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In the past three decades, fire engineering has experienced fast development worldwide. Fire regulations for building industry were moved from prescriptive description to performance-based specification. This trend started in the UK in the 1980s and spread to other western countries. Hong Kong closely followed the UK development and adopted the approach of performance-based design (PBD) for the Hong Kong International Airport and MTR stations in the early 1990s. The Government of Hong Kong SAR formally recognised the PBD approach in the prescriptive codes of practice in the mid-1990s and developed the performance-based code (PBC) in the 2000s. This PBC was promulgated in 2011. The evolution in fire engineering impacted the fire community in Mainland China. The State Key Laboratory of Fire Science (SKLFS) was established in University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 1991. Then fire science and fire engineering stepped into the fast development track. The building industry in Mainland China started to adopt the PBD approach in the early 2000s for the significant developments including large airport terminals, railway and metro stations, super high-rise buildings, and mega commercial centres. However, a structured PBC system is not available within the regulatory framework to date. Adoption of PBD approach is slowing down in recent years. This paper presents a review of fire engineering development in Hong Kong and Mainland China. The review focuses on the development of the PBC in Hong Kong, and the PBD approach and fire research in Mainland China in the past 30 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the opening of the Stock Connect programs, the mainland China and Hong Kong stock markets are becoming more closely linked. In this paper, we develop a China's stock market risk early warning system. The proposed early warning system consists of three components. First, we use value at risk (VaR) to identify the stock market risk in which stock market risk is divided into multiple categories instead of two categories. Second, we construct a comprehensive indicator system in which basic indicators, technical indicators, overseas return rate indicators, and macroeconomic indicators are considered simultaneously. Third, we use four machine learning models, namely long short-term memory (LSTM), gate recurrent unit (GRU), multilayer perceptron (MLP), and EXtreme Gradient Boosting algorithm (XGBoost), to predict China's stock market risk. Experimental results show that: (1) Considering the macroeconomic indicators and basic indicators of Shanghai Composite Index (SSEC), ShenZhen Component Index (SZCZ) and Hang Seng Index (HSI) can significantly improve the performance of predicting China's stock market risk. (2) The opening of SH-HK Stock Connect program improves the predictive performance, but the opening of SZ-HK Stock Connect program decreases the predictive performance. (3) The indicators related to Hong Kong become more important after the SZ-HK Stock Connect program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collecting feedback from students through course, program and other evaluation questionnaires has become a costly and time consuming process for most colleges. Converting to data collection through the internet, rather than completion on paper, can result in a cheaper and more efficient process. This article examines several research questions which need to be answered to establish that results collected by the two modes of administration are equivalent. Data were gathered for a program evaluation questionnaire from undergraduate students at a university in Hong Kong. Students were able to choose between completion on paper or through the internet. In six of the seven Faculties the number of responses through each mode was roughly the same. Students in the Engineering Faculty favored the internet. Scores on the 14 out of 18 scales in the instrument showed small differences by mode of response, which became smaller still with controls for pertinent demographic variables. The main response question addressed in the study was whether there was any difference in the way respondents to the two modes interpreted the questions. The study demonstrated the equivalence of the two data sets by showing that both could be fitted to a common model with structural equation modeling (SEM). Five levels of tests of invariance further confirmed the comparability of data by mode of administration. This study, therefore suggests that changing to internet collection for course and program evaluations will not affect the comparability of ratings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese cultural conservatism used to participate in shaping the course of modernization to a large extent. In this paper, I aim to describe a hidden lineage of Chinese cultural conservatism of the twentieth century that is still alive and appears to be more and more influential in mainland China. Relying on several ideas developed by Neo-Confucians of the early twentieth century, Gan Yang's paper in 2007 represented a contemporary revival of Chinese cultural conservatism. More importantly, in recent years, this kind of revival of conservative discourse went through another big change, which not only matters to the self-underpinning of the legitimate basis of the current regime, but also combined with the political conservations related to the Hong Kong protest of 2019–2020 explains why this country is so ideologically different from the West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), there has been a proliferation of urban studies using big data. Yet, another type of urban research innovations that involve interdisciplinary thinking and methods remains underdeveloped. This paper represents an attempt to adopt a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) toolbox developed in Computer Science for the analysis of eye movement patterns in Psychology to answer urban mobility questions in Geography. The main idea is that both people's eye movements and travel behavior follow the stop-travel-stop pattern, which can be summarized using HMM. Methodological challenges were addressed by adjusting the HMM to analyze territory-wide travel survey data in Hong Kong, China. By using the adjusted toolbox to identify the activity-travel patterns of working adults in Hong Kong, two distinctive groups of balanced (38.4%) and work-oriented (61.6%) lifestyles were identified. With some notable exceptions, working adults living in the urban core were having a more work-oriented lifestyle. Those with a balanced lifestyle were having a relatively compact zone of non-work activities around their homes but a relatively long commuting distance. Furthermore, working females tend to spend more time at home than their counterparts, regardless of their marital status and lifestyle. Overall, this interdisciplinary research demonstrates an attempt to integrate spatial, temporal, and sequential information for understanding people's behavior in urban mobility research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper addresses the under-explored issue of the role of politics in the construction of masculinity, focusing specifically on political Confucianism and men’s doing of gender in the context of Hong Kong’s recent turbulent history. Between 2014 and 2016 we conducted a series of paired interviews and focus groups with 10 Hong Kong men from differing social backgrounds. Through cooperative grounded inquiry, we demonstrate how political events and figures provided points of reference for these men in the construction and performance