What defines me as an individual?
I am Karson, a Hong Kong student studying in university. If somebody asks my identity, I will definitely answer that I am a Chinese instead of “Hong Konger”. However, some people may not. Since Hong Kong was the colonial of Britain before, the sense of identity and belonging towards China is generally low. Even though after the handover, some Hong Kong people are still very insistent about their Hong Konger’s identity. It is undeniable that Hong Kong is only an administrative region of China. We have to clarify the truth, China is our mother country and our nationality is Chinese.
What do I think about my generation?
I was born in 1980s, a true Post-80s. Regarding a series of social movements happened recently, like
- Anti-high speed railway protest,
- Marching to Liaison Office of the Central People's Government during January 1,
- Criticizing the politicians of pro-Beijing camp in City Forum (城市論壇) every Sunday,
- Intensely demanding for the abolishment of Functional Constituencies and
- Supporting the de facto referendum advocated by League of Social Democrats and Civic Party
Post-80s’ youngsters are the most active participator in the above-mentioned social movements. I will describe our generation is becoming more and more RADICAL. Post-80s’ youngsters claim that they are struggling for equality. They claim that the Hong Kong government only concern about the Central government and rich people, the social noises by general publics are being ignored. So, they have to protest and take part in social movements in order to reflect their disappointment towards the government. The purpose is to arouse the attention of the government.
The most important value in the society
Personally, I think the most important value in the society is mutual understanding. To alleviate the problem of youngsters become more radicalized, it is necessary to listen to their opinions. I think there is a room for the government to improve their communications with youngsters. Due to the technological advancement, youngsters are no longer to rely on traditional medium to express their views. They tend to heavily use Internet. So, the government has to make a better use of Internet for collecting various opinions. Setting up some blogs and chatting forums are some possible ways to allow the officials and publics communicating directly.
I do understand that the government is facing a dilemma between executing policies and balancing the social consensus. In current situation, no matter what policies is going to be implemented, there will be some opponents who against it. So, the government should increase the transparency during the execution. For instance, to hire independent companies to collect opinions from different classes of people, different political parties and different age groups. The aim is to make the consultations be more all-rounded and covering the vast majority.
It is an uphill task for the government to strike a balance before setting up a policy. If the government can stick to the principle of equity, I am optimistic that the controversies and conflicts can be minimized.
4/19/2010
Week 12: Winnie
Week 12: Who Are You?
To be honest, I found it very difficult to answer the question “who are you?”, because I would not call myself a “Hong Konger”, yet, I could not call myself an “American-born Chinese” (ABC) either. Growing up in the U.S. did made me feel like an “American” back then, but after moving back to Hong Kong, I had to readjust myself to the local Hong Kong culture, despite the fact that I still do not understand some local traits. For example, when I first watched the local cartoon movie “My Life as McDull” (麥兜故事), a film that reflects the local society, with some elements hinting towards the local government, I was totally clueless with the slang, the phrases, and the plot itself. While other people in the theater were laughing and nodding in agreement to the movie, I was quite blank and laughed at the wrong places. Thus, if I really had to define myself with a term, I would call myself a “third culture kid”, which “refers to someone who, as a child, has spent a significant period of time in one or more culture(s) other than his or her own, thus integrating elements of those cultures and their own birth culture, into a third culture”. This term is also similar to globalization, since third culture kids have often grown up in a “globalized culture”, instead of a single culture. So, I may be familiar with some things in
Two important collective memories I shared with my peers are the September 11 attacks and SARS. Although I was in
Meanwhile, one important value my father appreciated back in his days is survival. In the early days, my father underwent hardships—those were the difficult times when it was hard to get food and daily necessities. He told me that even after he got a job, he only had a salary of $60; out of those $60, he mailed $50 to his relatives in
One of my father’s dreams back then was to find his long-lost parents. My father and my grandparents got separated during the complicated period in
Also, another important value that my father really endorses, even now, is education. This is because back when he was young, he never had the chance to study much because of the hard times. Thus, my father’s dream is to obtain a better education. That’s why my father currently continues to seek education; he would take certificates and diploma courses in order to enhance his knowledge, because he feels that education helps one to be successful. Therefore, my parents are willing to pay more money for my siblings and me to go to university, hoping that we would achieve good grades and have successful careers. Compared to the current generation, I feel that the older generation values education a lot more. This is because back in the days, the older generation rarely had the chance to go to school to learn and was forced to go out and work, while people today were much luckier and could go to kindergarten until high school. In general, generation Y seems to value leisure and entertainment much more than education; education becomes something taken for granted.
