History of Hong Kong - Research Paper Example

? History of Hong Kong Hong Kong started as a coastal island geologically located off the China southern coast. While pockets of settlements took place in the region owing archaeological findings dating thousands of years ago, regular written records could not be made until the engagement of the British Colony and the Imperial China in the territory (Carroll, 2007). Beginning as a fishing village, trading ground and salt production site, it later evolved to a military port of tactical importance and ultimately an international financial centre which has one of the best worlds Gross Domestic Product per capita, supporting around 33% of the total foreign capital flows to China (Carroll, 2007). A distinctive Hong Kong identity detached from that of the mainland China has remained intact, as Gordon Mathews affirms who is a professor and an anthropologist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. 94% of Hong Kong people are ethnic Chinese, but the unique aspect about Hong Kong people is that they do not feel a love for mainland China. 20 – 25% of Hong Kong people do, but the majority of them do not. They might utter “I love China, but it is the people I love and not the country”. Political organization Hong Kong is among the 2 specific administrative expanses of the Republic of China, the Macau being the other. It is a city-state located on the south coast of China and encircled by South China Sea and the River Pearl Delta. It is recognized for its expansive, deep natural harbor and skyline (Carroll, 2007). With a land mass reaching 1,104 (km2) and a 7 million population, Hong Kong remains one of the most densely populous areas in the world. The population of Hong Kong is 95% ethnic Chinese and 5% coming from other groups (Carroll, 2007). Hong Kong's Han Chinese mostly originates from the cities of Taishan and Guangzhou in the neighboring province of Guangdong (Carroll, 2007). Hong Kong got colonized by Britain after the 1st Opium War. Originally cramped into Hong Kong Island, the boundaries got extended to Kowloon Peninsula in stages in 1860 and later the New Territories in around 1898. It got occupied by Japan shortly after the start of the Pacific War, but the British Empire resumed control till 1997, when China took sovereignty (Carroll, 2007). The region adopted minimum government interposition under the code of positive non - interventionism on the colonial era. The period appreciably influenced the present Hong Kong culture, often called "East meets West", and an educational system that used to loosely monitor the system in England till reforms got implemented in 2009 (Carroll, 2007). Under the "one country with two systems" principle, Hong Kong has a diverse political system from China. Independent judiciary of Hong Kong works under the common law structure. Hong Kong Basic Law remains constitutional document, which lays down that Hong Kong, shall possess "a high degree of autonomy" under all matters except military defense and foreign relations, which governs the political system (Carroll, 2007). Although it has a growing multi - party system, a trifling - circle electorate controls a half of its legal system. That is, the Hong Kong Chief Executive, head of government, gets chosen by an Electing Committee with 400 to 1,200 total members (Carroll, 2007). Socio - Cultural structure The Hong Kong culture can best be defined as a foundation that started with China, and developed being more influenced by British colonization. Despite the 1997 sovereignty transfer to the China Republic, Hong Kong continues to embrace an identity of its own culture. Given that the demographic preponderance of Hong Kong people, they are ethnically Chinese and naturally lean towards eastern type of culture, but with a dense western influence too. Majority of people in Hong Kong contemplate themselves as "Hong Konger" or "Hong Kongese" instead of "Chinese" for they feel like if they say they are Chinese, people would deliberate they are from central China, which, for many explanations, they do not like being reflected as "Mainland Chinese" (Carroll, 2007). On different social characteristics, the bottom - line Chinese principles of "family solidarity", "saving face" and "courtesy" carry significant weight on the culture (Carroll, 2007). Heavy influence gets derived from Cantonese culture of the neighboring Chinese Guangdong province. There are also substantial societies of Hakka, Fukien, Shanghaies and Teochew people (Carroll, 2007). Cantonese remains the most broadly spoken language within Hong Kong. Since the handover in 1997, the government has implemented the "bi - literate and trilingual" policy. Under this principle, Chinese and English have to be both acknowledged as official languages, and Cantonese being acknowledged as Hong Kong de facto official Chinese language, while also accepting the Mandarin language (Carroll, 2007). Large diversity of religious groups exist in Hong Kong, including Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Judaism. Religion Freedom is protected by the Law and relevant legislation. However, majority of Hong Kong people (57%) are disbelievers. For the elderly inhabitants, Chinese Folk Religion plays a vital part of the culture. Luckless sayings remain considered offensive, and many individuals travel yearly to the Ching Ming cemetery festival to honor the memory of the ancestors. There stand several key shrines in Hong Kong, while many smaller shrines exist for the native Gods and Goddesses. Objects like Bagua mirror get still used regularly to protect people from evils. Numbers also play a role in the culture and everyday life of Hong Kong people (Carroll, 2007). Numbers like "four" (because of its resemblance to the Chinese "(to) die") word stay avoided when possible by devotees. Chinese New Year remains also the most prestigious festivity in their culture. A substantial number of Hong Kong people are Christians, particularly Catholics. Other religions, like Hindu and Islam, get also practiced by the tribal minorities in Hong Kong (Carroll, 2007). The inhabitants enjoy two main broadcast television stations: TVB and ATV. The former, launched in 1967, remained the first free –to - air territory commercial station and stays the predominant station in the territory currently (Carroll, 2007). Data cables and satellite television stays also widespread within the territory. The production of soap drama, comedy series among other variety shows in Hong Kong have reached mass audiences all over the Chinese - speaking domains. Many