of masculinities. We emphasize the importance of Confucian hierarchical harmony to gender performance, elaborating three cultural logics—respectability, responsibility, and romance—underpinning the doing of Hong Kong masculinities. We thereby shed light on the mutual constitution of personal and political selves and how men define and redefine masculine ideals in times of political turbulence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The search continues for a Chinese research university model that can balance quality and quantity in research and teaching. This paper argues that finding one depends upon deepening internationalization, defining educational sovereignty, and expanding university autonomy. The paper does this by examining selected aspects in the development of the research university systems of the Chinese mainland and China's Hong Kong, particularly with respect to the governance of research and teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do more than three-quarters of Hong Kong's senior secondary students flock to tutorial centres like moths to light? What is the 'magic' that is driving the popularity of the tutorial centre enterprise? Indeed, looking at the ongoing boom of tutorial centres in Hong Kong (there are almost 1,000 of them), it is difficult not to ask these questions. This paper examines the phenomenon of tutorial centres in Hong Kong and seeks to understand what draws students to these centres. Combining theories of marketing semiotics and emotion studies, the author investigates the pivotal role of media marketing in generating the 'magic' of tutorial centres, whose advertising strategy includes, for example, a display of billboard posters featuring stylishly-dressed 'celebrity teachers'. The author reviews some of the literature available on the subject of tutorial centres. In a case study approach, he then maps out the pedagogy he observed in an English tutorial class, seeking heuristic insights into the kind of teaching students in the study were looking for. He argues that part of the 'magical' attraction of what are essentially 'cram schools' is their formulaic pedagogy of teaching and reinforcing exam skills. Finally, the paper considers the social implications of the tutorial centre industry in terms of media marketing of education and unequal access to tutorial services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hong Kong and Singapore were former British colonies, have a predominant Chinese population and value. They began to develop quickly in the late 1960s, become financial hubs of the world in the 21st century. This paper reviews the tertiary education development of the two cities, particularly on the perspective of university rankings. It first elaborates about the emergence of university rankings, and the reason why it becomes a growing exercise, and who would be the benefactors of these exercises. Then it examines the performance of universities of the two cities in the international university ranking systems, makes a general assessment about the relative merits of the higher education systems in both cities. The paper requests ranking comparisons on the detailed items rather than just the sums, and argues that universities in the two cities are on par. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the data from the Population Census of 2011 to identify the characteristics of poor ethnic minority groups in Hong Kong and the factors that are associated with child poverty among these ethnic minorities. The results show that the child poverty level varies between different ethnic groups and that ethnic minorities from developing nations are likely to have a higher poverty level. In particular, Pakistani children have the highest poverty rate among all ethnic groups. The results also show that Pakistani, Nepalese, and Mixed (Chinese and Asian) nationalities have a higher child poverty rate than that of Chinese individuals who constitute the majority of the Hong Kong population. The main reason for this is that, unlike their Chinese counterparts, some of these ethnic minority households have not benefited from their own human capital or their length of exposure in the local society in Hong Kong. And even if they have benefited, the positive impact of these factors on ethnic minority households was much weaker compared to that of Chinese households. These results suggest that ethnic minorities need to be categorized as a separate group in order to assess their specific needs, and assimilation policies, especially support on Chinese language learning, need to be an integral part of the government’s poverty reduction strategy to reduce child poverty among ethnic minorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Partners in Health (PIH) scale is a measure designed to assess the generic knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and impacts of self-management. A cross-cultural adaptation of the PIH for use in Hong Kong was evaluated in this study. This paper reports the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of PIH (C-PIH[HK]).Method: A 12-item PIH was translated using forward-backward translation technique and reviewed by individuals with chronic diseases and health professionals. A total of 209 individuals with chronic diseases completed the scale. The construct validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability were evaluated in two waves.Results: The findings in Wave 1 (n = 73) provided acceptable psychometric properties of the C-PIH(HK) but supported the adaptation of question 5 to improve the cultural relevance, validity, and reliability of the scale. An adapted version of C-PIH(HK) was evaluated in Wave 2. The findings in Wave 2 (n = 136) demonstrated good construct validity and internal consistency of C-PIH(HK). A principal component analysis with Oblimin rotation yielded a 3-factor solution, and the Cronbach's alphas of the subscales ranged from 0.773 to 0.845. Participants were asked whether they perceived the self-management workshops they attended and education provided by health professionals as useful or not. The results showed that the C-PIH(HK) was able to discriminate those who agreed and those who disagreed related to the usefulness of individual health education (p < 0.0001 in all subscales) and workshops (p < 0.001 in the knowledge subscale) as hypothesized. The test-retest reliability was high (ICC = 0.818).Conclusion: A culturally adapted version of PIH for use in Hong Kong was evaluated. The study supported good construct validity, discriminate validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability of the C-PIH(HK). