Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Andy: We're planning to go back there when we retire. Actually she didn't
want to come back to Hong Kong.
Doreen (agitated): Yes, he forced me to come back. Twice!
Andy: The only reason I want to come back is to find a job. Because in
Canada it's not easy to find a job.
Planning Ahead
But if Hong Kong offers substantial economic returns, over time its limita-
tions can become grinding. Hong Kong (like the other Asian tigers) has a
very low birth rate, far below replacement, so that there is a constant need
to draw in labour. Where does family life fit in such a work-driven sched-
ule? By the late 1990s,
Ming Pao
journalists in Vancouver were detecting
the relocation of some Hong Kong returnees. Under the by-line 'Hong
Kong is not a place for children' one transnational biography was described.
Gary moved to a job in Hong Kong in an investment consultancy after
completing a Canadian engineering degree. Despite economic success, 'the
kind of life he was longing for… he needed to come back to Canada to
breathe' (Lam 2001). Gary's own words identified the contending pres-
sures he faced:
Hong Kong dances around the clock. There is no weekend; all the people
are busy in working or entertaining. Everyday I worked about 10 to 12
hours on average, watching investments of billions of US dollars moving
up and down. The strong competitive environment gave us no break. At
the beginning you wouldn't mind sacrificing your personal time for work
but that wouldn't last long… I grew tired of receiving emergency calls
from the office during holidays. My work and personal life were insepara-
ble. Life was so crowded that I could find no time for personal interests
and church life.
After three years, his wife became pregnant, and this life transition forced a
resolution to the conflicts he experienced. With the assessment that 'Hong
Kong is not a place for children' Gary returned to Vancouver to pursue a
more satisfying work-life balance.
Thinking ahead reverberated through the focus groups. Some of the young
college graduate returnees were anticipating the decision Gary had made, that
later they would repeat the strategy of their parents and move their children
overseas for schooling. With their Canadian passport such a trip would be
straightforward. Of course there would be the economic challenges of life in
Canada, but with their perfect English, Canadian degree and Asia-Pacific
experience their skills should be much more portable than those of their
