Proposal
Eliminating conflicts between Hong Kongers and
Mainlanders
Submitted by: Kelvin Chung, Chairman (Elected
member) of Sha Tin District Council
Date submitted: 15th July 2013
Executive Summary
Hong Kong has long been acclaimed as a
diversified and the racially harmonious Asian city over the world. This good
reputation, however, has faded away since the implementation of the Individual
Visit Scheme (IVS) by the Hong Kong government in 2003. The increasing number
of conflicts between Hong Kong people and Mainlanders has now taken the
spotlight in Hong Kong. The issues of national identity, cultural differences
between Hong Kong and mainland, and snatch at resources by mainlanders are believed
to be behind this phenomenon.
In this proposal, a series of possible
solutions addressing the aforementioned issues will be listed, focusing on
education and legislation. They are:
-Helping Hong Kong people realize their
identity as part of Chinese
-Optimizing the Existing Exporting System
(123 words)
1. Position
1.1 Implementation of IVS in 2003
Since the implementation of Individual Visit
Scheme (IVS) by the Hong Kong government in 2003, around 270 million Mainland
residents in the above 49 cities with permanent household registration are
eligible to apply for the relevant exit endorsement from the relevant Mainland
authorities. There is no quota on the number of endorsements to be issued.
Figure 1.1a and 1.1b demonstrate the dramatic growth in traveling to Hong Kong
through IVS over the past ten years. According to Hong Kong Tourism Board, over
23 million Mainland visitors came to Hong Kong under the IVS, up by 26.2% over
2011.
1.2 Impact after the practice of IVS
The influx of Mainlanders has brought great
negative impacts on Hong Kong, causing friction between citizens of the two
countries. The impacts extended to virtually all facets of the society of Hong
Kong, which then damaged the reputation of the city. Double-negative pregnant women
from China giving births in the city, the ignorance of Chinese children eating
noodles in the MTR, the provoking speech from Kong Qingdong, a Peking
University professor – all contribute to the rising tension between the two areas.
The higher the tension, the less harmony Hong Kong becomes; the less harmony
Hong Kong becomes, the worse the reputation.
(197
words)
2. Problems
2.1 Confusion of national identity by Hong
Kong residents
After the reign of the United Kingdom, the
residents have been reluctant to admit their national identity as Chinese. Also,
the local citizens have not only lost their senses of belonging for China even
though the city has been returned to China for 15years. According to the survey
conducted by The University of Hong Kong (2011), nearly two-thirds local
people still have not accepted their identity as Chinese.
2.2 Crashes due to cultural difference
between the two places
The gap of cultural difference between the two
geographical areas seems a
boundless sea that can never be crossed. For example, a video was captured on
January 15, 2012 in the MTR, showing a Mainland mother let her daughter eat
dried noodles in the paid area of the MTR, which behavior she assumed is
acceptable, however, is assumed not appropriate in Hong Kong.
2.3
Insufficient Goods supply for local citizens
The Scandals regarding
food quality in Mainland have driven the Mainlanders to Hong Kong to
finish their purchases, creating unreasonable demand for goods. Since the
practices of IVS, they started to consume daily necessities such as shampoos,
milk powder and medicinal oils more frequently. In 2012, more than 35 million
Chinese tourists traveled to the city for purchasing safe products and quality
baby foods (Markus, 2013). This phenomenon has increased the demand for necessities
significantly; meanwhile, the supply remains steady relatively. Understandably,
the latter becomes tight for the local citizens.
(308 words)
3. Possibilities
This proposal suggests a series of possible
solutions to eliminate the conflicts between citizens of the two geographical areas.
To solve this problem, more resources should be focused on Legislation and
Education. One way in which the government could do so is by further promoting
social harmony, establishing a task force and expanding the scope of ‘two-can
limit’ policy.