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between gender, academic achievement, and family functioning in a Chinese cultural background. Primary and secondary school students ( n = 1597) in Hong Kong participated in a survey questionnaire. Two competing hypotheses are derived and empirically tested based on the idea that parents are likely to have higher expectations toward their sons. First, when boys perform well academically, their parents might not feel particularly overjoyed because their sons simply achieved what they were expected to, which would not affect the parents' attitudes within the family and thus the boys' perceptions of the family. Second, when parents have such high expectations for their sons, they would feel particularly satisfied when the outcome fulfills their high expectations. The results indicated that boys did well academically to prevent their parents from potential disappointment, whereas parents were actually happier if their daughters overachieve because they have lower initial expectations. Such differences affected parents' attitudes, family functioning, and thus adolescents' view of family. The results of this study carry implications for the study of family functioning and parenting among Chinese families. In particular, parents should avoid having gender-based expectations toward their children, which could adversely affect how boys view their family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although computer assisted learning (CAL) is becoming increasingly popular, people with visual impairment face greater difficulty in accessing computer-assisted learning facilities. This is primarily because most of the current CAL facilities are not visually impaired friendly. People with visual impairment also do not normally have access to personal CAL facilities due to their high price, thus they may have access to public CAL facilities only, such as those provided by schools, libraries and community centers. A case study was carried out in Hong Kong to review the design of public CAL facilities for people with visual impairment. One of the findings shows that children with visual impairment face more barriers than others in using public CAL facilities. The design inclusiveness of the CAL facilities is low because children with visual impairment may find it difficult to approach, reach, manipulate and use the facilities. By applying the Universal Design Principles, this paper identifies the deficiencies in existing designs. The paper further identifies and discusses some key directions for improvements in design policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2012 all Hong Kong universities will be extending the length of the undergraduate degree from 3 to 4 years and adding General Education as a degree requirement. This reform initiative represents a unique case of comprehensive organizational change of higher education on an unprecedented scale. This paper examines several of the most significant contradictions and tensions facing this initiative-the current structure of higher education based on the British system and the prevailing culture of teaching and learning in Hong Kong. The nature of these pre-existing conditions, and their contradictory relationship to the substance and purpose of general and liberal education, are outlined. The contradictions and tensions generated by the general education initiative are situated within the larger organizational tension between theory and practice, and structure and action. The paper delineates some of the strategies developed to address the existing and emerging tensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of peripheral ports to dominant hubs has been well documented in North America and Europe, and has led to the elaboration of several theoretical models. However, although changes in containerization growth have been taking place in the South and East Asia in recent years, particularly in China, only a few studies have focused on this region. The Pearl (Zhujiang) River Delta (PRD) has a typical port system with hub and peripheral ports, and provides an excellent case for studying the Peripheral Challenge. This paper introduces the theoretical evidence of the Hayuth model and analyzes the evolution of the container port system in the PRD with five phases: 1) phase I: preconditions for change and phase II: initial container port development in the 1970s and early 1980s; 2) phase III: diffusion, consolidation, and port concentration in the middle and late 1980s; 3) phase IV: the load center in the 1990s; and (4) phase V: the Peripheral Challenge since the late 1990s. The results illustrate that the Shenzhen port presents mounting challenges to the Hong Kong port, descending from a transshipment hub of China to a regional load center of Southeast China. Furthermore, this paper explores five points that have led to the evolution of the port system in the PRD: 1) competition in the regional port systems; 2) different interested parties; 3) shift of investment strategies of international terminal operators; 4) integration of shipping networks and reorganization of carriers; and 5) cost-based competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings of an outdoor thermal comfort study conducted in Hong Kong using longitudinal experiments-an alternative approach to conventional transverse surveys. In a longitudinal experiment, the thermal sensations of a relatively small number of subjects over different environmental conditions are followed and evaluated. This allows an exploration of the effects of changing climatic conditions on thermal sensation, and thus can provide information that is not possible to acquire through the conventional transverse survey. The paper addresses the effects of changing wind and solar radiation conditions on thermal sensation. It examines the use of predicted mean vote (PMV) in the outdoor context and illustrates the use of an alternative thermal index-physiological equivalent temperature (PET). The paper supports the conventional assumption that thermal neutrality corresponds to thermal comfort. Finally, predictive formulas for estimating outdoor thermal sensation are presented as functions of air temperature, wind speed, solar radiation intensity and absolute humidity. According to the formulas, for a person in light clothing sitting under shade on a typical summer day in Hong Kong where the air temperature is about 28°C and relative humidity about 80%, a wind speed of about 1.6 m/s is needed to achieve neutral thermal sensation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recounting Hong Kong's chief executive election in 2007, this paper charts the unexpected appearance of an “unauthorized” candidate and the occurrence of vibrant campaigning. Further, as electoral competitiveness increased, the liberal form of authoritarian rule that has characterized politics in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) began to change in ways that parallel the electoral authoritarianism practiced in Singapore. This paper argues that such change, if regularized and enhanced, may bring greater stability to the HKSAR’s politics, yielding greater legitimacy, popular compliance, and hence, new efficiencies in control. Even so, analysis of the chief executive election shows that this competitiveness was strongly resisted by the central government in Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of urban decay in Hong Kong is getting worse recently; therefore, the importance of urban renewal in improving the physical environment conditions and the living standards of the citizens is widely recognized in the territory. However, it is not an easy task for the Hong Kong Government to prepare welcome urban renewal proposals because the citizens, professionals and other concerned parties have their own expectations which are difficult to be addressed all at the same time. Although it is impossible to satisfy all stakeholders concerning urban renewal, it is preferable to have proposals conforming to the interests of the majority and beneficial to the present and future generations. This paper adopts the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to work out the most sustainable design proposal for an area undergoing urban renewal. AHP is a robust multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) method for solving social, governmental and corporate decision problems. Since there is a lack of published papers demonstrating a systematic and effective way for urban renewal proposal assessment, this paper attempts to fill this gap with the help of AHP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, characteristics of mathematics classrooms in the