Help needed for my feature story..

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  1. #11

    em, I digress...


  2. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by FatalRabbit:
    Hello all,

    I'm a student and lately I've been writing a feature story on the life of expats in Hong Kong. Here I would like to throw a few questions and hopefully you can help me know more about the subjects.

    1. how do you describe your working environment here? Are you satisfied with it?
    2. how do you think about the life here? Stressful or stress-free?
    3. Do you hang out with local people? How often?
    4. What do you think of the local people?

    If you have been here since before 1997, you are especially welcomed to help me with these:
    5. Do you think the government has done enough to attract people to come and work in Hong Kong?
    6. Statistics have shown that the number of expats in Hong Kong have dropped by 10,000 between 1996 to 2006. What do you think is the reason?

    You are welcomed to add something else

    Thank you so much!! I'm really looking forward to seeing your answers!
    1. how do you describe your working environment here? Are you satisfied with it?

    Overall I am satisfied with the working environment in HK. However the office I work in has a high expat population so I appreciate that my experience here may not be typical. Yes, the hours are longer but not so much so that the extra pay and lower tax aren't still worth it.

    2. how do you think about the life here? Stressful or stress-free?

    Life here is stressful but not terribly more so than living in other busy major cities. Most of the really big stresses I have about living here come from my lack of understanding of what is going on around me at times. So much about Hong Kong is familiar but an awful lot of it just doesn't make sense which can be stressful if you are many miles from home.

    However I do think Hong Kong has some particular stress-inducing problems all of its own. Firstly, the levels of customer service in almost all areas of business are quite frankly appalling. Whilst I generally find Hong Kong locals to be friendly and helpful individually, in any form of business transaction there is usually an unfair and inflexible 'company policy' to contend with if anything goes wrong. I feel Hong Kong is decades behind the West in this regard which I think definitely adds to people's stress levels.

    Secondly (a personal thing this, I doubt many people get as upset by this as I do!), everybody here walks really, really slowly and across the whole pavement! If you walk faster than a zombie in concrete or are in a hurry you either have to barge people out of the way or weave in between people. That definitely gets me stressed!

    Finally, I really don't like the huge levels of inequality that exist here. I know there is no such thing as totally equal society - inequality exists everywhere. But here in Hong Kong it is just accepted as the way of things which I think stinks. The way certain groups of people are treated is criminal in my book and definitely reflects badly on Hong Kong and its people. And it's not just local Hong Kong Chinese I'm talking about here. I have seen expats behave towards people in Hong Kong in a way they would never get away with at home. Trouble is that people see that as normal.

    3. Do you hang out with local people? How often?

    Not as much as I'd like to. It is natural for people to gravitate towards people like them but I really feel I have been lazy so far in not getting to know more local people.

    I don't feel Hong Kong is as segregated as some people make out either. I have had several opportunities to mix with local people socially and I have done so and I enjoyed it. But I should make more of an effort to meet more locals.

    4. What do you think of the local people?

    In general I think they are friendly and helpful. I don't speak a word of Cantonese (except m'goy!) so obviously my interaction with a large portion of the population is limited. But I normally find people eager to help if need be. I love the can-do attitude most people seem to have here. My wife bought a vacuum cleaner from a classified ad and the guy delivered it to our door an hour later, even though we were happy to come to him to pick it up. Most things can be accomplished in half the time than back in London and it's a brilliant attitude to have in my book.

    Well - that's my two pennies worth. If you want any more detail feel free to pm me!

  3. #13

    Thanks for the sharing!!


  4. #14

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    1. how do you describe your working environment here? Are you satisfied with it?

    My working environment here is substantially the same in terms of work, hours, responsibilities etc that I had in NZ and Australia - mainly because we are an almost exclusively international firm and a whole group of people all moved together. The only difference is the offices -which are smaller and less nice, but it's marginal.

    2. how do you think about the life here? Stressful or stress-free?

    I actually find HK less stressful than New Zealand. I was an expat there too. I find HK local's more welcoming and tolerant of foreigners than NZ people (many are welcoming, the rest just ignore you, whereas in NZ many were positively not welcoming and nobody ignored us!). there are many things that are easier here than NZ - easier to fly away on holiday; easier transport (so nice not to have to drive!); shops have everything you need (once you ask someone where!); much better range of international food and great restaurants; lots to do; great hiking and sports facilities.

    BIG downside is the pollution - this is VERY big as a downside and needs tackling.

    3. Do you hang out with local people? How often?
    Yes - for business and also I go hiking with local people (out of choice). I also play squash with a local lady. So, probably at least once or twice a week, often more than this.


