I Love Hong Kong

[image/video - please log in to see this content]

HK protesters reading school notes during a protest.

If there is anything that is common among the Asian cities of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Singapore, it is this - the relentless pursuit of academic excellence and parents' obsession with grades. More often than not, the grades one gets, the schools that one attends determine the future outcomes.

But of course it is also true that when one puts in hours at book study, one may not always have a practical end in mind. In fact, I have seen that high achievers are almost always young people who are self-directed and do their studying as part of who they are and what they believe to be their duty as a young person.

I really feel for these students. It is always through struggle that people appreciate more what they work so hard to get.

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

Cierzo · M

I really like people who have a thirst for knowledge and want to learn things in order to understand the world better.

On the other side, I feel bad for those students whose purpose in learning is just to get the highest marks to study in the best schools and pursue a successful career. I don't blame them, or their families, it is not their fault if they live in such competitive system that they have not chosen.

novembermoon · 51-55

@Cierzo I see it in their eyes sometimes...my pupils who are very bright but who feel like they are tools of their parents who nag at them to perform in exams. These people need a reason for their striving. And reasons like 'so that you'd not become a road sweeper next time' just doesn't cut it any more. They need a deeper meaning. Who doesn't?

Cierzo · M

@novembermoon I find it really sad that knowledge becomes just 'money' with which you pay your ticket for a ride that should you to social success.

Knowledge should never be only a tool, and people should never be tools either.