However, my generation is generally more open-minded than the older generation. Looking at the news about post-80s, it appears that they are big supporters of democracy and human rights and know exactly what they want for
My parents have always said that I am very fortunate to be able to grow up in this generation, and to have studied and grown up overseas. I think so too. Even though at the beginning I felt like I did not fit in at all after coming back to Hong Kong, I have grown to appreciate all the different and weird experiences that I have gone through—because that is who I am.
References
“Third Culture Kid”
What is my dream? (By Ann)
What is my dream?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoxqh2sH7UY
My dream always changes. I want to be a teacher when I was studying in kindergarten because I feel that correcting other’s homework is a pride job. I want to be a nurse when I was studying primary school because I want to be a White-Angel and save those patients. I want to be a flight attendance after then because I want to travel around the world and see a lot of things. I want to adopt different
culture and live in different environment. Unfortunately, I become no dream until I was 12 years old. My last dream is become a housewife. On that day, I remember my teacher asks all the students to write down our dreams occupation in our student handbook and hand in to her. I was so hesitate that should I write the true answer on it? Will I being laugh by others? Finally, I wrote the truth that I want to be a housewife but the nightmare was came. One day, I got my mother’s call. She told me that my teacher was created a meeting for her and wants she can come with me which is about my dream so that I came with my mother to found my teacher. I almost can remember how nervous I was at that time. “Your daughter wants to be a housewife”. I didn’t know why I was so shame at that time. “Why everyone wants to become a lawyer or doctor but you only want to be a housewife?” I was cried. I really think that this experience really change my life. I really want to ask my teacher why I should be a lawyer or doctor. But I didn’t. I know that why everyone want to be a lawyer, because they can earn a lot of money and have authority to control others. I think that it’s a kind of socialization. Everyone has their role in the world and it becomes part of the sense of me. It seems that everyone should feedback their family and society, so I started to revise my dream and think again do I interest in become a lawyer? Should I change my mind and want to become a lawyer? But does everyone’s dream equal to my dream? Why I can’t have my own dream? Become a lawyer or teacher or doctor almost becomes a norm among my schoolmate at that time. I know that a society itself is formed through a plurality of shared norms, customs, values, traditions. I understand that everyone wants to strive for a better life, but why I cannot strive for a simply and quiet life? I don’t want to be a rich person, I just want to be a simply and ordinary people. Why my teacher force me to follow majority’s norm? I really don’t understand. But I accept it. I cannot deny that money is dominated in nowadays. Many people work for their entire life just want to buy a house. I cannot say that I don’t want money, but I prefer earn money in my interested method. Many people when choosing their major subject in university just focusing on the future but not their interest. I cannot say that it is wrong, but I really pride of myself that I can follow my interest in choosing my subject. But how about my dream? I still decided to follow my interest but in a silent way. Because it’s socialization, it’s life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoxqh2sH7UY
My dream always changes. I want to be a teacher when I was studying in kindergarten because I feel that correcting other’s homework is a pride job. I want to be a nurse when I was studying primary school because I want to be a White-Angel and save those patients. I want to be a flight attendance after then because I want to travel around the world and see a lot of things. I want to adopt different
culture and live in different environment. Unfortunately, I become no dream until I was 12 years old. My last dream is become a housewife. On that day, I remember my teacher asks all the students to write down our dreams occupation in our student handbook and hand in to her. I was so hesitate that should I write the true answer on it? Will I being laugh by others? Finally, I wrote the truth that I want to be a housewife but the nightmare was came. One day, I got my mother’s call. She told me that my teacher was created a meeting for her and wants she can come with me which is about my dream so that I came with my mother to found my teacher. I almost can remember how nervous I was at that time. “Your daughter wants to be a housewife”. I didn’t know why I was so shame at that time. “Why everyone wants to become a lawyer or doctor but you only want to be a housewife?” I was cried. I really think that this experience really change my life. I really want to ask my teacher why I should be a lawyer or doctor. But I didn’t. I know that why everyone want