university has no women at the upper levels. And of course, all decisions are made in informal settings among the men. When you get to formal meetings all the decisions have already been made beforehand. When such issues are raised, the men have no framework in which to process this. It is all quite fascinating. Americans who are here have to learn to live within this, which I think would be frustrating after awhile.

Language is a huge issue at the university. The university is supposed to be an english language university, but students do not come in prepared to do university-level work in english. In many ways this is all quite strange. I went to a choir concert last night and songs were in both chinese and english, but all introductions, etc. were in english. I looked around and I looked like the only person of European background in the audience. This emphasis on english is a necessity, but it means many are operating in a second language in something of an artificially-created context. And many faculty do not emphasize the english, so students are forced to the higher levels. And to add to the complication, mainland chinese don't speak cantonese, so english can sometimes be the intermediary language. What a challenge!

The entire university system and secondary system in Hong Kong is going through changes so it may mean that even more students are admitted with less than adequate english. And the culture is such that they only want to be able to understand at rudementary levels--utilitarian--not think in english. This is the same among many of the faculty.

These are all the reasons that Hong Kong employers do not want to employ Hong Kong university graduates, and it is the reason behind the addition of a GE component to university education and changes in secondary. Creativity, innovation, etc. are not fostered in the present system. There was just an article in the local paper that talked about mainland china wringing its hands over having no nobel prize winners.

The other big issue in Hong Kong right now is over democracy movements. The present governmental structure is complicated and involves (as I am trying to understand) representatives of trade unions, etc., mainland china, and some local representation. It is all very hard for me to understand, but there are protests as young people try to push it toward a more democratic system. It it an incredible balancing act between this movement and appeasing Beijing. Someone told me they thought that Beijing thought that after 20 years of economic prosperity nobody would care about democracy, which illustrated their lack of understanding. They are so incredibly removed.