foreign education vs HK education

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zhumgg

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Dear all,

What is your opinion whether foreign education like US education is better than Hk education even my kid study in the international school in HK??

Do you think HK is still a nice place to live with so many uncivilized mainlanders moved to HK or travel to HK all the time?? They drived all the prices up including property and retail and make the competition of school much more intense.

How serious is the consequency if my kid dont know Chinese??

Well, some of the questions above is really open, hope any one of you wont mind to share your thinking no matter you are westerner, mainlander or HK local.

Thanks
 
I have no comment on US education vs HK education since I studied in neither system. I had a very mediocre education in what might be considered a third world country, which I found served my purpose very well even competiting for jobs internationally and holding my own against people who went to big name schools and universities. I don't believe schooling will make or break a kid (well, it might break them if the schooling system is too harsh).

I do, however, think Hong Kong is a very nice place to live and found your remark about Mainlanders rude and offensive. Maybe mainlanders do drive the property prices up but why blame all the ills on Hong Kong on them? There are plenty of positives to living in Hong Kong. It depends on what kind of lifestyle you want.

"How serious is the consequency if my kid dont know Chinese??" Many expats in Hong Kong get by without knowing any Chinese. Their kids go through the international or ESF system where they pick up varying amounts of Mandarin or Cantonese. So there are no dire consequences, except your choice of school is limited to English-medium. Though knowing another language - and Chinese is the 'in' language to learn nowadays even in the West - is always a plus and if you're living in Hong Kong, iCantonese gives you access to life in Hong Kong that is beyond the expat areas. Cantonese and Mandarin knowledge also gives you access to a greater array of jobs.
 
zhumgg said:
Dear all,

What is your opinion whether foreign education like US education is better than Hk education even my kid study in the international school in HK?? if in an international school, i'm sure that the education would be at the minimum on par with what you would receive in north america...

Do you think HK is still a nice place to live with so many uncivilized mainlanders moved to HK or travel to HK all the time?? They drived all the prices up including property and retail and make the competition of school much more intense. how very racist of you! "uncivilized mainlanders"???? yes, property prices are going up.... but i don't think that "uncivilized mainlanders" are the ones causing problems with school places.

How serious is the consequency if my kid dont know Chinese??

Well, some of the questions above is really open, hope any one of you wont mind to share your thinking no matter you are westerner, mainlander or HK local.

Thanks
Click to expand...

please see my comments above
 
Wow, I dont expect such a big reaction on the term "uncivilized mainlander". This is actually quite a common term among HK chinese. If you can read Chinese newspaper, you will know why these people were described as uncivilized (I did not invent this term). If you are the westerners who live in HK before HK return to China and you are still living in HK now, and that you can hear mandarin, you should understand what's the difference between the "two" Hong Kong.

Yes, they are not the only reason which drive up the property price but I never say it is the reason we call them "uncivilised". Based on the experience of my own, my HK friends, neighbours, relatives and the HK media, let me quote a few examples of what it means "uncivilised":

- They let the toddler/young kid poo on the floor of the shopping mall in front of all the shoppers while the toilet is just 2 mins away
- They brought naked kid or in some case, a kid without diaper or pants walking around the department store
- They started screaming, yelling and threatening you when things dont go their way
- They push you and step on shoes all the time even when it is not crowded on the street and public transportation. Not to mention they never apologize, they dont even look at you like nothing has happened
- They spit in the public wherever and whenever they like without respecting the basic hygiene of the public place and whether there are people around them
- They dont follow rules and regulation and always try to find the loop hole to get advantage for themselves
- They dont like to queue up and if you remind them to do so, they will scream at you like it is your fault
- At the school, instead of just drop the kids (by their own private car) and leave, they stop the car in the middle of everyone for a long time and block the way of everyone behind them during peak time pick up and drop off
- At the school, when their kids damage the school or classmate's property, the kid never apologize and the next day, their parents drop several thousands dollars to the school and said it is not a big deal to break things. Sounded unapologetic and very arrogant
- Those mainlanders who got rich overnight thinks money is everything and they can disrespecfully throw money to people face and think that they have to do anything for them

Well, the above is only some of the example, you can get more and more first hand information by reading the HK newspaper if you can read Chinese. I am not saying all the mainlanders are like that, but the pool of people who behave like that is large enough to make a respresentation as a whole.