to be a lawyer, because they can earn a lot of money and have authority to control others. I think that it’s a kind of socialization. Everyone has their role in the world and it becomes part of the sense of me. It seems that everyone should feedback their family and society, so I started to revise my dream and think again do I interest in become a lawyer? Should I change my mind and want to become a lawyer? But does everyone’s dream equal to my dream? Why I can’t have my own dream? Become a lawyer or teacher or doctor almost becomes a norm among my schoolmate at that time. I know that a society itself is formed through a plurality of shared norms, customs, values, traditions. I understand that everyone wants to strive for a better life, but why I cannot strive for a simply and quiet life? I don’t want to be a rich person, I just want to be a simply and ordinary people. Why my teacher force me to follow majority’s norm? I really don’t understand. But I accept it. I cannot deny that money is dominated in nowadays. Many people work for their entire life just want to buy a house. I cannot say that I don’t want money, but I prefer earn money in my interested method. Many people when choosing their major subject in university just focusing on the future but not their interest. I cannot say that it is wrong, but I really pride of myself that I can follow my interest in choosing my subject. But how about my dream? I still decided to follow my interest but in a silent way. Because it’s socialization, it’s life.
Week 12, by Janice Kong
Chinese or Hong Konger? Although Hong Kong is a part of China, it was the colony of British. This makes us to think that we are separate from China and thus people are more used to say they are Hong Kongers. When people ask about my nationality, my answer is just the same as most Hong Kong people. However, now, I have hesitation about the answer. In the past, I was confidence to say I am a Hong Kong people. When telling others I am from Hong Kong, especially when visiting in the mainland China, seems that I am more superior. For me, the identity of Hong Kong carried a message of civilization. We are being educated, from in a modern city which is stable and prosperous. Thus, it is a positive label.
However, the advantages of Hong Kong are being deemphasized while the influential of China towards Hong Kong as well as the world is sharply increased in the recent years. The rapid development of economic and the great success of Beijing Olympic in 2008 have promoted the international status of China. At the same time, more and more national education and high coverage of news about China are received from the media over these 12 years. Combing with different reasons, my national identity of Chinese is being stronger and stronger. On the other hand, there are several fundamental problems that make China being criticized by the others, such as the problem of fake products and poor condition of human rights. As referring to the question of nationality, I remember a person has suggested a way to answer and I think I will do the same. That person suggested that whether answering you are Hong Kongers or Chinese, the best answer should depends on where you are and what topic is being discussed.
For many youngsters, most of us are confused about our nationality identity but the truth is that we do not take it as a serious issue to think it seriously. The political sense in our generation is relatively low. In contrast, we spend much time and effort on a virtual world. Mobile phone and computer become an essential part of our daily life. The all-in-one function mobile phones and computers have replaced many face to face interaction and real–life social activities with our family members and friends. We share and communicate with others by using the online communication tools such as facebook, Xanga, MSN etc. These communication tools allow us to share our messages no longer limited on text but delivering with images, sounds, video and audience can give instant responses to the sender. Thanks to the technology, many innovative communication styles are being found so as to provide a lot of fun and interesting to us. For example, Facebook is now the most popular communication network. One thing we enjoy most is to receive and give out instant comment with any friends. Sometimes, the comments are supportive and funny which let us feel cheerful. Teenagers are just hard to avoid and even addict on them as we value entertainment and social with friends.
To share about the use of Facebook with my mother, she is surprised about everything. As she is not a computer user, she does not know about the Internet. She is not only surprise with the convenient given in communication of Facebook but also teenagers now are sharing their personal life and feeling with people they even not familiar with. For their generation, people wrote down their feeling or ideas in diary which was not supposed to disclose. Although they also liked talking with friends, they only share their personal feeling with close friends or mostly they kept it as their own secrete. Therefore, it is hard for her to understand why people in our generation type everything on a public sphere.