(59
words)
4. Proposal
4.1 Helping Hong Kong people realize their identity as part of Chinese
4.1.1 Enhancing mutual understanding between
Hong Kong and Mainland China for the general public
Mutual understanding should be promoted to
mitigate the social conflicts caused by misunderstanding (Burgess 2013). To raise general understanding of the Chinese culture and
daily life, Communication
Authority should make documentary programs and commercials, and
broadcast them through TVB
channel at 8 p.m. every Saturday; to clarify cultural differences, social
organizations like Caritas Hong Kong should organize talks and conferences in
which some local university professors and Mainland savants should be invited to
advice on achieving Hong Kong-Mainland integration. Hopefully, through
promoting mutual understanding, the resentment both parties hold against each other
would be gone.
4.1.2 Enhancing local teenagers’ understanding
towards Mainland China
The conflicts can be eliminated from bottom up
through education about the motherland. Besides TV programs and seminars,
education is another way to let students to learn China. Therefore, Education
Bureau should conduct irregular workshops explaining the cultural differences
in which students could gain insight into the causes of the conflicts. Besides
empty talks, according to The University of Western Australia (2013) students
can learn more about themselves and another culture through exchange programs.
The department should take reference and also organize more exchange programs
going to China, in which students could learn the culture and status quo of
China by real-life exposure. By putting theory into practice, the next
generation can be saved from the intensifying conflicts.
4.2 Optimizing the Existing Exporting System
To control the feverish demand for goods by
Mainlanders, the two-can policy should be further developed and a task force
should be established to monitor it. Since the implementation of two-can limit
for milk powder,
the unreasonable price and over demand of milk powder have dropped to a relatively
normal level. According to Dr.Ko Wing-man, Secretary for Food and Health, the
two-can limit on formulas could greatly discourage parallel traders from benefiting
from such business, in which they import formulas in Hong Kong, then sold the
formulas in Mainland, profiting from the currency advantage. In view of the
success, more money and manpower should be invested on this policy to expand
its scope and further secure the resources of the local people. For example,
the limit should be extended to other daily necessities such as on a trial basis.
It means that every person more than16 years old staying in Hong Kong in the
last 24 hours is eligible to carry only two bottles of milk powder, medicinal
oils and shampoos from Hong Kong. To enhance the enforcement of the policy and
reduce the burden of Customs and Excise Department, setting a team to closely
monitor the trade activities at the gate of immigration is needed. By strict
control on necessity exports, the demand is expected to drop further, which in
turn will minimize the conflicts effectively.
(509 words)
5. Conclusion
In conclusion, conflicts between the Hong Kongers and
Mainlanders have to be eliminated immediately before the situation becomes
worse. Solutions to the conflicts are needed. In this proposal, a range of solution including promotion of
social harmony and development of “two-can” policy is proposed to eliminate the
conflicts between Hong Kongers and Mainlanders. The validity of this proposal
will chiefly depend on the co-operation various departments of Hong Kong
government. If the proposal is proved to be effective, the government could
then apply it gradually.
(85 words)
Appendix
Figure 1.1a the growth in
traveling to Hong Kong through IVS 2002-2012 (Williams, 2012)
Figure 1.1b the summarizes of Hong Kong's
tourism performance in 2012(Hong Kong Tourism Board, 2012)
References:
Benefits of Student Exchange, . Retrieved July 20, 2013
from The University of Western Australia, Web site:
http://www.international.uwa.edu.au/students/exchange/benefits
Member Details of Sha Tin District Council (2011). . Retrieved
July 24, 2013
fromhttp://www.districtcouncils.gov.hk/st/en/2012_2015/member_details.html
Tourism Performance in 2012 (2011). . Retrieved July 24,
2013 from, Commerce and Economic Development Bureau Web site:
http://www.tourism.gov.hk/english/statistics/statistics_perform.html
Tsang & Nip (2013). Two-can
limit on milk powder to stop cross-border traders. Retrieved Month Date, from
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1141498/two-can-limit-milk-powder-stop-cross-border-traders?page=all
Yang,
W. (2013, May 18). Chinese tourists becoming infamous for bad behaviour
overseas. Retrieved from
By
November 2008, China reported an estimated 300,000 victims, with six infants dying
from kidney
stones and other kidney damage, and an estimated 54,000
babies being hospitalized. The chemical appeared to have been added to milk to
cause it to appear to have higher protein content. In a separate incident four
years before, watered-down milk had resulted in 13 infant deaths from
malnutrition.