We dont mind they come to HK but we hope they at least follow the rules and regulation here. Have basic courtesy, respect, hygiene and maintain certain level of ethics and moral.

Anyways, my thread is not to discuss about mainlanders or whether they are civilized or not. Actually I know the answers of the questions I posted myself, it's just I am at a stage of making very important decision and feel very frustrated. I want to hear different point of view of whether people will send their kids to study in HK and keep them in a foreign country if they have a choice. It's totally focus on the education and the living environment while keeping other things being equal.
 
An 'education' in the US is about as varying and inconsistent as it can get. I've been educated in both HK international schools and a top tier American prep school and find both very satisfactory. It also depends on the motivation and determination of each individual child. You only get as much as you put into your efforts. You will find that competition to get into a top tier school anywhere in the world is increasingly difficult. Uncivilized, uncouth people are EVERYWHERE, why single out the mainlanders in HK? It's a very broad and unfair statement to make. We'd be a very stagnant economy if it weren't for a growing influx of mainland Chinese.
 
I think you are on the wrong forum then. we don't SEND our kids to school in hk. we live in hong kong, hence our kids go to school here. if we were in the usa, our kids would go to school there.

as for the mainlanders, while i can agree that the certainly have their own way of doing things, and some of the things they do i do not agree with i think it is rather arrogant to tell a society that has a 5000 year history that they are "uncivilised". just because they do not conform to your way of thinking does not make them uncivilised! uneducated, maybe... uncivilised, certainly not.
 
Zhumgg, just because Hong Kong people say it does it make it right, less offensive, or true for eternity, even if it may have once been true. I have lived here long enough to be able to distinguish a mainlander from a Hong Kong local (though many Hong Kong locals' ancestors anyway came from the mainland which people seem to have forgotten).

I do not find mainlanders as a whole badly behaved, though some do push. In fact, during the Golden Week holiday last year, I was surpised to see them queuing up for the MTR in TST, which HKers never do... instead during peak hours in the MTR in HK, people are always passive-aggressively trying to get ahead of you, even if you are pregnant. Everyday in the MTR, I stand there huge and pregnant while people pretend to be asleep and avoid eye contact to avoid giving me a seat. Elderly people are also ignored. I, pregnant, have got up an given my seat to an elderly person in the MTR and noone batted an eyelid. This is not my personal view alone, there have been letters in the English press about it. Every day, I see Hong Kong people pushing the door close button on the elevator while another person is rushing up. Sorry for the rant but I am tired of hearing about badly behaved Mainlanders from Hong Kong people who exhibit their profound self-centredness (although more passive aggressively) every day. Mainlanders may push because they come from a country of 1 billion where systems do not work and you have to push to get ahead. What's the average Hong Konger's excuse?

If you wanted to discuss just education, you shouldn't have mentioned mainlanders. That was a whole paragraph in your post, bound to draw attention, not to mention you followed it up with a long justification.

About education, I gave my view too. Just that your comment on mainlanders was too much to ignore.
 
Thank you for your sharing, evgreen!! We are in this forum for sharing and information. I respect people have different point of view on different things because at the end of the day, people have different experience and in different position. I never get emotional on other people's response, no matter whether it make sense (I am definitely in the right forum)/rude or not.

One thing I want to say - people at least have to be able to understand mandarin/cantonese before they can distinguish where people come from. Not everyone on the street or MTR is HK people, even mandarin/cantonese has different accent which show they come from different country (singaporean and malaysian speak both mandarin and cantonese)

I am not here to debate or argue. If you dont like my posting, you can feel free to ignore it and hide it. I am not wasting my time responding on this "mainlander" issue anymore. But if anyone has anything want to share on my question, I would very much appreciate it. Here's my question again:

If you are in a foreign country now, will you send your kid to HK for education OR will you stay at wherever you are (if you have a choice), focusing on education and living environment only while keeping other things being equal. For the expatriats who have kids study in HK and foreign country before , what is your experience and thinking?? How do your kids like both environment?? Thanks.
 
we ARE foreigners in hk (at least most of us are)... and to think that we cannot distinguish hkers from mainlanders is also a little bit arrogant. i am married to a hk chinese and i can certainly distinguish the two languages (you'd have to be deaf not to be able to tell the difference)...


as i said, we ARE in hk and that IS a foreign place for most of us. our children DO go to school in hong kong.

i don't really understand your question... are you asking if we would relocate 1/2 way around the world JUST so that our children could be educated in the usa? not me. i think it is important for kids, especially mine to be exposed to and learn the local culture of where we live (hk). they go to local cantonese speaking schools, even though i myself am not chinese.
 
