Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
teenage children might be thrust into untried leadership roles as 'language
brokers' (Chee 2005): 'whenever they go shopping they have to grab me or
my brother to go with them, and let us do all the talking.'
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Repeat perform-
ances of such an inverted power hierarchy within the family create the
grounds for 'explosive generational dissonance' (Bartley and Spoonley
2008: 76), though the authors note that among their sample in Auckland
the evidence suggested a more placid re-arrangement of family roles.
While the temptations of consumer culture are familiar to children, slacker
discipline and more limited surveillance at school are new, making tempta-
tions more accessible than they might be in East Asia. Individual preference
rather than family obligations becomes a formerly unthinkable criterion for
personal decision-making. Family conflicts often emerged over education
when a child's aptitude for careers differed from parents' expectations. Not
untypical was this testimony from a school leaver in Vancouver:
When I first came here and I first decided that I want to take, like, drama,
music or design, she's [his mother] kind of, like, against it, right? Because in
Chinese culture the parents always want the children to take, like, science or
like business, or… to have a good career. They don't like their children to take,
like, art, to become an artist or whatever…
I won't go back to Hong Kong… If my mum told me to go to Hong Kong
to study I would say no for sure… I like Vancouver… there's stuff I want
to study that you can only study in Vancouver. Can't study in Hong Kong.
I want to do drama and music… I'm not going into science or whatever
(Waters 2003: 174-5).
Parents have a heavy stake in the success and happiness of their children
in Canada, for the well being of the child has loomed large in the decision
to migrate. The stakes are even higher in astronaut households, where the
isolation and emotional vulnerabilities of migration are magnified for par-
ents (Qiao 2007):
'My daughters now have the opportunity to pursue whatever they want,' says
Yiu, 50, whose marriage fell apart after several years as an astronaut's wife…
'I am so proud of my daughters; I even sacrificed my own marriage for them,'
Yiu says, adding that she is happy they are growing up in Canada and helping
her build the [family beauty products] business. 'This is the biggest reward I
have. They will never have to experience the constant pressures of living in a
busy, polluted city like Hong Kong; nor will they be solely focused on making
money, like so many Hong Kong people.'
Their absent father is occasionally present in kind: 'He calls the girls
before important events. He bought them a nice Mercedes-Benz and doesn't
hesitate to give them expensive gifts'.
