DISCOVERING HONG KONG

唔該晒 KEY LUK!

Name: Key Luck

Age: 22

Country: Hong Kong

Everyone should visit Hong Kong even once in their lives. Hong Kong is a unique country, full of customs and traditions. We would be proud to show a part of our beautiful country.

Key Luk

We are grateful to Key Luk, without his help we had not been able to complete this final project for the Language and Culture's course. Key Luk, thank you very much.

Interview:

(Extract)

Me: Could you tell us about HK's popular customs?

Key Luk: The Celebration I enjoy the most is Lunar New Year Festival.

Me: Could you tell us something about this festival?

Key Luk: We celebrate a "new year" according to the Chinese Calendar. Each year has a special name and of course, it refers to an animal of Chinese Zodiac. For example this year is the "Year of the Goat".

Me: Oh..I see! and how do you celebrate this festival?

Key Luk: Most of people decorate their homes with gold and red stuffs. Red means happiness and love, and Gold means money. I cannot decorate my ome like that because the building where I live belongs to the state...

*He explained and wrote it on chinese characters.

(...)But we make a huge dinner and sometimes we go out to enjoy the activities like Lion's Dance, fireworks etc. Fireworks is really common here. We can see HK illuminated by fireworks on those days.(...)

*Traditional food of the Lunar New Year

HONG KONG - GEOGRAPHY

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF HONG KONG’S GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION

Hong Kong is an important administrative region located on the southern coast of China. Its capital is Victoria and its major areas are Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula, the New Territories, and the Outlying Islands which include more than 260 small islands. In spite of being one of the world’s commercial centers, Hong Kong enjoys some advantages and faces some disadvantages due to its geographical position.

In regard to Hong Kong's geographical aspects, this country stands on a volcanic territory that is extremely rugged and has little natural flat land, mainly in the north shore. The south shore, in contrast, is mostly urban area. Among its islands, Lantau Island is the biggest and largest one. The most mountainous area is Tsuen Wan and the highest peak is Tai Mo Shan while the lowest elevation is in South China Sea.

The geographical position of the Hong Kong has as a great impact on its development, especially, in economical terms. Thanks to its location between the Taiwan Straits, the South China Sea, and the Pacific Ocean, Hong Kong has become a strategic channel for sea traffic and a center for international trade. Along the coast are located wide harbours and deep waters, which have also supported the economy of the country and have made Hong Kong into an important sea station.

Despite Hong Kong’s geographical position has assured a great economy development, there are some disadvantages that the country has to face due to its location. As far as the major source of traffic flow is concerned, Hong Kong is located in a highly competitive economic zone, where its airport has to compete with the major airports located in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Besides, HK has difficulties to produce local food. Because of the predominance of hill and mountains in the region, hardly one percent of Hong Kong's land area is agriculturally cultivated. In this regard, HK depends on approximately 98% of imports, mostly from mainland China.

In conclusion, the favourable Hong Kong’s geographical position has contributed to the economic growth and to the development of the country as a whole. Its strategic location has made of Hong Kong an international center of trade and finance, very famous in the world. However, the competitive relations with nearby regions and the low percentage of agricultural production are the major disadvantages of its location.

HONG KONG - EDUCATION

HONGKONGER AND PERUVIAN SYSTEMS OF EDUCATION

Nowadays, there is no doubt why most Asian and European countries are considered First World countries: they prioritize a lot the quality of their education systems. Currently, the best systems of education in the world are from Asia, in contrast with the ones of the developing countries, which is reflected in the case of Hong Kong and Peru. Hong Kong occupied the fourth place in the last PISA results, while Peru occupied the last place. Although both bear some superficial similarities, the differences between the Hongkonger and Peruvian education systems are striking.

