Emotional Quotient in Hong Kong

Do you know Hongkongers have been paying more attention to Emotional Quotient (EQ) in recent years?

Be it education institutes, managerial class from business sectors or even psychologists, they all start to realise the importance of having high (or at least not bad) EQ.

The measure of EQ refers to how we recognize our emotions and using the information to guide our thinking and behaviors. Even though the whole EQ theory is under lots of criticism and challenges, we Hongkongers like to use it as a yardstick to gauge how well people can handle stress.

In Hong Kong, while the business sectors try to introduce EQ training for their employees and the education sectors suggest the implantation of EQ education to help students cope with stress, some psychologist claimed that EQ is actually “nothing new” to Hongkongers. The reason is that EQ is more or less the emphasis of virtues and concentration, which is similar to the Confucian teachings and Hongkongers should be familiar with. He also points out that hobbies like listening to music, painting and practicing calligraphy would do us lots of good if it is EQ that we want to train.

However, “having high EQ” somehow develops a negative meaning in Hong Kong. It becomes a  mockery which basically means that people’s stress handling ability is so high that they are “willing to be put up with anything but not having the guts to fight back”…So, in other words, a patronizing way to call others “spineless coward”.

Now that I have mentioned it, let’s look at what’s in Hong Kong: corrupted and inefficient government, exploitative employers, lack of housing, and ridiculous price of daily necessities…We are not lumberjack, but we are still ok.

Hongkongers are…“emotionally strong”, aren’t we?

Teenagers' stress in Hong Kong

Do you know that lots of Hong Kong teenagers have no confidence in themselves and don’t know how to pursue their career goals? This conclusion comes from a survey done in 2015 by City University. Sad, isn’t?

The survey was conducted upon 2000 Form 6 students in Hong Kong. While 4 out of 5 students plan to further their studies and know well that they want jobs that provide good development opportunities, 65% of them simply don’t know how to pick a career. They don’t think they can control their career path.

Another survey done recently also suggests that half of the interviewed secondary school students show symptoms of depression, with about 20% being moderate to severe. What’s astonishing is that, about one fourth of the students considered committing suicide just two weeks before the survey. Together with the news of 22 youngsters killing themselves (one of them was only 11) in the first quarter of this year…

Just what is wrong with this society?

Of course the experts will try to give reasons like “the education system is too stressful”, “students cannot handle stress”, “they lack family support’, and some smart dude from the Education Bureau even said “they lack life planning”.

But you know, they know and I know that the problem is way more complex than that.

“Low self-esteem”, “don’t know what to do with life”, “depression”, “suicide”…these factors seem somewhat inter-related to me, but aren’t these signs of middle-age crisis?

Why would Hongkongers facing these while they are still in their 10s or 20s?

Is it because they are too mature?

Or is it because the society expects too much, yet provides too little? 

Kindergarten in Hong Kong

Do you know Hongkongers start fighting before they are 3 year-old?

No, we are not gladiators from some proud warrior races. I am talking about the competition brought by our education system. Pre-school education here, to be exact.

People are not kidding when they said “competition in Hong Kong is fierce”. If you want a successful life, you need to study in a prestigious school; if you want to study in a prestigious school, you will need to attend a good kindergarten…With this logic, everything traces back to “what you should do for your child when / before he is born”.

What is ridiculous is that people DO follow this logic. Parents have their children attend those “play groups” to learn how to socialize with others when they are only 10 month-old.

Then the kids (actually they are still babies) have to participate in those extracurricular activities like playing violin or piano, because that gives you bonus for the kindergarten interview. Some parents even have their child learn English, Mandarin and Japanese… at 3.

Then the parents enroll in the kindergarten like crazy. They don’t just enroll in 1 or 2 schools, but as many as possible. Like, 12, as suggested by some parents on the news.

It’s not over yet. When you have enrolled in that many schools, you have to prepare for and participate in all the interview. Overwhelmed by the stress and workload, some kids even refuse to speak to the interviewers, rendering everything pointless.

Poor kids… They are only 3, and this is only the beginning of their suffering.

All those work and preparation really put my job applications to shame. I guess that is why my job sucks and why I am so underpaid.