I have also asked my mother about her media usage pattern or entertainment in her generation. However, due to the poor living condition when she was young, she said it was far away to afford any entertainment, let alone to have a radio. My mother was living in a village in mainland and gave help in the farm. “I only wanted no more farming work!”. When I asked my mother about what was her dream, she told me without hesitation. Finally, she was able to live in Hong Kong and her dream came true. The reason for my mother to leave farming is because of the instability and harshness she faced. Of course, due to the improvement on living condition, what I think and want are very different from my mother. It is hard to tell what I exactly want to do in my future career but I am looking for a job that I can develop myself. In the rest of the time, I can do some volunteer works and visit different parts of the world in order to work out my life in meaningful and enjoyable manners.
The developing of technology and growth of economic change what people pursue in their life as well as our values change. For me, some important values are still preserving and love is one of the most important values for us. The value of love is not only limit on the relationship between couples. People nowadays are also concern and looking for love on their friendship and family members. Although many of us do not know how to work it out, we seek love to make ourselves feeling affiliate and being valued. We value love because most of us still believe love is the core to bring happiness to our life. However, many people think Hong Kong is now a city where people value much on materialism, entertainment and are self-oriented. Despite of the importance of love to us, it is hard to deny that sometimes love have become related to materialism, entertainment and self-satisfaction. For many people, they are friends but they are each other’s partner for games only. Many women want to have true love but they also looking for men who can satisfy their needs on materials. In my opinion, it is difficult to tell it is good or bad, however, it is a way to preserve the tradition value while integrating with the present important value in our society.
No matter things are physically existing or intangible, we would like to preserve which we value in our generation. However, our society keeps changing in every minute. From the media, the life of the older generation is being informed. For example, we, this generation know the song Under the Lion Rock and the plastic bag, “Red, White, Blue” are symbols to represent the spirit of hard-working and flexible of the Hong Kongers but it is hard for us to receive the same sympathy as our parents. One day, the time we communicate with friends via Facebook, Xanga and MSN will also become the collectively memory of our generation.
However, the advantages of Hong Kong are being deemphasized while the influential of China towards Hong Kong as well as the world is sharply increased in the recent years. The rapid development of economic and the great success of Beijing Olympic in 2008 have promoted the international status of China. At the same time, more and more national education and high coverage of news about China are received from the media over these 12 years. Combing with different reasons, my national identity of Chinese is being stronger and stronger. On the other hand, there are several fundamental problems that make China being criticized by the others, such as the problem of fake products and poor condition of human rights. As referring to the question of nationality, I remember a person has suggested a way to answer and I think I will do the same. That person suggested that whether answering you are Hong Kongers or Chinese, the best answer should depends on where you are and what topic is being discussed.
For many youngsters, most of us are confused about our nationality identity but the truth is that we do not take it as a serious issue to think it seriously. The political sense in our generation is relatively low. In contrast, we spend much time and effort on a virtual world. Mobile phone and computer become an essential part of our daily life. The all-in-one function mobile phones and computers have replaced many face to face interaction and real–life social activities with our family members and friends. We share and communicate with others by using the online communication tools such as facebook, Xanga, MSN etc. These communication tools allow us to share our messages no longer limited on text but delivering with images, sounds, video and audience can give instant responses to the sender. Thanks to the technology, many innovative communication styles are being found so as to provide a lot of fun and interesting to us. For example, Facebook is now the most popular communication network. One thing we enjoy most is to receive and give out instant comment with any friends. Sometimes, the comments are supportive and funny which let us feel cheerful. Teenagers are just hard to avoid and even addict on them as we value entertainment and social with friends.
To share about the use of Facebook with my mother, she is surprised about everything. As she is not a computer user, she does not know about the Internet. She is not only surprise with the convenient given in communication of Facebook but also teenagers now are sharing their personal life and feeling with people they even not familiar with. For their generation, people wrote down their feeling or ideas in diary which was not supposed to disclose. Although they also liked talking with friends, they only share their personal feeling with close friends or mostly they kept it as their own secrete. Therefore, it is hard for her to understand why people in our generation type everything on a public sphere.
