First innovation now maritime

[East_coast]

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...pping-industry

More innovative policy for the shipping support industries after the last resulted in a continued decline.

[East_coast]

It may also has to do with the fact that local employers do not really like self initiative from their employees, despite what they claim. Most local firms still operate in a hierarchy of strict top-down management and control. Whereas some multinational firms have adopted a degree of horizontal management and bottom-up initiatives, it is not the case in HK.

In HK, it is follow-my-orders and shut up. Doesn't exactly engender self-motivation from employees, does it? Not to mention the fact that those with drive and self-motivation are often cut down by office politics because they are seen as a "threat" to the rest of the office zombies.

Agree deference is often mistaken as a lack of creativity.

[tf19]

That pretty much mirrors my experience and wholeheartedly agree.

as I've mentioned in another post, S Korea has a very similar management structure and education system and hosts far fewer international companies. Yet they are leaps and bounds ahead of Hong Kong when it comes to innovation and technology.

I think it ultimately comes down to the high cost of living which creates the wrong incentives for workers - most young people have no other choice than to seek out high paying jobs (e.g., real estate, finance, law, etc) rather than engineering or product design careers which initially start out as lower paying but ultimately could lead to a more innovation focused career.

I would argue that it's less cultural problem but a structurally induced issue that stems from the outrageous cost of living. Unless we're suddenly flooded with technology talent from the PRC or elsewhere I don't see this problem going away in our lifetime.