East Asian countries1 of Hong Kong and Japan are discussed based on an analysis of the data of the TIMSS 1999 Video Study. The data shows that although students in these East Asian countries did not talk a lot in the classroom, they were exposed to more instructional content. The mathematics problems they worked on were set up mainly using mathematical language, and compared with the problems solved by students in other countries, the problems took a longer duration to solve and more proof was involved. According to the judgement of an expert panel on the Hong Kong lessons (Japan did not participate in this part of the study), more advanced contents were covered and the lessons were more coherent. The mathematics presentations were more developed, and the students were more likely to be engaged in the lessons. In sum, the overall quality of the teaching in this East Asian country was judged to be high. The findings show that high quality teaching and learning can take place even in a teacher directed classroom. It is argued that these East Asian classroom practices are deeply rooted in the underlying cultural values of the classroom and the wider society. The paper ends by drawing some implications of the study for the mathematics education community in other cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are living in a fast-changing, technology-driven world, where technology affects the daily lives of every person, directly or indirectly. While the importance of providing young children with technological knowledge and experience has been well-recognized, how the curriculum should be developed deserves greater study. Using early childhood education in Hong Kong as a case study, this paper argues that to be successful in planning and implementing a technology curriculum, we cannot consider only the technological aspects. We also need to take into consideration the social and cultural factors. Among various social and cultural factors, this paper focuses on: (a) the background of the students and their parents, (b) society's perceptions of technology, and (c) society's expectations of children who learn about technology, and (d) the approach and method of teaching and learning technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on triad activities in Hong Kong from 1997 to 2004. In opposition to the popular view that mass triad migration to Western countries would occur around the period when Hong Kong was turned over to Mainland China in 1997, what has actually happened is that in the last decade Hong Kong triad members have increasingly been found to enter the Chinese market. There are three general trends of triad activities in Hong Kong. First, triad members from various societies group together to run profitable criminal projects. Second, they team up with legitimate entrepreneurs to monopolize a newly developed market. Lastly, triad members increasingly invest in legitimate businesses. Sun Yee On, Wo Shing Wo, and 14K are selected to be three case studies that illustrate the latest development of triad societies. The data for this paper are largely based on the author's research on triads in the last ten years, and on recent in-depth interviews with anti-triad police officers and different informants in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses how a curriculum should be revised to nurture all-round engineering and product designers to meet new social and industrial needs. It first reviews the limitations of the current engineering and product design education, and argues that it is biased either towards the acquisition of engineering and technological knowledge and skills but not critical thinking skills; or towards the nurturing of so-called creative thinking, while ignoring the conducting of in-depth investigations. This paper uses Hong Kong as a case study to further identify new social and industrial needs. To meet these needs, it proposes the consideration of `Eight Cs' for the engineering and product design curriculum, that is: Competent, Comprehensive, Compulsory, Critical, Creative, Curious, Collaborative, and Continuous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amidst its growing popularity as an outcome measure of the service quality of residential aged care, self-reported resident satisfaction is criticized as non-discriminating since most residents tend to give very high satisfaction scores. Three explanations are identified from the literature to account for the apparent positivity bias of the satisfaction measure: namely consumer factors, the service nature of residential aged care and methodological pitfalls. Drawing on a cross-sectional survey of 405 Chinese residents across 11 randomly selected publicly funded care homes in Hong Kong, this paper highlights what could be done to deal with some of the methodological artefacts. This includes the construction and use of the four-item "Residential Care Satisfaction Scale" instead of a single satisfaction item, the adoption of a vigorous sampling method such as stratified random sampling in the selection of facilities, the inclusion of residents suffering from cognitive and/or physical impairment, and the empowerment of participants. Five cultural factors are then suggested to account for the participants' high satisfaction ratings of their facilities. The paper ends with further suggestions for enhancing the validity and usefulness of the self-reported satisfaction measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies in the field of comparative education take national education systems as the basic unit of analysis. The present paper has been conceived within this tradition, but has a different angle of approach. It focuses on 47 international schools in a small territory. Some of the international schools were grouped into larger systems but others were free-standing institutions. The focus of the paper thus lies at an intersection between cross-national and intra-national comparisons. It makes methodological observations on the nature of comparisons that are possible within such a microcosm, and on the conceptual lessons that can be derived from such analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The democratic elections that took place in Hong Kong before and after 1997 presented a unique opportunity for older people, politicians and government officials to take action to promote the participation of older people. There were, however, few significant projects undertaken to this end. This paper reports on recent research on political participation of older people in Hong Kong which found that they were active in voting but they were passive in other forms of participation. Factors affecting participation are more significantly related to politicians' mobilization than to civic education or work done by centres for the elderly. In the field, there is little awareness of using more effective strategies to address older people's political powerlessness. Strategies identified include: educational talks in local elderly centres, mock election games and meeting with candidates from different political parties. All these activities were locally based and not well articulated, and there were few concerted efforts to promote the political power and influence of older people at the central level. The present situation of older people in Hong Kong remains one of political powerlessness and the piecemeal strategies used to address the issue have so far had little impact. This paper suggests that political powerlessness is not a natural result of old age. It is a problem which is socially constructed. An analysis of the factors shaping this situation is presented. It also presents