I have also asked my mother about her media usage pattern or entertainment in her generation. However, due to the poor living condition when she was young, she said it was far away to afford any entertainment, let alone to have a radio. My mother was living in a village in mainland and gave help in the farm. “I only wanted no more farming work!”. When I asked my mother about what was her dream, she told me without hesitation. Finally, she was able to live in Hong Kong and her dream came true. The reason for my mother to leave farming is because of the instability and harshness she faced. Of course, due to the improvement on living condition, what I think and want are very different from my mother. It is hard to tell what I exactly want to do in my future career but I am looking for a job that I can develop myself. In the rest of the time, I can do some volunteer works and visit different parts of the world in order to work out my life in meaningful and enjoyable manners.
The developing of technology and growth of economic change what people pursue in their life as well as our values change. For me, some important values are still preserving and love is one of the most important values for us. The value of love is not only limit on the relationship between couples. People nowadays are also concern and looking for love on their friendship and family members. Although many of us do not know how to work it out, we seek love to make ourselves feeling affiliate and being valued. We value love because most of us still believe love is the core to bring happiness to our life. However, many people think Hong Kong is now a city where people value much on materialism, entertainment and are self-oriented. Despite of the importance of love to us, it is hard to deny that sometimes love have become related to materialism, entertainment and self-satisfaction. For many people, they are friends but they are each other’s partner for games only. Many women want to have true love but they also looking for men who can satisfy their needs on materials. In my opinion, it is difficult to tell it is good or bad, however, it is a way to preserve the tradition value while integrating with the present important value in our society.
No matter things are physically existing or intangible, we would like to preserve which we value in our generation. However, our society keeps changing in every minute. From the media, the life of the older generation is being informed. For example, we, this generation know the song Under the Lion Rock and the plastic bag, “Red, White, Blue” are symbols to represent the spirit of hard-working and flexible of the Hong Kongers but it is hard for us to receive the same sympathy as our parents. One day, the time we communicate with friends via Facebook, Xanga and MSN will also become the collectively memory of our generation.
Ming Fearon -- Final Post
I suppose the biggest things that have served to define me are—as cliché as they may sound—my city and my family. I am a New Yorker in every sense of the word. I was born two blocks from where I grew up and had never lived anywhere but Manhattan until I came to Hong Kong to study in January for the semester. Like most New Yorkers, I hold the warped belief that the city (this excludes Staten Island, if I’m going to be a true snob) is a separate entity from the rest of the United States; I am a New Yorker first and an American second. I feel that this is important for me to mention because a lot of what I consider to be my political and ideological identity was shaped by the more liberal values of New York City, and contrasts with the more conservative nature of the rest of the country.
Other cities I have been to, such as Los Angeles, Athens, Paris, London, Seoul, Vienna, and especially Hong Kong, all have their charm. But when it comes down to it, none of them match the beauty and complexity of New York. I have a relationship with the city much like I would with a significant other; it aggravates me constantly and never ceases to stun me with its melodrama and numerous flaws. But after each fight, we make up and everything is right again. I feel a love for the city that makes it more than just a city to me.
My family has also played an important role in helping to establish my identity. My father grew up in a stereotypical Long Island suburb to two Irish Roman Catholics. To me, my father’s side of the family pretty much represents what it means to be “all-American” to outsiders: they are staunchly middle-class (both my grandfather and my father’s youngest brother were firefighters), embrace religion, drink a lot, eat a lot, laugh a lot, and love sports. They drive big cars and buy big TVs. They are literally pretty big people. Their kids are quarterbacks on their high school football teams and some of them have joined the military or the navy. Many of them are blonde or red-haired and very fair, and their kids will most likely continue to look that way, although my father was an exception. This is because my mother is from Hong Kong; she moved to the U.S. to get a master’s degree in Chemistry after attending Hong Kong University. She met my father in dental school and married him soon after graduation.
