Compare and Contrast HK People's Orientations (Essay Sample)

HK people’s orientations and attitudes towards politics and towards economic inequality and social mobility
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Introduction
The terms Materialism, Instrumentalism, and familism have been employed in reference to the orientation and attitude of Hong Kong people. The term materialism entails putting more emphasize on possession of material things than spiritual wellbeing. Research indicates that young people in Hong Kong has a high correlation with material things than the elderly. On the other hand, the term materialism is a concept used by philosophers where scientific theories are considered less valuable in predicting particular phenomena. Hong Kong people valued working hard in their business; they wished that China could have a stable political system that is free from colonial masters. However, they feared politics and did not want to experience tribulations brought by the colonial masters. On the contrary, the word familism involves placing a higher value of family affairs than any individual or societal issues. Hong Kong people appreciated their families more than any other aspect of life. They put a high value on family issues than political matters. They believed that politics was dynamic, and contingent on numerous factors (Joel, & Beatrice, 2013). Empirical research study shows that Hong Kong (HK) has been commonly known as a city of both immigrants and emigrants. People used to flow regularly inside and outside the Hong Kong City. A significant number of people started migrating from Hong Kong to other parts of the world when Hong Kong Island becomes a colony for the Britons. Prior the Second World War, Hong Kong acted as a major hub for dealing with information, remittance, and a network of people coming in and outside the city (Joel, & Beatrice, 2013). The study focus to provide an insight by Comparing and contrasting Hong Kong people’s orientations and attitudes towards economic inequality and social mobility before the colonial era and after the 1997 era. Besides, the primary basis for the Hong Kong development after 1997 will be discussed1. Question 1 The changes of HK people based on their orientation and attitudes towards politics, economic inequality and social mobility between post-war and after 1997 can be compared and contrasted in various facets. Research indicates that Hong Kong people firmly believed in familism. During the post-war, family needs were paramount, and could not be equivocal to societal or political orientations. Additionally, Hong Kong people were more passive on issues pertaining politics. Their primary focus was on activities that could positively benefit the family rather than the society. Familism was also another major underlying concept that influenced their attitude and orientation towards politics and economic inequality. Hong Kong people gave family matters the priority, followed by issues pertaining material possession under the concept of materialism. Political participation took the last position in terms of priorities among the Chinese people. Such orientation played a significant role in rendering Chinese passive in their politics (Joel, & Beatrice, 2013). The contrast in terms of political, economic, and social orientation between young and old people took another angle as a result of industrialization. Children’s were sent abroad to acquired western civilization that changed their ways of thinking. Other people migrated from Hong Kong to other parts of the world to seek employment. The impact of such migration brought both positive and negative change among the Hong Kong people. The significant change was attributable to the young people who started viewing life from a different angle. Young people, who acquired western education, went back to Hong Kong, contributed to the industrialization of their city and country at large. Social evils such as corruption erupted due to development and industrialization of the economy. On the contrary, the employed people feared that the 1997 dynamism could lead to violence. The middle-level people feared that they could lose freedom, and their property. The opportunity for migrating into the Diaspora was made accessible. The majority of the Hong Kong people migrated to the U.S, Australia, and Canada. Statistical figures show that approximate sixty thousand emigrants from Hong Kong migrated every year to the Diaspora. The migration has led to a brain drain as Hong Kong elites utilize their skills to promote the economic development of the western countries. However, the opening of doors for immigrants to come to Hong Kong has created opportunity among the Chinese people. A significant number of investors have invested in Hong Kong. Also, entrepreneurs have emerged, leading to economic independence among the Hong Kong residents (Joel, & Beatrice, 2013). The inequality took various forms namely social-economic, and gender inequalities. Hong Kong believed that there were ample opportunities for hardworking nature of citizens. However, economic development and industrialization resulted into the emergence of different social classes of people. Those include; middle class, less skilled, and underprivileged people such as women and immigrants in the society. Further, there was one category of less educated people. The emergence of such social and economic class was a clear indication of inequality that faced the Hong Kong people. Inequality also occurred in terms of gender among Hong Kong families. The big question is what could be attributing such inequality given that Hong Kong has gone via tremendous industrial evaluation. Women have highly contributed to the development of the Hong Kong. However, the gap between men and women in term of inequality continued to widen up. Some of the areas where gender differences exist among Hong Kong families may be to attitude and believes that men are superior to women. A traditional belief exists that women are inferior; such attitude has denied women opportunity to lead or even invent something. People fail to accept the fact that women can come up with something or an innovation that is beneficial to the entire society (Joel, & Beatrice, 2013). Another area where inequality exists among men and women may be attributed to the early tradition that men are the family head and that they are supposed to make decisions in a family. On the contrary, women should follow, and obey the decisions made by their husband. Also, women should execute daily house chaos such as washing children, cleaning the house and cooking for the man. The magnitude of inequality among Hong Kong people does not only exist in the family alone but also in the employment sector. Men are highly paid than women having the equal qualification and responsibilities. Additionally, men occupied a higher position than women, and also they have a higher likely hood of being promoted than women. It was evident that women were meant to be housewives while men were supposed to be breadwinners. Further, women should be submissive to their husband and should obey their command (Joel, & Beatrice, 2013). The social mobility between the post-war colonial era & after 1997 occurred in various form. Those types include; movement of people from different social grouping to higher strata. An opportunity opened up, and people have something to do and become productive, such change was caused by the hardworking nature of Hong Kong citizen. Besides, emigration and immigration contributed significantly to social mobility. The migration was caused by the existence of a different system of government. Hong Kong people believed in capitalism and feared that the conversion of Hong Kong to China could lead to violence, given that Chinese believed in socialism. They feared caused approximate twenty-two thousand and four hundred people to move from Hong Kong to other parts of the word. The 1997 transition was another factor that contributed to the emigration of young and educated Hong Kong people. The majority of the emigrants were conversant with English and possessed some skill and expertise in different areas of specialization (Joel, & Beatrice, 2013). Another form of social mobility that took place after the post-war era and 1997 was immigration. The immigration took place via various forms such as; inflow of foreign experts, illegal and legal migration, labour importation, and coming back of emigrants commonly known as returnees. A large number of foreign nurses came to Hong Kong to work; they came with visas and took senior positions both in hospitals and in public sectors. Most of the professional immigrants came from the United States, Britain, and Europe. Moreover, foreign domestic employees were reported to flock in Hong Kong. A significant number of domestic workers were women who emanated from Philippines, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. Also, a large number of legal immigrants were reported, due to the high number of people flowing into the Hong Kong-mainland, strict control measures were put in place to regulate the number. Most of the legal immigrants came back to reunite with their families (Joel, & Beatrice, 2013).
On the other hand, cases of illegal immigrants were reported. Most of them came from Vietnam. The illegal immigrants were arrested, screened and deported into other countries. However, the deportation of illegal immigrants caused the productivity rate in Hong Kong to decline. Such decline caused the country to experience a server labour shortage. The government started allowing processing of visa for people with professional skills. Some of the skilled labour required include; operators, craft men and technician to come to Hong Kong. The last group of immigrants was people who returned to Hong Kong after obtaining passports from foreign countries. However, the number of returnees cannot be predicted with ...