I am a local (grew up in foreign country)... and if I can, I would prefer to have my baby educated somewhere else. Here in HK there are too much competition. Parents are really crazy and send their kids to as many different classes as possible. Kids cannot be kids anymore... but the bad things is that because other parents do that, you also have to do the same in order to compete.
 
actually, you don't. we never, ever played "keeping up with the Chan's" and our kids are getting a decent education (and we aren't even sending them to an international school)
 
i'd just like to add that i myself am chinese and was born and raised in hong kong. i value my language and culture very much and hope that my half-chinese children can do the same. that being said, hong kong is ideal for learning and appreciating cultural diversity, both western and chinese and my husband is on the same page as me. we are here for the long haul and although hong kong also has a few misgivings (as all cities do), i consider it one of the SAFEST and most secure places in the world to be raising and educating our children. As for considering a foreign school for our children, i wouldn't even think about it unless we a) moved to a foreign country b) our children were old enough for boarding school (i.e. 15 yrs or above).
 
like, like like like like.... sorry, evgreen... i can only "like" your post once...but i want to "like" it more!
 
I beg to differ. Other parents being pushy does not make me feel like I have to do the same to compete. Oops...thought i quoted gataloca on this one.
 
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What level of education are you talking about? kindy, grade school, high school or college? And where are you comparing with?
My experience of local schools in HK is that they are highly competitive and put a lot of pressure on the kids (and sometimes for parents).This starts from as young as kindergarten. Some kids do well under this system and some not. If you do well under this system, you do gain a lot of knowledge and exposure. But this is not unique to HK now. I've heard similar stories in other cities, like NY. So it depends on where you are comparing to.
 
evgreen said:
I beg to differ. Other parents being pushy does not make me feel like I have to do the same to compete. Oops...thought i quoted gataloca on this one.
Click to expand...

I agree.... I actually don't want to do the same, but I heard that babies have to build a curriculum in order to get to nursery school???? Just hearing that make me say "WTF????!!!"
 
"They started screaming, yelling and threatening you when things dont go their way
- They push you and step on shoes all the time even when it is not crowded on the street and public transportation. Not to mention they never apologize, they dont even look at you like nothing has happened
- They spit in the public wherever and whenever they like without respecting the basic hygiene of the public place and whether there are people around them
- They dont follow rules and regulation and always try to find the loop hole to get advantage for themselves
- They dont like to queue up and if you remind them to do so, they will scream at you like it is your fault
- At the school, instead of just drop the kids (by their own private car) and leave, they stop the car in the middle of everyone for a long time and block the way of everyone behind them during peak time pick up and drop off
- At the school, when their kids damage the school or classmate's property, the kid never apologize and the next day, their parents drop several thousands dollars to the school and said it is not a big deal to break things. Sounded unapologetic and very arrogant" (from the original poster)

Sounds like you've just described the majority of local HK people - I can;t even count the number of times I've seen people spitting, pushing, shoving, jumping a line or trying to gain unfair advantage. And I have lived in mainland China as well as HK. Yes, there are differences, but I could quite easily use the term "uncivilised HKers" and it would mean about the same. As with any country, there is a proportion who behave in ways that are not socially acceptable in other countries.
 
Like many of you, I've heard about these portfolios, but none of my friends, with kids going to local and international schools have never been asked for a portfolio, which would give the kid priority...
The problem is that if only one person talk about it, maybe 20 mums will feel like they have to do the same, and then it becomes the norm !
 
i run two playgroups and i can say that about 10% of parents ask for a certificate of attendance to add to their collection....99.99% of my students are local.
 
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