OPINIONS & UNCERTAINTY
By David G. McIntyre, Star-Bulletin
Hong Kong's reversion to China means a boom for
Andrew Leung's language school as more and more Hong Kong
residents feel the need to learn Mandarin, the official
language of mainland China.
Freedom
takes a back seat
Personal liberties are key to some
By Susan Kreifels
in Hong Kong, but to many,
other things are more vital
Star-BulletinHONG KONG -- Richard T.C. Leung, a Hong Kong banker who graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1979, thinks his home city is "close to perfect." Leung, a senior vice president for Republic National Bank, likes the lifestyle he's earned in Hong Kong's economic boom.
He enjoys the democracy Hong Kong residents tasted under the last years of British rule. He doesn't want to lose any of his freedoms under a Chinese government.
But at a gathering of Hong Kong-born residents who graduated from Hawaii universities, not everybody felt so strongly about personal freedoms. They represent the cross-section of opinions and uncertainty that mark this city as it prepares for a change of leadership Monday.
Iris Lam, with promotions at the Mayeelok boutique, graduated from UH almost a decade after Leung. Her cousins in Guangdong Province across the border are poor, and she's willing to live with a "different standard of democracy" under the Chinese if it helps raise her relatives' standard of living.
"At this time it's not the most important thing to demonstrate," Lam said about China's heavier hand on protests and media coverage. "It's more important for them to get shoes and have things to eat."
Allen Cheung, who earned a master's of business administration from Hawaii Pacific University in 1996, doesn't think much about personal freedoms, press censorship or the focus on human rights that has dominated much of the Western media coverage of the change here.
"The West is more concerned than Hong Kong people," said Cheung, a customer services specialist for AT&T. "I don't feel we need that much freedom. China takes Singapore as an example: taking care of business without much freedom."
To Cheung, smooth business and good relations with China are most important.
Leung doesn't expect changes in business "as long as we stay away from politics."
But Leung worries about the stuff of life that goes beyond making money. Older than the others in the group, he "bitterly recalls" the Hong Kong of the 1960s: poverty, squatters, corruption, unemployment. Life beyond business
He likes his success and the personal freedoms that have come with it.
"I enjoy my way of living. We enjoy quite a bit of freedom, freedom of speech. I don't want to lose any of this," he said.
"The future government of Hong Kong should know how to say 'no' if asked to do something that doesn't make sense."
Hong Kong people are known, however, for being pragmatic and making the best of their situation. Andrew Leung, marketing executive for MACH Mandarin Ltd. language school and a 1995 UH graduate, said he worries about freedoms being curtailed and corruption growing in a city known for its efficient, uncorrupted bureaucracy.
"But when it comes, we take it," Andrew Leung said. "There's nothing we can do about it. My friends and I always think we're not living in a perfect world. That makes it easier."
For him, the change means a boom for his language school, as more and more Hong Kong residents feel the need to learn Mandarin, the official Chinese language.
Nelson C.F. Lau, who received his MBA from Hawaii Pacific University in 1994, is studying Mandarin. Lau is assistant to the chairman at Pearl Investments (Hong Kong) Ltd. Establishing strong identity
Lau believes the end of British rule will help establish a greater identity for Hong Kong people, something the British education system has never fostered here.
"I don't know if I'm a British, Chinese or Hong Kong guy," Lau said. "A lot of people have the same feeling. Who do we belong to?
"I'm trying to find out more about the Chinese. After July 1, the government will try to let us know more about identification and try to get out more information about the history of China."
Lam said her first feelings of being Chinese developed when she attended a large protest of Chinese students in Washington, D.C., after the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989. "Then I said, 'I am Chinese. I have to go back.'"
To her, July 1 is an important day that she's been planning to celebrate with friends for the last 12 years.
For Lau, the day also brings anxiety about the future, a common feeling in this city of uncertainty.
"It's more of a psychological impact from anxiety," Lau said. "There's no immediate threat. But we don't know if they will change policy."
College opportunities
By Susan Kreifels
broaden for Hong Kong kids
Star-BulletinHONG KONG -- More international competition for students who now have more universities to choose from in Hong Kong makes selling Hawaii education here a tougher job. Marketing and specialization are the keys, educators and students said.
Australian universities promote heavily, and the number of distance-learning programs has grown considerably. On the other hand, increased wealth -- average per capita earnings were $250 in 1964, $25,000 now -- enables more families to send their children abroad to study. Education, like elsewhere in Asia, is valued highly here.
