You are taking part in an essay competition organized by the SCMP and the Education Bureau. The title of the essay is “Hong Kong’s new problems”.
Write the essay. State what you think are the three most serious social problems in Hong Kong at present and discuss the effects, Then make suggestions on how to deal with these problems.
Hong Kong’s new problems
Being an international and cosmopolitan metropolis, Hong Kong has long been renowned as the “City of Attractiveness”. Yet, underneath the glittering façade, it has three other infamous names as well: the “City of Narrow-mindedness” representing its city-dwellers’ discrimination against the mainlanders, the “City of Disorder” representing its alarming frequency of social unrest and the “City of sadness” which represents the frequent cases of domestic violence. In this case, these 3 serious social problems could not be taken lightly.
First and foremost, being a “City of Narrow-mindedness”, Hong Kong citizens could not embrace the differences with the mainlanders. Take the recent alarming D&G case as a precedent. Our city dwellers protested angrily outside the D&G store in Tsim Sha Tsui; thanks to the sales assistants’ allowance of those mainlanders to take photos but forbidding the locals. From the above, despite our differences in culture, behavior should be taken into account in considering the rightfulness of our locals’ radical behavior. This hatred and hostility towards our counterparts will not only deteriorate our long-lasting cooperative and peaceful relationship, but more importantly, it will hinder the social harmony which affects the social stability.
Secondly, another infamous name which has profound relevance to our daily life is the “City of Disorder”. Day after day, political leaders and citizens protest outside the headquarters of the HKSAR government for political agitation, including an implementation of minimum wage, small-class teaching, raise in standard of Air quality in accordance with the WHO’s etc. These could be attributed to the weakness and ineptness of the government administration. I am not saying protests should not be carried out since it will harm the spirit of democracy and freedom of speech. However, if the situation continues to intensify, this will undoubtedly worsen the government’s credibility and escalates into a bigger chaos, which we could never imagine.
Last but not least, as a city of sadness, our citizens and the government should not watch the shocking increase in the cases of domestic violence with folded arms. Not only does domestic violence harm the family relationship, it will also lead to an increase in crime rate and a bad impact on children’s health and psychological development. These impacts will invariably damage social harmony and the happy future of our next generation.
To remedy the mentioned 3 most serious social problems in Hong Kong, the government, and the media should make concerted effort and spare no pains to eradicate these seeds of a worsening future.
To begin with, the government and the media should inculcate the citizens with the correct message of maintaining a peaceful relationship with the mainlanders. Advertisements and seminars could be launched in order to promote the importance of embracing differences. Moreover, more frequent cooperation, e.g. economic collaboration and cultural exchange programmes enables the different two to understand the merits and demerits of the counterparts, so as to get a deeper understanding of their backgrounds and culture. As a consequence, our mutual relationship could be improved and the social harmony could be preserved.
Secondly, to deal with the problem of social unrest and disorder, it is the government who should bear the most responsibility. Not only should the government delicate more resources in welfare, it should embark on more public consultations so that peoples will and demand could be raised effectively. The government should also take drastic measures, e.g. an improvement in air quality through better cooperation with the industries along the pearl river delta, an increase of reserve for the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance. (CSSA). These will greatly reduce the resentment of the citizens.
Last but not least, the government and the media should work cooperatively to eradicate the name of “City of Sadness”. First, the government should fill the loopholes in the social services system, such as employing more experienced social workers to investigate those unfortunate cases. It should also implement more construction projects so as to provide job vacancies for those unemployed. As their live improves, fewer conflicts and quarrels arise, this will inevitably reduce the cases of domestic violence. Moreover, the media should promote the message of the zero tolerance to the victims, so as to prevent another tragedy to happen.
All in all, an international metropolis does not only depend on its physical attractiveness and glamour, it is what inside the city that really matters. It Hong Kong could eradicate its names of the “city of Narrow-mindedness”, “City of Disorder” and “City of sadness”, then it will be truly worthy of its title as a metropolis.