some suggested strategies for gerontological practice in promoting political empowerment among older people in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China (PRC) brought Hong Kong worldwide attention and scrutiny. In the run up to the handover, the international media prominently featured stories about Hong Kong's freewheeling capitalism and the stability created by its administrative institutions. Lost in the media attention was the role of nonprofit organizations and the voluntary sector in Hong Kong's political and economic development. Although Hong Kong has a vibrant civil society, it has received little attention from scholars. This paper reviews the role of the third sector in Hong Kong's development. Among the issues the paper addresses are the legal codes that govern the creation and operation of nonprofit organizations in Hong Kong, the evidence regarding the role of the nonprofit sector in Hong Kong's development, particularly its relationship to the government and market sectors, and the implications of the 1997 transition for the nonprofit sector's role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The higher education sector in Hong Kong has restructured substantially from elite to mass higher education since the introduction of education reform by the Hong Kong government in 2000. To stay ahead in this competitive environment in the education sector, management teams of self-financing institutions have to compete for students and identify key factors influencing students' choice of post-secondary programmes. This paper investigates factors affecting students' choice of sub-degree programmes in self-financing higher education institutions in Hong Kong. Importance-performance analysis was employed as an analytical tool to help institutions identify areas for improvement and utilize their resources more effectively. The findings show that institutions should find ways to improve areas of 'articulation', 'career services', 'financial aid' and 'programme design' in order to increase their competitiveness. The outcomes of this research will help management teams of self-financing higher education institutions enhance their overall strategic plan and enrolment processes in order to attract students in a context of increasing competition for students in the Hong Kong higher education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper was to examine the motives, the educational experiences, and the plan after graduation of a particular group of mainland Chinese students pursuing teacher education in Hong Kong by using a modified two-way push-and-pull model as our analytical framework. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. Participants were 130 prospective student teachers from The Hong Kong Institute of Education, the largest teacher training provider in Hong Kong. The findings confirm a long-standing concern regarding the lack of an English environment and internationalization in universities in mainland China. In addition, the majority of the participants were satisfied with the overall quality of the teacher education programs in Hong Kong. Finally, our participants were a very special group of mainland Chinese students because, unlike those on other academic programs such as business or computing, the graduates from teacher education programs do not have much transferable academic capital. When they decide to pursue their teacher training degrees in Hong Kong, they have already made up their mind to stay in Hong Kong after graduation. Thus, we extend the threefold classifications of mainland Chinese students studying overseas, as defined by Dimmock and Leong, by adding a new category-labeled 'settlers'-in their classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sleep is one of the basic human needs with a vital role in normal development and growth. However, sleep loss is a prevalent problem among school children and adolescents, leading to multiple academic and health consequences. Children and adolescents in Hong Kong who are under greater academic pressure and stress are found to sleep lesser than their western counterparts. Several local studies consistently demonstrated that Hong Kong schoolers are sleep deprived during school days with extensive sleep compensation during weekends. To combat this prevalent situation, sleep education program aiming at promoting healthy sleep practices is needed. This paper will review the rationale, efficacy and experiences of our large-scale school-based sleep education program in Hong Kong. In summary, our group conducted a clustered randomized school-based educational program with multilevel and multimodal sleep education program including town hall seminar, small class teachings, slogan and painting competitions and development of a sleep education website. The findings of our study conducted in the secondary schools suggested that school-based sleep education program was effective in increasing sleep knowledge, improving behaviors and psychological health as well as healthy lifestyle practice in adolescents, but it did not improve the sleep-wake pattern of the adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational innovations have rarely lived up to the expectations of their proponents and have often been reshaped, adopted half-heartedly, ignored or rejected. The difficulty of successfully implementing innovations and the complexity of the change process are now widely acknowledged. Curriculum renewal attempts in the Hong Kong context have also been problematic, with classroom practitioners often not implementing reforms disseminated by centralised government agencies. This paper focuses on Hong Kong?s Target-Oriented Curriculum (TOC), a major curriculum renewal initiative designed to improve the quality of learning in local primary schools. The paper describes the innovation, the context into which it is being introduced, and a number of factors that proved problematic in the management of change. The discussion focuses on five elements in the change process, namely practicality, ownership, teacher attitudes, teacher training and resources. From this analysis, some of the implications for curriculum implementation, both in Hong Kong and elsewhere, are identified and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case study on an open hillside landslide impacting on a flexible rockfall barrier at Jordan Valley, Hong Kong is presented in this paper. The landslide occurred sometime in June 2008. This is so far the only case history of landslide debris having been intercepted by a flexible rockfall barrier in Hong Kong. The landslide scar is 10 m wide and 7 m long, and the landslide volume is about 110 m. The landslide debris was largely retained by the barrier but two of the barrier posts were severely damaged and failed. Debris mobility analysis and structural analysis of this case history have been undertaken with a view to obtaining a better understanding of the possible landslide dynamics and behaviour of flexible barrier upon debris impact. The analyses appear to have reproduced some of the salient field observations. The probable key contributory factors to the failure are highlighted and discussed. Through the study, the possible range of equivalent pseudo-static impact pressure exerted on the flexible barrier by the landslide debris is assessed. The site observations and results of the analyses provide insights pertaining to the importance of robustness in the design and detailing of flexible debris-resisting barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 20 August 2005, a landslide with a volume of about 400 m occurred at Fu Yung Shan Tsuen, Tsuen Wan in Hong