Do you regret moving to Hong Kong?

[bryant.english]

Isn't Hong Kong the second largest film producer in the world? There must be some creative people here......

We went to our favourite family spot today....people painting watercolours, other groups building and flying remote control planes and helicopters, parents flying kites with their kids......earlier we played little league rugby, the coaches are volunteers.....yesterday we went on a school outing to a farm in Kam Tin, played games, fed the goats and picked strawberries....

..................I like robots!

[threelittlepigs]

Yes if your kid of six year-old displayed high acumen in mathmatics and had set his hopes on being next big shot banker, yes, HK is the place. But if he occasionally dreamed about being an astronaut or an anthropologist, no, Hong Kong's research and development is at least few decades behind(or more than) major Western countries, at least in field of arts and humanities, and likely in most fields..

I agree with much of what you say especially the interview process. While the US is running out of money, the space programme is going to be scrapped so getting into the China space programme is much more likely. HK, like many Asian education systems, will crank out their share of bright math minds while the Americans can't even add (yes, a generalisation just as much as the robot comment). I think the various schooling methods will have to come closer together, and I think it will be closer to the asian model than the other way around, simply because all you need is one steve jobs and many other implementers.

[dear giant]

I agree with much of what you say especially the interview process. While the US is running out of money, the space programme is going to be scrapped so getting into the China space programme is much more likely. HK, like many Asian education systems, will crank out their share of bright math minds while the Americans can't even add (yes, a generalisation just as much as the robot comment). I think the various schooling methods will have to come closer together, and I think it will be closer to the asian model than the other way around, simply because all you need is one steve jobs and many other implementers.

I think that you're falling or have fallen victim to the constant barrage of "Us / the West is dying!!!" propaganda that the media feeds us here. Soviet citizens were fed similar sorts of news during the Cold War era. For its part, Japan was going to eat the USA alive in the 1980s.

China is currently replicating some of the feats of Soviet and American manned spaceflight c. the 1960s and 70s. Good for them. Meanwhile, the United States is launching a bigger, tougher Mars rover later this week and has explored the Solar System more thoroughly than any other nation (see NASA - Current Missions).

I highly doubt that China, in its current form, will do very much in space after it ticks enough boxes in terms of what other nations have accomplished to satisfy its leaders that the country has "arrived". The curiosity, drive to explore, etc. just isn't there culturally.

As for Mainland and HK students kicking American kids' butts in mathematics on standardized tests, standardized test / exam scores are what robotized young folks are good at. Unfortunately, most of those high scorers will go on to work as insurance agents, shop assistants, and the like. The ones with passion mostly emigrate to places like ... the United States and other Western countries.

Check out the lists of top-scoring countries in TIMSS and PISA. Does innovation come to mind? Not really, right?

[ipodaddict]

Really? Please, share your secrets.

Yea your "world" of the locals are the middle/upper-middle crust families in HK, reckon your significant other has worked at international/band-1 school now uni. Mat, do you have a slightest clue of how incredibly fortunate kids are at these so-called elite schools? How many parents in HK wish they could afford international school fees so that their children can have a more relaxed learning environment other than trying to squeeze into local band-1 schools, pushing their kids into the rat race from kindy? These schools have admission rate of less than 1%. Oh right, no doubt your social-cultural language is so well-rounded as you're so very into the "world of locals".

[Creative83]

Oh right, no doubt your social-cultural language is so well-rounded as you're so very into the "world of locals".

Isn't Mat French whose learnt English as a second language and then learnt Cantonese? I don't know about you, but I'd think he would have valuable perspectives on local culture that even locals couldn't see as he has more frame of reference to direct toward.

At first I thought you were creating an imaginary target and then assert yourself as though your imaginary target opposes your assertion in order to expand on what you believe you know.

But the quote above almost sound as though you're out to crush Mat any way possible.

[Mat]

Yea your "world" of the locals are the middle/upper-middle crust families in HK, reckon your significant other has worked at international/band-1 school now uni. Mat, do you have a slightest clue of how incredibly fortunate kids are at these so-called elite schools? How many parents in HK wish they could afford international school fees so that their children can have a more relaxed learning environment other than trying to squeeze into local band-1 schools, pushing their kids into the rat race from kindy? These schools have admission rate of less than 1%. Oh right, no doubt your social-cultural language is so well-rounded as you're so very into the "world of locals".

Apologies for not putting her resume online to argument with you....She has also work in a local secondary school in Tuen Mun (where she struggled to even get paid on time because the school was facing huge money issues, kids were for shady background and with a lot of "social problems", ranging from drugs......) very far from International and Band 1 schools (where she indeed taught as well) so, easy Lenny..
She also comes for a dirt poor background economically speaking, part of her family being in housing estate in Kwai Chung and Lok Fu (that is for the "lucky ones", the others are still in China "surviving" on odd jobs) so once again "attacking" me on my/her background is pure rubbish....but nice try.

