Familism In Hong Kong Case Study

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Familism, in a broad sense, refers to the ideology that “the family is the centre of a person’s life”. It emphasized the loyalty, obedience and dedication to the family, and familial interests are prioritized over personal ones (unit 2, 28). After the Second World War, a large influx of migrants arrived Hong Kong. Since the majority of them came from China, they preserved the traditional Chinese family values, in which males are obligated to work and earn money for the family; females are responsible for chores and the education of children. They respect and take care of the elders in their family and families at that time usually had a strong bond. In the 1980s, a special type of familism was observed in Hong Kong, introduced by Lau Siu-kai’s …show more content…

In a survey targeting students with higher educational level, conducted by Breakthrough (2011), the result showed that more than 41% of the respondents answered that they chose their courses based on the prospective careers, instead of their personal interests; more than 43% of the respondents chose their courses because of the qualification that the courses may lead them to. In another survey targeting secondary school students, conducted by the Hong Kong Clerical and Professional Employees General Union (2017), the result showed that the students prioritize personal interests over the prospective career. Based on the above results, we can see that the students generally adopts the social ethos of instrumentalism, they chose what to learn based on their interests at the age of about 15, however, started to focus on what education can lead them to. From the report, the vice-president of the Union (2017) stated that, the result showed that the students did not have long-term planning, and did not consider whether their personal interests suit the relating career fields, and suggested that the government should advise the schools to provide more education on career planning. These opinions are in accord with the parents’ (or the general Hong Kong people’s). Parents, especially monster parents, send their children to endlessly many tutoring and interest …show more content…

One of the reasons can be the socioeconomic background of Hong Kong when the person was raised. People with materialistic value in Hong Kong are usually those raised in the 1970s and 1980s, when their family immigrated to Hong Kong and started to develop Hong Kong’s manufacturing industry. They consider themselves part of the economic success and are proud of their work. They did not take part in political activities because of the colonial governance and they are more dedicated to their families, due to their familism ideology. This is also a reason why they have the instrumentalist value towards work attitude, in which work is nothing more than a tool to satisfy their basic needs. When the new generation challenged the environment that they worked so hard for, they blamed the new generation since they still remembered the time when they were poor and had to work for food, and they feared that the fight for autonomy and freedom would bring them back to the old times, and they had to give up all the houses, stocks and money that they are having now. On the other hand, people with post-materialistic value in Hong Kong are those raised from the 1990s onwards, most of them did not need to worry about the finance of their family. Food and education are almost always guaranteed. Many of them do not care whether the economy will continue to grow or not, as they do not consider themselves part of

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