    4. What do you think of the local people?
    I really like the local people I know - however, I think this is self-selection. These people are the ones who have reached out to others - who organise hikes for anyone to come along or who asked on geoexpat for squash partners etc. I don't think they are necessarily at all representative of the total local population in HK (for example, the hikers I know have zero interest in shopping or fashion or hello kitty, I do not think they are necessarily mainstream!).


  5. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Stu79:
    [B

    Secondly (a personal thing this, I doubt many people get as upset by this as I do!), everybody here walks really, really slowly and across the whole pavement! If you walk faster than a zombie in concrete or are in a hurry you either have to barge people out of the way or weave in between people. That definitely gets me stressed!
    LMAO!

    it seems to me that a lot of ppl here tend not to walk in a straight line'

    its not a a city its a bee hive!

  6. #16

    Join Date
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    locals locals

    Quote Originally Posted by FatalRabbit:
    Hello all,

    I'm a student and lately I've been writing a feature story on the life of expats in Hong Kong. Here I would like to throw a few questions and hopefully you can help me know more about the subjects.QUOTE=FatalRabbit;465901]Hello all,

    I'm a student and lately I've been writing a feature story on the life of expats in Hong Kong. Here I would like to throw a few questions and hopefully you can help me know more about the subjects.

    1. how do you describe your working environment here? Are you satisfied with it?

    The hours are very long but my working environment is fine/satisfactory. You have to watch your back though.

    2. how do you think about the life here? Stressful or stress-free?

    Very stressful, I do a lot of driving and everybody is dangerously aggressive to the point where they are simply assholes and idiots.

    3. Do you hang out with local people? How often?

    Ihang out w/- locals once or twice a week. We have a bbq once a week and invite a mixed crowd of expats and locals.

    4. What do you think of the local people?

    Interesting, often nice but often very, very rude and dirty - what's with the the way they mess in the toilets, they're not mammals..and stop eating everything that crawls and slithers for God's sake

    If you have been here since before 1997, you are especially welcomed to help me with these:
    5. Do you think the government has done enough to attract people to come and work in Hong Kong?
    6. Statistics have shown that the number of expats in Hong Kong have dropped by 10,000 between 1996 to 2006. What do you think is the reason?

    You are welcomed to add something else

    Thank you so much!! I'm really looking forward to seeing your answers!
    1. how do you describe your working environment here? Are you satisfied with it?

    The hours are very long but my working environment is fine/satisfactory. You have to watch your back though.

    2. how do you think about the life here? Stressful or stress-free?

    Very stressful, I do a lot of driving and everybody is dangerously aggressive to the point where they are simply assholes and idiots.

    3. Do you hang out with local people? How often?

    Ihang out w/- locals once or twice a week. We have a bbq once a week and invite a mixed crowd of expats and locals.

    4. What do you think of the local people?

    Interesting, often nice but often very, very rude and dirty - what's with the the way they mess in the toilets, they're not mammals..and stop eating everything that crawls and slithers for God's sake

    If you have been here since before 1997, you are especially welcomed to help me with these:
    5. Do you think the government has done enough to attract people to come and work in Hong Kong?
    6. Statistics have shown that the number of expats in Hong Kong have dropped by 10,000 between 1996 to 2006. What do you think is the reason?

  7. #17

    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by shukandanthony:
    If you have been here since before 1997, you are especially welcomed to help me with these:
    Alright then.

    Quote Originally Posted by shukandanthony:
    5. Do you think the government has done enough to attract people to come and work in Hong Kong?
    I can't imagine why on earth the government would have any business getting involved in 'attracting people to come to live in Hong Kong'. In a free market the government should ensure that the regulatory environment enables companies to bring in people with particular skills from overseas where necessary (because those skills are not available in Hong Kong) but has no particular reason to encourage it.

    Indeed, like most countries, if the government has a role it should be in helping to ensure that those skills that are needed are available in Hong Kong without bringing in people from overseas wherever possible.

    Quote Originally Posted by shukandanthony:
    6. Statistics have shown that the number of expats in Hong Kong have dropped by 10,000 between 1996 to 2006. What do you think is the reason?
    Presumably because an increasing number of employers are finding that they can find the skills they need locally and don't need to bring in as many staff from overseas? If the number is going down it is a good indication for a country. If it is going up it suggests there are skills gaps which need to be addressed.

    So generally the picture you paint is a very positive one for Hong Kong but of course there are still distortions due to, amongst other things, government policy and institutionalised corruption. Some of the 'colonial' distortions went at the handover but of course some new ones came in too. In some areas the colonial old-boy network is to a large extent being replaced by a very similar mainland China Communist Party old-boy network.
    Last edited by dipper; 21-04-2010 at 04:47 PM.