Kong during a severe rainstorm with a return period of about 100 years on a hillside that has been disturbed locally by past human activities. The incident resulted in one fatality and permanent evacuation of residents of four squatter structures in the vicinity. A forensic investigation into the landslide was carried out to review the mechanism and probable causes of the landslide. The key contributory factors in the landslide were diagnosed. The investigation concluded that the landslide was probably caused by the loss of soil suction and transient build-up of groundwater pressure in the near-surface soil materials following prolonged and intense rainfall. The paper presents the methodology adopted for the landslide study, findings of the investigation and the lessons learnt from this fatal landslide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The population of Hong Kong will reach its peak of some 8 million by 2029 with older adults encompassing 25 % of the population. In addressing the challenges of the ageing society, the Government in conjunction with its advisory body for ageing policy (i.e. the Elderly Commission) has adopted an active ageing framework to promote older people's participation in building 'a sense of security, a sense of belonging, and a feeling of worthiness.' The purpose of this paper is therefore, to examine how policy is translated into practice in advancing the well-being as well as enhancing social and civic participation among the elderly. Programs supporting these initiatives, including the (1) Opportunities for the Elderly Project, (2) Elder Academy Scheme, and (3) the Neighborhood Active Aging Project, will be explained and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports an investigation on the periodic variation of pollutant levels at a typical traffic intersection of Hong Kong. Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and particulate matters (PM) were measured respectively and the measured data show periodic variations with the traffic signal intervals. The power spectral density (PSD) approach was used to inspect the trends and periodic oscillations of measured pollutants. Singular spectrum analysis was applied to decompose the measured data into statistically significant non-linear trends and oscillations in the process. From the results, most of the trends tend to increase due to the upcoming rush hour during the experiment. In addition, all the oscillations changed regularly with a period of 136 s, which is coincident with the traffic signal period and the frequency calculated by using PSD. The trends, together with the oscillations, collectively explain the most percentage of the variability of the data in the time series and provide the principal components of the data in understanding the periodic variation of the pollutant concentration. It can be deduced that vehicle emission is the major contributor to the air pollution in downtown area and pedestrians should be more alerted when crossing the busy traffic intersections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study reported in this paper was aimed at developing understanding of depression-related knowledge and preferences surrounding professional help, medication, and treatment methods among Chinese living in Shanghai, China. Methods: A multi-stage cluster sampling method in which participants were taken from 6 of the 20 districts in Shanghai was adopted for this study. The 522 Shanghai Chinese participants were presented with a vignette describing an individual with depression before being asked questions designed to assess both their understanding of depression and their preferences surrounding professional help, medication, and treatment methods. A comparative approach was adopted to identify similarities and differences between our findings and those of two previous studies on the mental health literacy of Chinese living in Melbourne, Australia, and Hong Kong, respectively. Results: A similarly low percentage of Chinese people in each of Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Australia recognized depression. Fewer Shanghai Chinese than Chinese living in Hong Kong and Australia ascribed the 'anxiety/stress' label to the depression vignette and endorsed professionals and informal network members as helpful. Although a far lower percentage of Shanghai Chinese endorsed the use of counseling professionals, a much higher percentage of the same group endorsed Chinese medical doctors and herbal medication. A lower percentage of Shanghai Chinese endorsed 'lifestyle changes' as a strategy for combating depression than did Chinese subjects living in Australia and Hong Kong. On the other hand, a higher percentage of Shanghai residents endorsed psychiatric treatment and the traditional Chinese practices of 'eating nutritious food/taking supplements' and 'qigong' than among the other two groups of Chinese. Conclusions: This study underlines the need for campaigns aimed at improving the mental health literacy of Chinese in Shanghai. Such campaigns must take into consideration the socially and culturally driven beliefs to facilitate the development of specific education programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Debate over educational reform in many countries has addressed the question of how to attract and retain teachers. As part of a multiple case study that includes eight beginning English language teachers in Hong Kong, this paper offers an in-depth analysis of the experiences of two participants, Christine and Samuel, during their initial year of full time teaching in Hong Kong schools. The data, collected during an entire academic year, suggests that Christine used her experiences of becoming a teacher to justify and reaffirm her determination to pursue a career within English language teaching. In contrast, Samuel's preliminary year of full-time teaching culminated in his decision to leave the teaching profession. A contribution of this study is to explore these very different experiences and outcomes using a framework of teacher identity construction. From this perspective, findings suggest that the participants' engagement in the practices and activities of teaching, their relations with colleagues, and their positioning within different discourses of teaching and learning by their schools as well as by the wider educational environment, shaped their decisions about whether to continue to pursue a teaching career. Implications for attracting and retaining teachers, as well as for future research, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hong Kong has undergone substantial economic transformations and developed into a sophisticated business and financial center in the Asia-Pacific region, since the return of sovereignty to China as a Special Administrative Region under the One Country Two Systems (OCTS) in 1997. This paper discusses and analyzes the industrial structural changes of Hong Kong in recent decades as well as its future challenges and opportunities. The data and finding reveal that even though Hong Kong will face fierce competition from the Mainland's cities as the rise of China, the important role as a bridge between China and the rest of the world will brace Hong Kong itself under the OCTS for developing into a service hub for business and trade in the Asia-Pacific region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the distinctiveness and similarities of diasporic Chinese Canadian caregivers to older adults compared with Hong Kong Chinese and Caucasian Canadian caregivers. Particular interest lies in whether filial responsibility, actual caregiving behaviours, health and a variety of structural