I relate a lot to my mother’s side of the family because I spent most of my childhood at my aunt’s house in Queens on weekends. Friday nights, Saturdays, and Sundays were spent playing with my cousins, going to Chinese school, attending piano and Tae Kwon Do lessons, receiving tutoring, and being subject to marathon, coma-inducing Dim Sum breakfasts with my relatives. I grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, which meant being Asian made me a relative minority. Being bi-racial has, to this day, caused me discomfort in a lot of situations. Anyone who is will say that. I watched a documentary about President Obama and a good majority of it dealt with his insecurities that he wasn’t “black enough” or “white enough” to satisfy his family or his constituents. I’ve often felt similarly, that my tendencies weren’t “white enough” for my friends on the Upper West Side, and that I wasn’t “Chinese enough” to suit my family.
It didn’t help that I didn’t relate to other kids that well because I spent whole weekends kept away from my friends, and, when I got older, the lack of Judaism in my life meant that I didn’t get to have my own pivotal coming-of-age ceremony, the bat mitzvah. As a whole, I felt pretty removed from people of my own generation until high school. Until that point, I had a very low opinion of my classmates’ intelligence and didn’t have much in common with them. For high school, I went to a specialized science high school, which is a nice way of saying that pretty much everyone who attended was a nerd, closeted or not. In high school I learned a great deal about myself and that there are tons of people in the world who are much more intelligent than I am in multitudes of ways.
I went from a performing arts middle school to a high school that shoved math, physics, and computer science down my throat. I couldn’t remember organic chemistry, but I had no trouble reciting passages from Nabokov’s Pale Fire. My math skills were never developed enough to place me in pre-calculus courses, but I took advanced English courses. I wrote for the school newspaper and went into college thinking I’d become a journalist. By the end of my freshman year the dream was dispelled to make way for a more specific goal: to work in publishing as an editor or in television as a producer. This goal changed because I think that no matter what happens in society, the people who get to control the messages sent out by the media are the ones who have the power. Media is supposed to be a check on government, but it is also a tool to inform the masses—or manipulate them. Therefore, it’s so important to have the right people to decide the kinds of messages that are sent out to the public and how they’re sent out. To me, this was a basic message that resonated throughout this course this semester. I always grew up thinking I wanted to do “something that matters.” This kind of job seems to fit those criteria.
Week 13: Self Reflection (Karen Lam)
Week 13: Self Reflection (Karen Lam)
I was born and live in Hong Kong for more than 20 years. I am a 100% local Hong Kong citizen. All the things, people, information and events around me formulate my identity as a Hong Konger. Cantonese is my mother language while English is my major learning instrument. I always go to Chinese restaurant to “Yum Cha” on Sunday with my family. Dim-sum, milk tea and egg tart are some of my favorite foods which represent the dining culture of Hong Kong. I love shopping in Tsim Sha Tsui and sing karaoke in Mongkok with my friends in the weekends. These are part of my daily life, which is closely related to the Hong Kong culture and every Hong Konger will share similar experience and habit.
Because of the demonstration of express railway, society put more concerns on the generation – “Post 80s”, which I belong to. Generally, our generation is always described as impetuous, lazy and irresponsible. To a large extent, such impressions towards post 80s mainly come from the media. For example, the news reporting about the chaos in the demonstration is one of the sources for the media to stereotype our generation. In fact, I don’t think our generation is that bad as the media descriptions. I do love my age and the collective memories that we share. For example, the handover of Hong Kong in 1997 and the bad times during SARS are some valuable memories among our age group. For me, joining the 4 June incident gathering last year gives me a deep impression and memory. 2009 is a remarkable year as the incident has passed for 20 years and it was the first time that I participate the event. When I was walking to the Victoria Park, I was wondering the majority would be old men and ladies. Unexpectedly, I saw many youngsters like me holding the white candles, sitting on the grassland. The theme of the gathering was “薪火相傳”and a group of university students came on the stage swearing that our generation would never forget the lesson learnt from history. The atmosphere was very touching at that night and it makes me feel proud of joining the event. From my viewpoint, post 80s is a group of people that is passionate, brave and rightful. And these characteristics are rarely founded in the older generations. Maybe it is because the older generations have much more other concerns other than fighting for justice, just like family and career burden. But no worries, I think now is a good time for us, the post 80s, to fight for the benefits for the society. Besides, some people may think our generation is lack of planning. However, I don’t think it is a weakness to us and oppositely we are flexible enough to adapt to the ever-changeable society. In fact, as a post 80s in the society nowadays, it is really hard to talk about “dream” achievement because of many restrictions and difficulties brought by the social system. For me, living healthily with my family without any worries is already an ideal life for me. The most important value is that no matter what kind of job you get in the future, never forget your reality and conscience.
