Assignment
3: Causal Analysis Essay
Chung
Shun Hung, Kelvin (53038231)
Kung
Ka Chun, Desmond (53018821)
The
conflict between Hong Kong People and Mainlanders
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 Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) by the Hong Kong government in
2003. There are political and economical reasons behind. Among all reasons ,
the increasing number of conflicts between Hong Kong people and Mainlanders, which
is the first to be blamed for the deteriorating reputation, has taken the
spotlight in Hong Kong now.
Double-negative
pregnant women from China giving births in Hong Kong, ignorance of Chinese
Children eating noodles in the MTR, the provoking speech from Kong Qingdong, a
Peking University professor – all these intensified conflicts between two
parties. To solve these problems, one must know the contributing reasons.
Debates over the national
identity in Hong Kong caused the difference. Hong Kong was a British colony for
near ten decades. Most Hong Kong people are used to the style of British
governance so they prefer it over the governance by the Chinese government even
though the city has been returned to China for 15years. Hong Kong people not
only lost their senses of belonging for China after the reign of the United
Kingdom, but also denied their national identity. According to the survey
conducted by The University of Hong Kong (2011), nearly two out of three
local people still have not accepted their identity as Chinese. A city that has
long adapted the culture of a foreign regime is now forced to adapt the culture
of its motherland. The cultural differences, therefore, emerged, which in turn,
gave rise to the conflicts.
Cultural
differences, as aforementioned, and the tension between citizens of two regions
are responsible for the conflicts. For example, a video captured the incident
happened on January 15, 2012, a mainland mother let her daughter eat dried
noodles in the paid area of the MTR during which some noodle spilled onto the
floor. The argument took place when a local citizen pointed out their
mistake. The incident was posted onto Youtube. Others followed the trend and
uploaded videos when Mainlanders let their children urinate or even defecate on
the floor in MTR stations. The videos went viral. These examples were just tip
of the iceberg. As the cultural gap between Hong Kong and China remains wide,
solutions to the conflicts seem out of reach.
Apart from the
issue of cultural differences, snatching at Hong Kong resources by Mainlanders
is the catalyst for deepening the conflicts. Scandals regarding food quality
in Mainland have made Hong Kong a perfect place for them to finish their
purchases. They started to consume daily necessities such as shampoos, milk
powder and drinks more frequently. In 2012, more than 35 million Chinese
tourists traveled to Hong Kong for purchasing safe products and quality baby
foods (Markus, 2013). This number was alarming. The rapid demand has driven product
prices to nonsensically highs all over the city. The survey results recently
released by the Hong Kong Consumer Council (2013) indicated that the average
selling price of infant formula alone rose 17.3% last year. Understandably,
this phenomenon contributed to the drastic rise of the consumer price index.
The higher prices the goods are, the poorer the local citizens become; the
poorer the local citizens become, the more resentment they hold against Mainlanders.
Therefore, the snatch at Hong Kong resources has further led to deepening conflicts.
Conflicts between
the two parties have to be dealt immediately before the situation turns to be
worse. The government, therefore, is suggested to address the problems by acting
up on this, to regain the reputation.
(600 words)
References:
Hong Kong
Consumer Council (2013, May 13). The price of hong kong’s infant formula in
2012 reached new peak in 6 years. Retrieved from http://www.babychinaindustry.com/en/node/1150
Jung, Y.
(2012, february 8). Mainlanders vs. hong kongers. Retrieved from http://hjyaisiteru85.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/mainlanders-vs-hong-kongers/
Michelle,
L. (2003, July). Culture and conflict. Retrieved from
http://www.beyondintractability.org/bi-essay/culture-conflict
Robert, C. (2012, june 26). Hku
pop releases latest survey on hong kong people’s ethnic identity. Retrieved
from http://hkupop.hku.hk/english/release/release937.html
Yang, W. (2013, May 18). Chinese
tourists becoming infamous for bad behaviour overseas. Retrieved from
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