characteristics cluster in ways that suggest these three groups of filial caregivers are distinctive. Data were collected using face-to-face interviews. The findings suggest that the caregivers participating in this study cluster into types that roughly approximate their original cultural groupings. Interestingly, however, the diasporic or immigrant Chinese appear more similar to homeland (Hong Kong) than hostland (in this instance Caucasian) Canadian caregivers - all diasporic Chinese were originally, or their ancestors were, from Hong Kong. Chinese Canadians are not necessarily in the middle in terms of caregiving behaviours, but rather show variability depending on the behaviour examined. In addition, these findings confirm past research that Western culture does not have clear and explicit norms of filial responsibility to the same extent as does Chinese culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this study were to determine the perceptions and accessibility of online help for problem gambling among Chinese youths. A group of undergraduates participated in a survey cum laboratory exercise to search for help for problem gambling in Macao, Hong Kong, and China. Online search engines were used. During the search process, participants found they had to sieve through a long list of search results, many of which were links to articles rather than help organizations. The key findings of this study were: (1) online help was a popular resource but it was not perceived as the most effective form of help, (2) there were no sponsored links in the search results and it took some effort to locate the relevant help organizations, and (3) certain website features and online tools were useful to attract potential users to online help. This paper discussed the implications of the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines generalized trust and trust in institutions in Confucian Asia, covering six countries namely, China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, and one dependent region, Hong Kong. Using data from the 2006 AsiaBarometer Survey, our study affirms the reliability and validity of using a two-item scale to measure generalized trust. Our analysis suggests that due to demographic differences, there are variations in the level of generalized trust of countries in Confucian Asia, despite the fact that these societies share a similar background in Confucian philosophy. The relationships between generalized trust and political trust, and between generalized trust and trust in public institutions, are weak but positive. The positive relationship between generalized trust and trust in economic institutions is only significant for some of the economies, while trust in international institutions has the weakest relationship with generalized trust for all societies. We conclude the paper with research implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There has been scant research exploring the relationship between choice of method (means) of self-inflicted death, and broader social or contextual factors. The recent emergence and growth of suicide using carbon monoxide poisoning resulting from burning charcoal in an enclosed space (hereafter, 'charcoal burning') was related to an increase in the overall suicide rate in Hong Kong. The growth of this method coincided with changing economic conditions. This paper expands upon previous work to explore possible relationships further. Purpose: This study aims to discern the role of charcoal burning in overall suicide rate transition during times of both economic recession and expansion, as captured in the unemployment rate of Hong Kong, and to examine whether there was evidence of an effect from means-substitution. Methods: Age and gender specific suicide rates in Hong Kong by suicide methods from 1997 to 2007 were calculated. To model the transition of suicide rate by different methods, Poisson regression analyses were employed. Results: Charcoal burning constituted 18.3% of all suicides, 88% of which involved individuals drawn from the middle years (25-59) of life. During both periods of rising and declining unemployment, charcoal burning played an important role in the changing suicide rates, and this effect was most prominent among for those in their middle years. Means-substitution was found among the married women during the period of rate advancement (1997-2003). Conclusions: Compared to others, working-age adults preferentially selected carbon monoxide poisoning from charcoal burning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development is a priority area of research in many countries and regions nowadays. This paper illustrates how a multi-stakeholders engagement process can be applied to identify and prioritize the local community's concerns and issues regarding sustainable development in Hong Kong. Ten priority areas covering a wide range of community's concerns in relation to the economic growth, societal development and environmental protection have been identified. An index is then constructed based on these priority areas to track the public's views on the progress of Hong Kong towards a more sustainable city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on three surveys carried out for studying living conditions of youth, women and elderly living in six remote areas (Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai, Sheung Shui, Fan Ling and Tai Po) in the New Territories of Hong Kong, this paper reports the poverty and social exclusion of these three groups of people. The quality of life of youth, women and elderly is adversely affected by limited job opportunities, high cost of travel for employment, and poor neighbourhoods in the community. However, perceptions of reasons for their problems are different for the three groups, due to differences in bonding and bridging social capital they have, as well as the differences in perceptions on social exclusion and discrimination directed upon them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the recognition of the crucial role of family and with the belief that parents have the greatest influence on a child's life, family and parent education has been widely practiced in Hong Kong and many other countries as measure for poverty alleviation. A study, employed quantitative method of a cross-sectional parent survey ( N = 10,386) was conducted to comprehend needs and parenting practice of poor families, and to identify appropriate strategies to promote family and parent education in Hong Kong. Regression analysis was used to investigate the association between family variables, psychological stress and parenting behavior. The study identified five categories of disadvantaged families and salient factors that distinguished families from the normal population based on the findings of discriminant analysis. Moreover, data indicates that family relationship and social networks are protective factors to economically disadvantaged families, whereas sense of powerlessness amplifies the negative effects of low income. Base on the findings, the paper suggests that strategies for poverty alleviation that focus purely on parenting or parent education are fragmented and fail to address the complexity of poverty as a social issue. A holistic perspective that goes beyond the scope of parent education to support families, adopting a family perspective in poverty-alleviation work and service provision, and addressing barriers constrain parenting are the future service directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationships among life satisfaction, positive youth development, and problem behaviour. A total of 7,975 Secondary One students (4,169 boys and 3,387 girls; with most aged 12) of Chinese ethnicity recruited from 48 schools responded to validated measures of life satisfaction, positive youth development and problem behaviour. While life satisfaction was positively correlated with different measures of positive youth development, these measures were negatively correlated with measures of substance abuse, delinquency and intention to engage in problem behaviour. Based on a series of structural equation models, a non-recursive model was found to best fit the data, which suggests that adolescents having higher levels of positive youth development are more satisfied with life and have fewer problem behaviour, with life satisfaction and problem behaviour negatively reinforcing each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the findings of a longitudinal childhood resilience study which investigated the relationship between resilience-related beliefs and positive child development. Three waves of data collection (T1, T2, and T3) were completed in January 2005, July 2005, and January 2006 with a sample of 843 grade 4 pupils, drawn from six primary schools in Hong Kong, and their parents or guardians. At T1, parents/guardians responded to a 24-item inventory of life adversities affecting their children since birth; at T1 and T3, they completed a 25-item Parental Assessment of Child’s Habit, which provided parental evaluation of children’s performance at home and in school. At T1, T2, and T3, children responded to a 58-item Child and Youth Resilience Measure, a 9-item scale on Chinese cultural beliefs about adversity, and an 11-item Chinese Resilience Measure for Children and Adolescents in Hong Kong. Regression analyses, based on linear mixed models, controlling for gender, T1 and T2 scores, personal variables, and random effects of schools, were conducted to test and validate the hypothesis that children’s resilience beliefs are predictive of positive child development, and that this predictive relationship is stronger with increasing adversity in children’s lives. Implications of these findings for the development of resilience-based interventions to enhance the quality of life of children facing adversities are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surviving the aftermaths of the Asian Financial Crisis and SARS in 2003, Hong Kong’s economy has re-gained its momentum and its economic growth has been quite remarkable too in recent few years. Nevertheless, as reflected by the Social Development Index (SDI), economic growth in Hong Kong does not seem to have benefited the people of the city at large as we see social qualities such as cohesion, security, equity, and empowerment are gradually eroded. This paper aims to summarize the current state of social development in Hong Kong based on the SDI-2008 and identify the major social, political and economic challenges that are confronted by Hong Kong. Based on the findings, a range of policy options proposed for promoting a more balanced approach to social and economic development are discussed. The article illustrates the utility of social indicators research such as the SDI in assessing quality of life and assisting related social planning initiatives in Asian communities such as Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study estimated the 10-year probability of osteoporotic fracture in Hong Kong Southern Chinese based on a simplified model of the recently developed WHO fracture risk prediction tool (FRAX®). Thus, the data provides further insights into potential development of a population-specific FRAX® model for Hong Kong in the future. The purpose of this paper was to estimate the 10-year probability of osteoporotic fracture in Hong Kong (HK) Southern Chinese according to age and bone mineral density (BMD) T-score at the femoral neck based on the methodology of the FRAX® risk assessment tool calibrated to the epidemiology of HK. Hip fracture data was obtained from the Clinical Data Analysis Reporting System (CDAS) of the Hospital Authority of HK and population size and death rates were taken from the HK Government Census and Statistics Department. Fracture probability was calculated using the cut-off values for T-scores derived from the NHANES III data for Caucasian women aged 20–29 years for BMD at the femoral neck. In this study, the 10-year probability of osteoporotic fracture in HK Southern Chinese increased markedly with increasing age and decreasing femoral neck BMD T-scores in both women and men. Interestingly, at low T-scores, the increase in 10-year probability of osteoporotic fracture in women with age was greater than in men. Fracture probabilities were substantially higher than those from mainland China. Based on this evidence, and until we have HK Southern Chinese population-specific information, we recommend the application of the Caucasian risk profile to calculate the absolute fracture risk for HK Southern Chinese subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rainfall depth (or intensity) of the same frequency should follow a non-decreasing relationship with rainfall duration. However, due to the use of finite samples and sampling error, rainfall frequency analysis could yield rainfall intensity (depth)–frequency (IDF, DDF) curves of different durations that might intersect among them. Results of this kind violate physical reality and it is more likely to occur when rainfall record length gets shorter. To ensure the compliance of the physical reality, this paper applied the scale-invariant approach, in conjunction with constrained regression analysis, to circumvent intersections in rainfall IDF or DDF curves. Rainfall data of various durations at rain gauge in Hong Kong are used to demonstrate the procedure. Numerical investigation indicates that the proposed procedure yields more reasonable results than those based on the conventional frequency analysis, especially when only a small sample of data are available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hong Kong government has been reforming its laws regarding accounting practices in recent years, to pre-empt problems similar to that of Enron. It correctly recognizes an opportunity to enhance and distinguish the financial system in Hong Kong and create a competitive advantage for Hong Kong. The sixty-five billion dollar question is: what is the right approach for accounting practice reform? One obvious approach is to model reform after the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX). The SOX increases personal liabilities of senior management and introduces extremely cumbersome compliance processes (s 3 (b)(ix) of Minutes of Bills Committee of Financial Reporting Council Bill. (19 July 2005)). While this approach may be the right move for the United States, because rescuing investor confidence is paramount, a similar approach may not be optimal for Hong Kong. Hong Kong relies, to a great degree, on foreign investments and a heavy-handed approach may scare investments away (Charles E. Schumer & Michael R. Bloomberg To Save New York, Learn from London, Wall Street Journal 1 Nov 2006). This paper, argues that failure of independent auditors was mainly caused by bad incentives. In particular, auditors were hired by and responsible to the management of companies. Thus, there is no surprise that auditors were less diligent in finding problems caused by management. Furthermore, proposing of an alternate to the SOA’s approach. Specifically, a new legal approach should be enforced that allows shareholders to sue auditors when failure to uncover accounting issues causes loss of shareholders’ values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]