I was born and live in Hong Kong for more than 20 years. I am a 100% local Hong Kong citizen. All the things, people, information and events around me formulate my identity as a Hong Konger. Cantonese is my mother language while English is my major learning instrument. I always go to Chinese restaurant to “Yum Cha” on Sunday with my family. Dim-sum, milk tea and egg tart are some of my favorite foods which represent the dining culture of Hong Kong. I love shopping in Tsim Sha Tsui and sing karaoke in Mongkok with my friends in the weekends. These are part of my daily life, which is closely related to the Hong Kong culture and every Hong Konger will share similar experience and habit.
Because of the demonstration of express railway, society put more concerns on the generation – “Post 80s”, which I belong to. Generally, our generation is always described as impetuous, lazy and irresponsible. To a large extent, such impressions towards post 80s mainly come from the media. For example, the news reporting about the chaos in the demonstration is one of the sources for the media to stereotype our generation. In fact, I don’t think our generation is that bad as the media descriptions. I do love my age and the collective memories that we share. For example, the handover of Hong Kong in 1997 and the bad times during SARS are some valuable memories among our age group. For me, joining the 4 June incident gathering last year gives me a deep impression and memory. 2009 is a remarkable year as the incident has passed for 20 years and it was the first time that I participate the event. When I was walking to the Victoria Park, I was wondering the majority would be old men and ladies. Unexpectedly, I saw many youngsters like me holding the white candles, sitting on the grassland. The theme of the gathering was “薪火相傳”and a group of university students came on the stage swearing that our generation would never forget the lesson learnt from history. The atmosphere was very touching at that night and it makes me feel proud of joining the event. From my viewpoint, post 80s is a group of people that is passionate, brave and rightful. And these characteristics are rarely founded in the older generations. Maybe it is because the older generations have much more other concerns other than fighting for justice, just like family and career burden. But no worries, I think now is a good time for us, the post 80s, to fight for the benefits for the society. Besides, some people may think our generation is lack of planning. However, I don’t think it is a weakness to us and oppositely we are flexible enough to adapt to the ever-changeable society. In fact, as a post 80s in the society nowadays, it is really hard to talk about “dream” achievement because of many restrictions and difficulties brought by the social system. For me, living healthily with my family without any worries is already an ideal life for me. The most important value is that no matter what kind of job you get in the future, never forget your reality and conscience.
4/13/2010
Week 11: The Generational Difference in Media Usage (Ming and Jackie)
Ming:
My dad was born in Flatbush, Brooklyn, in 1954, to a mother and father whose parents had all immigrated to the United States from Ireland and Wales. When he was five his parents and brothers moved to Seaford, Long Island, where they lived in a stereotypically sleepy, suburban neighborhood. My father grew up on a block of identical houses built right after World War II. Each house was a slightly different color, with a backyard, driveway, and front lawn. During his childhood he amused himself with sports and games he played with his three brothers.
My father remembers a television being an integral part of his childhood early on, from at least the age of eight. He was never allowed to watch it as much as he would have liked because my grandfather was very cynical and derisive of the device in general and referred to it as the “boob tube.” However, when my dad was allowed to watch it he recalls watching shows that he liked, such as “The Ed Sullivan Show” and “The Mod Squad.” When he was around my age, he remembers watching a lot of his favorite television show, “M*A*S*H.” Although he mostly listened to the radio as a child to hear his favorite baseball games, he later on watched TV more often to see his favorite baseball and football teams.
I can tell that the radio had a huge influence on my father’s life; he still listens to his favorite talk shows to this day, and falls asleep listening to the radio at night. My father said he clearly remembers what it was like to hear the Beatles first play when he was about nine or ten years old, but he also remembers watching them in black and white on television, playing a sold-out, frenzied concert at Shea Stadium in 1965. I grew up listening to the radio in the car, but unlike my father, the television played a much bigger role in my childhood than it did in his, and I rarely listen to the radio anymore, except for certain programs on National Public Radio. However, even those tend to be on podcasts and not when they are broadcasted on an actual radio.