In regard to Hongkonger system of education, there are three types of schools provided by the Hong Kong Education Department: government schools, private schools and aided schools. The education is divided in four parts: six-year primary, three-year junior secondary, three-year senior secondary and higher education. Students start to attend primary education at the age of six. After passing the examination of 5th and 6h grade, students can enter to junior secondary. When they finish secondary education, they take one public examination known as the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination. Depending on the results of this exam, students can be admitted to one of the many universities in Hong Kong. However, they can decide to receive post-secondary education, vocational and tertiary courses offered by different institutions.

On the other hand, Peruvian educational system differs from Hong Kong’s. In Peru, there are only private schools and state schools. However, it exists a huge difference between these two kinds of schools, because many state schools located in rural zones are characterized by poor quality, while private schools are very prestigious and highly qualified. In addition, the Peruvian primary education start at the age of six and finishes at the age of sixteen. Thus, it takes eleven years to finish school: six-year primary education, and five-year secondary education. In contrast to Hong Kong, Peruvian students do not need to take any kind of national exam neither when they are in primary school nor in secondary school. They can attend the secondary school they want, it does not depend on their grades. Nevertheless, if they want to attend university, they will need to take an admission exam organized by each university.

In conclusion, Hong Kong and Peru has developed different education systems. In the case of Hong Kong, its educational system is very exam-orientated. We think this country needs to focus more on their students’ learning rather than exams. And in the case of Peru, we consider that the government must invest more on education in order to meet the basic needs of state schools such as infrastructure, classroom equipment and materials. So the students who live in rural zones can enjoy a better education.

HONG KONG - CULTURE

SOCIOCULTURAL ASPECTS OF HONG KONG

“Hong Kong has created one of the most successful societies on Earth.” The previous quote probably describe what most of the people think of HK, and it is certainly true. HK, home to the majority of skyscrapers and the richest people in the world, has many excellent things to offer. In this article, we will present fascinating sociocultural aspects of HK, a city that has long viewed itself as culturally superior to the rest of China because of its traditions, civility and free expression.

First, the Lunar New Year o Spring Festival is the biggest and long-awaited holiday, which is celebrated with a fusion of modern fun and ancient customs. It is celebrated with a three-day parade, luxurious shopping, giant fireworks, and a horse racing event. On another front, there are diverse traditional customs like decorating flowers or plants and giving them as a gift, which denote different good wishes. Another tradition for Hong Kongers is to travel and to visit temples. Visiting temples is important to pay respect to their ancestors and pray for good fortune in the coming year.

Second, Hong Kong’s literature is a fusion of British colonial, Chinese, and sea-trading culture. Most of HK English writers had traditionally focused on its colonial history but now writers had also a stronger connection with the cultural flux, mobility and mix of identities that define Hong Kong. Xu Xi, one of the city's pioneering English authors, published “Chinese Walls” and “The Unwalled City”, which explores Hong Kong history through the years. On the other hand, Hong Kong’s music is a mixture of traditional and popular genres. Cantopop, the local version of pop in Cantonese, was developed in the early 1970s. Besides, Cantonese opera preserve a long tradition within Hong Kong. Music, singing, martial arts, acrobatics and acting are all featured in that genre.

Third, Hong Kong District Council election is an important event happening these days in the city. Last Sunday 22nd, November, Hongkongers voted in district level elections. HK have non-compulsory voting system and its congress have 431 seats for each congress member. Moreover, last year the Umbrella Movement, composed of university students, protested in front of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress because of the electoral reform crafted by the Legislative Council, which put the Congress in charge of the election of the new Chief Executive (the head of the HK government). Now, this year's election had a 44% of attendants, and gave an unexpected result because the Democratic Party obtained less seat than last election. According to the previous events, everyone expected the Democratic Party to stand out these election.

To sum up, in HK, the Lunar New Year is the most important celebration, full of modernism and tradition. Moreover, culture in Hong Kong can be described as founded in China but widely influenced by Britain colonialism, which reflects in their literature, music, sports, etc. Finally, the recent HK District Council election is one of the most important political issues happening these days in Hong Kong.