|
DEFINING A LIFE IN VANCOUVER
Sure, you
can make more money in Hong Kong and ascend the coporate ladder
But for lifestyle? Well...
The mayor of Taipei Ma Ying Jeou made a visit to Vancouver a while ago. In
a publc meeting, he told his admiring audience the fact that a news weekly
placed Taipei second among the best Asians cities to live in.
A Taiwan immigrant, a man who has a coffee shop in Vancouver earnestly asked Ma
to tell Mayor Owen how to run a better city when they met later in the day,
ignorant of the fact that Vancouver was rated the most livable city in the
world.
The thought that a man can live in a city without realizing the values that
contribute to its status as a city. This thought struck me forcibly as I mused
upon the differences among the three cities, Vancouver, Hong Kong, and Taipei.
In a program of Hong Kong Commercial Radio, the host was talking about the ebb
of the Hong Kong immigration tide. Last year, the number of immigrants from Hong
Kong to other countries reached its lowest point in 20 years. At 12,900, the
figure is lower than that before it was announced that Hong Kong would revert
back to China.
The immigration flow reached a high point in early 90's after the 1989 Tiananmen
Massacre with over 60,000 annually. The host said over 200,000 people have
"flowed back" to Hong Kong in the past three years.
The two guests in the programme then told the host why they retuned to Hong
Kong.They were the familiar reasons.
It is not easy to make a living in Canada. The environment does not favour
investment. Even if one gets a good job, one is faced with covert racial
discrimination, and promotion chances are slim. The life one leads in Canada is
that of a second-class citizen, they added. Interestingly, though, one of the
guests said frankly that he would not give up his Canadian citizenship.It is
better to have a good travel document, he said. The other guest had already
given up his Canadian citizenship because he wanted to become a candidate in a
political election.
They were right about better job opportunities in Hong Kong, better chances of
promotion, better investment (or speculation) conditions, much lower taxes.
Those who went back have made the right choices, if such things are important to
them. If the purpose of life is the pursuit of wealth. However, if the pursuit
of wealth is only a means to a better quality of life, then it is a different
story.
I was also thinking about what's important after meeing Tak-chiu Kok, a young
man who graduated from Simon Fraser University in the early 1990s. Kok
went back to Hong Kong shortly after graduation and in a short time made a name
for himself in the entertainment industry. He is a film director, an actor, a
sought-after radio host, and a hot host of a TV show.
He has directed four box-office hits and written over 30 film scripts. Over the
Chinese New Year, he came back to Vancouver to help SUCCESS raise funds; he was
one of the emcees in the entertainment spectacle for charity.
Incredibly, he told me that he does not yet have the savings to buy a 1,000
square feetapartment in the city district of Hong Kong, even after the financial
storm that has dropped real estate prices substantially.Kok advised a good
friend of his who lives in Vancouver not to move back to Hong Kong. Although his
friend's income is average, he can live in a downtown waterfront apartment and
own a car. Such a lifestyle in Hong Kong would need to be supported by an income
of the equivalent of $18,000 Canadian a month.
One thing Kok did not mention is that the pressure of work in Hong Kong is
sointense that even if you have an earning of $18,000 Canadian a month, you will
not have the leisure to enjoy life.
When I recently met my returnee friends in Hong Kong, and looked at their living
environment, their lifestyle and their quality of life, I could see that such
things were in no way comparable to what they got in Vancouver. It's true that
their incomes had increased, their buying power had tripled, and they had
Filipino home helps to take care of their children and their houses. They could
not spare time, quality or otherwise, with their children at a time when the
children need them most. The young children clang not to their parents but to
the home helps.
We are free to choose the life we lead. Each city has its own predominant
lifestyle andset of values. Vancouver, Hong Kong and Taipei are three different
cities, three different tales. If immigrants to Canada from Hong Kong or Taipei,
or other countries for that matter, impose their set of old values on Vancouver,
that is neither fair nor feasible.
Canada has a commonwealth social system. You can say that it limits
entrepreneurs and capitalists and even the ambition of the ordinary person. But
it has created a peaceful, stable and compassionate society. Hong Kong, on the
other hand, is an economic miracle, yet behind the success lies exploitation,
injustice and unfairness, and of course, hard work. The greater the risk, the
larger the possible return. To achieve success by trampling other people, you
may get a taste of success;other people will get the taste of bitterness.
A recent example exposed by the media there is that some staffers a MacDonald's
received only the hourly rate a little more than $2 Canadian per hour. There is
no minimum wage in Hong Kong.
Whether immigrants to Canada can enjoy life here ultimately boils down to this:
whether they can appreciate and identify with Canada's predominant values.To put
it in reverse, whether Canada can attract overseas immigrants rests ultimately
not in its investment environment but to its ability to promote its social
system and humanitarianism.
- By Gabriel
Yiu
*Edited version appeared on The Vancouver Sun Forum page on 11.3.2000
|