Jackie:
My parents grew up in a very different setting than I. They both grew up in mainland China, whereas I was born and raised in New York City. During the 1970s and 1980s, my parents relied mostly on radio and print media to learn about what was going on in the world. Television was also a growing media at the time, but because it was not as easily accessible for my parents, it did not play much of a role in their lives. My father still, to this day, very rarely watches television.
My media usage both growing up and now, however, differs so enormously from my parents when they were my age. I grew up with the television being an important part of my life; I watched hours of cartoons every Saturday morning, and received much of my earlier education from shows such as Barney and Sesame Street. Having grown up in an electronic age, it is not surprising that I now rely mostly on the Internet and television for news. I do listen to the radio at times, but even then, I often stream it from the Internet or download podcasts through iTunes.
None of the media sources that I use now were available to my parents when they were my age, and I feel lucky to have such technologies. Although my parents both know how to use the Internet, neither of them use it to the extent that I do. They do not rely on online versions of newspapers like I do—my father reads Chinese print newspapers, and my mother watches the news on television or reads the free newspapers that are handed out on a daily basis in the New York City subway. My parents have an attachment to print newspapers because it is what they grew up with, even though to me, using the Internet seems so much more convenient.
My dad was born in Flatbush, Brooklyn, in 1954, to a mother and father whose parents had all immigrated to the United States from Ireland and Wales. When he was five his parents and brothers moved to Seaford, Long Island, where they lived in a stereotypically sleepy, suburban neighborhood. My father grew up on a block of identical houses built right after World War II. Each house was a slightly different color, with a backyard, driveway, and front lawn. During his childhood he amused himself with sports and games he played with his three brothers.
My father remembers a television being an integral part of his childhood early on, from at least the age of eight. He was never allowed to watch it as much as he would have liked because my grandfather was very cynical and derisive of the device in general and referred to it as the “boob tube.” However, when my dad was allowed to watch it he recalls watching shows that he liked, such as “The Ed Sullivan Show” and “The Mod Squad.” When he was around my age, he remembers watching a lot of his favorite television show, “M*A*S*H.” Although he mostly listened to the radio as a child to hear his favorite baseball games, he later on watched TV more often to see his favorite baseball and football teams.
I can tell that the radio had a huge influence on my father’s life; he still listens to his favorite talk shows to this day, and falls asleep listening to the radio at night. My father said he clearly remembers what it was like to hear the Beatles first play when he was about nine or ten years old, but he also remembers watching them in black and white on television, playing a sold-out, frenzied concert at Shea Stadium in 1965. I grew up listening to the radio in the car, but unlike my father, the television played a much bigger role in my childhood than it did in his, and I rarely listen to the radio anymore, except for certain programs on National Public Radio. However, even those tend to be on podcasts and not when they are broadcasted on an actual radio.
Jackie:
My parents grew up in a very different setting than I. They both grew up in mainland China, whereas I was born and raised in New York City. During the 1970s and 1980s, my parents relied mostly on radio and print media to learn about what was going on in the world. Television was also a growing media at the time, but because it was not as easily accessible for my parents, it did not play much of a role in their lives. My father still, to this day, very rarely watches television.
My media usage both growing up and now, however, differs so enormously from my parents when they were my age. I grew up with the television being an important part of my life; I watched hours of cartoons every Saturday morning, and received much of my earlier education from shows such as Barney and Sesame Street. Having grown up in an electronic age, it is not surprising that I now rely mostly on the Internet and television for news. I do listen to the radio at times, but even then, I often stream it from the Internet or download podcasts through iTunes.
None of the media sources that I use now were available to my parents when they were my age, and I feel lucky to have such technologies. Although my parents both know how to use the Internet, neither of them use it to the extent that I do. They do not rely on online versions of newspapers like I do—my father reads Chinese print newspapers, and my mother watches the news on television or reads the free newspapers that are handed out on a daily basis in the New York City subway. My parents have an attachment to print newspapers because it is what they grew up with, even though to me, using the Internet seems so much more convenient.
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