David Smith, chair professor of Applied Communications Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University, said the British departure will enhance a more egalitarian attitude toward education, rather than education only for the elite.
"There's a real possibility that the poorer Hong Kong people will decide they can have higher education," said Smith, who will be joining the University of Hawaii this school year. "Or at age 30 people can go to school."
The British administration has focused in recent years on improving education in the colony before it goes back to China July 1. The number of universities in Hong Kong, all of which are government supported, has increased from two before 1990 to seven, with one more coming. More than 100 distance-learning centers are based here, professors said.
The number of graduating high-school students who can attend
post-secondary education in Hong Kong has almost doubled, from 10 percent to 18 percent of the total.
Still, Hong Kong students rank No. 7 in the number of foreign students who attend university in the United States.
The University of Hawaii enrolled 293 Hong Kong students in the fall 1995 semester, but that number dropped to 128 last fall and 111 in the spring. UH officials had no explanation for the drop.
Hawaii Pacific University enrolled 226 students from Hong Kong in fall 1995, out of 1,793 students from Asia. David Lohmann, director of HPU's Institutional Advancement, said HPU will continue to promote in Hong Kong, especially in international business, rather than more generic degrees.
"Strategies will change but it bodes well for us," Lohmann said. "Cost is not an issue anymore. There's an increased demand for Western business education."
Although professors and students said a British education generally is still valued more highly, the education system in Hong Kong is now following the United States, the same as China.
Andrew Leung, marketing executive for MACH Mandarin Ltd. language school and a 1995 UH graduate, said it took four months for him to find a job, possibly because he had a degree from Hawaii. However, Leung and several other Hawaii graduates said they've never regretted studying in the state.
Nelson C.F. Lau, who received his MBA from Hawaii Pacific University in 1994 and is assistant to the chairman at Pearl Investments (Hong Kong) Ltd., said Hawaii was a good place to meet international students and was safe.
"It's a very good study environment, free from discrimination," Lau said, adding that his HPU internship in a bank was invaluable.
Connie Leong, a consultant for Carlington Executive Search who graduated from HPU in 1993, said the Asia-Pacific exposure she gained in Hawaii has given her an advantage in her job and has helped her communicate better with other Asians.
That should be one of Hawaii's selling points.
Eddie Yu, an associate professor in the Department of Business and Management at the City University of Hong Kong, said Hawaii offers the kind of East-West blend of perspectives that provides a good learning environment. Students said Hawaii's beauty and climate are still selling points.
Iris Lam, with promotions at the Mayeelok boutique, graduated from UH in 1988. Three brothers and sisters have also graduated there.
"It was the best part of my life. The blue sky, the beauty."
What they say
about Hong KongWho: Patricia Wong To, senior legal counsel for Dupont China Ltd.; from Honolulu, a graduate of St. Francis High School and Chaminade University. PATRICIA TO
The turnover: "The pending turnover has not affected my company and probably will not in the future, as we are heavily invested in China. Expect that more mainland companies in Hong Kong will opt to put their main offices in mainland China cities such as Shanghai and Beijing.
"As for the effect on law firms, British solicitors have been leaving Hong Kong for home as the handover approaches. The legal environment will become more Chinese. Increasingly, Chinese will be used as a legal language. Hong Kong's laws are being translated into Chinese, which will be used more frequently in the courts."
Hawaii-Hong Kong connections: "People will continue to look for more certainty in another country until Hong Kong's stability is proven. If Hawaii's investment environment is competitively attractive, it will also be considered by Hong Kongers. Hawaii's largest drawback is its inaccessibility by direct air routes, and secondarily, its lack of people expertise. Even if these qualified people exist, their presence does not appear to have been promoted to the potential Hong Kong investor."
Job opportunities: "Opportunities in Hong Kong will increase for professionals and other qualified people with knowledge of Chinese language and culture. But competition will increase as a greater number of Chinese mainlanders learn and are trained in English and gain expertise."
Maximizing
Hawaii educationHong Kong educators and graduates of Hawaii universities give these tips on how to maximize a Hawaii education to prepare students for the working world:
Specialize in areas of study. Convince students that the schools are highly reputable and will enhance their careers and help them find jobs. Don't focus on "fun and sun."
Hong Kong
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