Sustainable Living Hong Kong

Hong Kong “celebrated” International Women’s Day yesterday in ways that typify the contrasting situations of women in the city.

While a rally was held in Mongkok to protest against unequal pay (female restaurant staff for instance get on average 30% less than their male counterparts), a high-heels race was held in Diamond Hill. And while a march from the Legislative Council to Central Government Offices was held to call attention to the plight of immigrant women and low-income families, a shopping guide was distributed by a consumer website for those devoted to shopping till they drop.

On the surface, women in Hong Kong fare much better than their counterparts in many parts of the world, including some developed countries. Hong Kong women are well-educated and conspicuous in the professions. Many earn a decent income and enjoy the autonomy to decide whether or not to have a family.

Scratch the surface, though, and the problems quickly become apparent. Women still earn less than men of the same ability and have less promotion opportunities; they are also much more likely to be poor in a trend described as “the feminisation of poverty”, and often subjected to domestic violence.

While the financial crisis of the past two years has actually benefited women in the west, with more men being fired and forced to become house husbands while women, with their ability to accept and cope with flexible schedules, become the more important source of household income; it is just the opposite in Hong Kong. Here, the dominance of the retail sector, where more women than men are hired based on hourly wages, means that they are more susceptible to redundancies and exploitation.

The government’s obsession with economic growth has been detrimental to not only women’s status, but also their health and family life. Is it really possible to achieve work-life balance while everyone’s forced to work 24/7 and maintain functional relationships? Whatever reform’s implemented, Hong Kong’s health care infrastructure will never be able to cope with the increasing demand for medical care. Quite apart from an ageing population, the heavy stress suffered in the workplace, whether physical, mental, emotional or all three, is bound to have an impact on the amount of medical attention required by both women and men. Future generations will also suffer because of absent parents.