I am a Gwailo
Growing up in Hong Kong

The most influential professor I had at AUC was Dr. Richard Boylan. He taught communication theory, and his method of teaching was very unorthodox. One of the earliest assignemts was to imagine we were from places drawn from a hat, and then write the story of our lives. We were to base the article on actual facts, though the content were ours to stake out. A friend of mine, Thomas Hall, wondered when I was in Hong Kong, and my father was certain I plagiarised the story from someone. Nothing wrong with the plausability. It was only towards the end of the course we learned the assignment served as an our own examples of how identites is socially formed.

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My preparation for the finals for the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) was extremely important. Failure to excel would make it hard for me to be admitted to the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. With my future generally sketched out, a break in the plan would not be favourable.

The following fall I would begin my studies in business administration. My parents would help with the finances, but I would be expected to cover a proportion of expense myself. I might do this by placing an ad in the Hong Kong standard; offering to find apartments for expatriates for an undisclosed commission. In the beginning I would only charge the equivalent of one months rent in commission. The lack of space here would soon prompt me to charge a monthly fee as well - and still be competitive. I would use the money I made on renting other apartments that in turn would be sublet on a ridiculously expensive short term basis. Still not working more than two to three days per week, it would be the Hong Kong way of making a living. By the time I finish my university degree with honours, I might well be subletting as much as15 apartments in the central Victoria area to a stable base of clients.

On the other hand, I might not, and in that case I would have to start working in my father's import/export agency. Working an average of ten hours a day, the only time I would meet friends at Stanley Bay would be in the weekends. Being the only child in the family, my parents would look at every girlfriend of mine as a potential mother of their grandchildren.

- Maria Struan is of good family, they would say. -Why don't you see her more often? And I would, not only because I have read the "Noble House", but also because I would like my parents to be content and get the feeling something was happening in my life.

And something would be happening. If not for my parents constantly reminding me, I would be cherishing wealth as the measure of happiness on my own accord. I would find life fulfilling in my late hours at the office, and I would probably even attend mass every Sunday. And perhaps most significantly - I would probably take it all for granted; as the way life is supposed to be.

Later, my parents would enquire about the appropriate time of year to get engaged. Though we pride ourselves in belonging to the Anglo-Saxon church, we would still respect the confucian superstitions regarding good and bad joss. If one is careless regarding the time of engagement, for instance, one might well be cursed for the rest of ones life. Nobody wants to be associated with bad joss, so you might find yourself deserted of business associations and friends. Thus, bad joss becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, to be avoided at all costs - and therefore my parents genuine concern.

To outsiders the society of Hong Kong may appear as a spiced western-like place made of exotic herbs and Chinese secrecy. An elite society, where the division between the ethnic groups is so strict that the five percent foreigners permanently living in Hong Kong are still called foreign devils. A place where the slightest break of the complicated rules for behaviour and public conduct makes you lose face. But what the outsiders don⦣128;™t see is that the rules just makes everything easier. A lot of the social problems in the rest of the world would diminish if people managed to learn something about respect; about giving and losing face.

Life will proceed according to plan. Though I did not know it then, my HKCEE examinations would be so successful that an excerpt from my "A" graded English exam essay would years later be published on the "Hong Kong 97 - Lives in transition" internet site. It read as follows.

"A whole generation grew up with the July first deadline in the back of their minds. Like Jehovas witnesses we knew the exact date for when the world was going to end. We would talk about it, laugh about it and sometimes have nightmares about it. Still, we never expected the date to come. Talking about it for so long eventually left us in a state where it seemed abstract. Every change is a transition and one must cease the moment before others do. Its the secret of the prosperity of Hong Kong. When the islands once again become part of China it will prove late chairman Deng Xiaopings words - One country, two systems."

Further reading:

Adrian Schweizer - growing up in Hong Kong, http:\www.asiaonline.net.hk~ups\adrian.html

Hong Kong ⦣128;™97 - Lives in transition, http:\www.pbs.org

Hong Kong Standard, http:\www.hkstandard.com

Washington Post - Hong Kong series, http:\www.washingtonpost.com

US State department - Regional information, http:\www.state.gov

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