But seems you seem to have reading issues I repeat it once again:

I NEVER said there was no pressure and it was easy to get in.....

I only disagree with the end results = robots...

Feel free to reply but I'd appreciate you do not retort to personal insults as you seem to be leaning towards this line of argumentation.

[hullexile]

I think that you're falling or have fallen victim to the constant barrage of "Us / the West is dying!!!" propaganda that the media feeds us here. Soviet citizens were fed similar sorts of news during the Cold War era. For its part, Japan was going to eat the USA alive in the 1980s.

China is currently replicating some of the feats of Soviet and American manned spaceflight c. the 1960s and 70s. Good for them. Meanwhile, the United States is launching a bigger, tougher Mars rover later this week and has explored the Solar System more thoroughly than any other nation (see NASA - Current Missions).

I highly doubt that China, in its current form, will do very much in space after it ticks enough boxes in terms of what other nations have accomplished to satisfy its leaders that the country has "arrived". The curiosity, drive to explore, etc. just isn't there culturally.

As for Mainland and HK students kicking American kids' butts in mathematics on standardized tests, standardized test / exam scores are what robotized young folks are good at. Unfortunately, most of those high scorers will go on to work as insurance agents, shop assistants, and the like. The ones with passion mostly emigrate to places like ... the United States and other Western countries.

Check out the lists of top-scoring countries in TIMSS and PISA. Does innovation come to mind? Not really, right?

And before Japan it was Sweden, Germany, then it was the Anglo world (mostly US and UK)..............

[wendyhk]

If the primary reason for the move is for your family to have more contact, you have options such as skype and webcams.

[nassaugirl]

Well I like HK. I did a stopover here when I was 16 and promised myself that I would live here one day. We are both Western, with no family here so does that make me impartial?! I've been here 2 years so far, with no plans to leave yet.

I agree with whoever said that nowhere is perfect and that there is no place where the grass is greener. I've lived in all kinds of places and there are things to love and hate in equal measure everywhere.

Plus, there is the matter of personal taste. One man's paradise is another's hell on earth. HK in all its gritty, crowded glory is much more my cup of tea than say a small nation in the Caribbean with crystal clear seas and sunny days, where I practically counted the days till I could leave.

Additionally, mindset is an issue. If you are determined to dislike something or someplace, it won't be great. HK has lots to offer. Enjoy your time here. No one is making you stay for good or asking you to like everything you find or see here.

[threelittlepigs]

As for Mainland and HK students kicking American kids' butts in mathematics on standardized tests, standardized test / exam scores are what robotized young folks are good at. Unfortunately, most of those high scorers will go on to work as insurance agents, shop assistants, and the like. The ones with passion mostly emigrate to places like ... the United States and other Western countries.

Check out the lists of top-scoring countries in TIMSS and PISA. Does innovation come to mind? Not really, right?

Funny, you should write that, a TIMSS (American study by the way) study has found that the US curriculum in Math is almost a full year behind global counterparts. US math teachers were found to teach to obtain answers while teachers in other countries help students understand math concepts. This goes against the generalisations that we see here. US teachers have more college education but Germany and Japan teachers go through a longer apprenticeship program and have more opportunities to discuss teaching-related issues. In the US the curriculum is set by each state and there is no national standard unlike most other countries. The most worrying trend US 12th graders did worse than US 8th graders, one of the few countries where this occurred. By poo-pooing test results because your country fared worse seems to be sour grapes and ostrich-like head in the sand. What I will give you is that those countries at the top are homogenous societies, so if you get the system right, the results will follow. The schools in the US vary too much between the best and the worst, so the average is pulled down by the poor students.

These results were also supported by an American Institutes for Research study (Jan 28th, 2005) of Singapore vs US math programs. If I can pick one conclusion from this study - US teaches mechanics of applying formula to routine, one-step problems rather than understanding the underlying concepts. Seems like it is the American student that is the robot. The US is better at applied maths and 21st century thinking skills - however, if they don't get the solid foundation that Singapore students have they will not be able to capitalise on those strengths.

I think those countries at the top of the list have had their fair share of innovations. No one makes as good consumer electronics as the Japanese and Koreans. The Taiwanese have mastered the art of manufacturing. Singapore - too small population to be meaningful comparisons to the rest. Sorry for digressing from the original topic. It would be interesting to see if there are more people that regret leaving here too early than those that regret coming here in the first place.