intercontinental and pan - Asian broadcasters stays based in Hong Kong. Terrestrial commercial TV networks in Hong Kong, TVB and ATV, can also be spotted in neighboring Macau and Guangdong Province (via cable) (Carroll, 2007). Newspaper and magazine publishers print and distribute in numerous languages like English and Chinese. The printed media, particularly tabloids and also broadsheet newspapers, lean majorly on sensationalism and celebrity talks. While the practice is condemned, it continues to sell the papers. The media remain relatively free from government interfering compared to that of China, and newspapers get often politicized; some show skepticism against the Chinese government (Carroll, 2007). When not working, Hong kongers devote much of their time to leisure. Mahjong remains a common social activity, and people may play for hours during festivals and during public holidays in mahjong parlors and homes. The incident of elderly men playing chess in public parks, encircled by watching crowds, remains common. Other board games like Chinese checkers get also enjoyed by people in Hong Kong. Among teenagers, eating out, karaoke, video games and shopping, remain common, with Japan being their chief supply of digital entertainment for cultural and immediacy explanations; there exist also popular local inventions like “Little Fighter Online” (Carroll, 2007). Formerly, Hong Kong had among the most updated galleries games available outside Japan. Negative associations got drawn between video game arcades and triads. Nowadays, soaring admiration of home video game comforts have somewhat diminished arcade love. Outdoor activities such as watersports, hiking and barbecues remain also popular due to their local geography. Chess stays run by a Hong Kong Chess Federation (Carroll, 2007). With limited land resource existing, Hong Kong continues to offer competitive and recreational sports. Locally sports in are described as "Club Life". Globally, Hong Kong has partaken in Olympic Games, and various other Asian Games occasions. Major multipurpose venues such as Hong Kong Coliseum exist. Others include regular resident facilities like Macpherson Stadium (Carroll, 2007). Martial arts in Hong Kong is acknowledged as a method of exercise or entertainment. Tai chi remains one of the most common, especially among the elderly. Assemblies of people practice the motions in parks at dawn. Many practices of martial arts got also passed down from diverse generations of Chinese descent. Styles like, snake fist, and Crane praying mantis exist as some of the more recognized. The atmosphere is also divergent as people practice outdoors in peaks near ultra modern tall buildings (Carroll, 2007). Economic structure The Hong Kong Regime has traditionally played a frequently passive role in its economy, with little by mode of industrial policy and nearly no exports or import controls. The private sector and market forces got allowed to determine practical growth. Under the official "positive non-interventionism" policy, Hong Kong is often referred to as a laissez-faire capitalism example. Following the World War II, Hong Kong industrialized promptly as a manufacturing center moved by exports, and then went through rapid evolution to a service - based independent economy in the 1980s (Carroll, 2007). Since then, it has developed to become a key center for management, financial, business consultation, professional services and information technology (Carroll, 2007). The territory has diminutive arable land and scarce natural resources, thus; it imports most of the food and raw materials it uses. Agricultural activity remains relatively insignificant to the economy of Hong Kong, contributing only 0.1% of the total gross domestic product - primarily consisting of growing modified food and flower varieties (Carroll, 2007). Hong Kong stands the eleventh largest trading entity in the globe, with the total imports and exports value exceeding the gross domestic product. It stands also the largest re - export center in the world. Much of Hong Kong exports comprise of re – exports, which involve the products manufactured outside of the territory, particularly in mainland China, and then distributed via Hong Kong. The physical location of Hong Kong has allowed it to establish a logistics and transportation infrastructure that includes the second biggest container port in the world and also the busiest airport for intercontinental cargo in the world (Carroll, 2007). As at 2010, Hong Kong was the 8th most expensive city for expatriates, dropping from 5th position in 2009. Hong Kong got ranked 4th in terms of the highest millionaire households percentage, behind Switzerland, Singapore and Qatar with 8.5% of all households possessing at least 1 million US dollars. (Carroll, 2007). Even before the sovereignty transfer, Hong Kong had established broad trade and investment relations with the mainland China, which now enable it serve as an entry point for investment flowing to the mainland. At 2007, there were 3.47 million individuals employed full - time, with an unemployment rate averaging about 4.1% for the 4th straight year of decline. The economy of Hong Kong stands dominated by the service segment, which accounts for about 90% of its gross domestic product, while industry constitutes only 9%. Inflation stood at 2.55% in 2007. The largest export markets in Hong Kong exist in mainland China, the US, and Japan (Carroll, 2007). As one of the global leading international financial centers, Hong Kong has a chief capitalist service economy characterized by free trade and low taxation, and Hong Kong dollar, remains the eighth most transacted currency in the world (Carroll, 2007). The lack of space for expansion caused demand for compressed constructions, which advanced the city to a center for modern architecture and also the most vertical city globally (Carroll, 2007). Hong Kong enjoys one of the premiers per capita incomes globally. The dense space also steered to a highly established transportation network with public transportation travelling rate exceeding 9%, the highest in the globe. Hong Kong has various high international rankings in numerous aspects. For example, its economic freedom, economic and financial competitiveness, perception, corruption, Human Development Index, etc., stay all ranked highly (Carroll, 2007). According to both WHO and UN estimates, Hong Kong possesses the 2nd longest life expectancy in the world! References Carroll, J. M. (2007). A Concise History of Hong Kong. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. Read More