Reducing Negativity<\/p>\n
Hong Kong is becoming a less peaceful and harmonious society, and it is extremely saddening to witness.\u00a0People are unhappy and frustrated, sometimes choosing to vent their anger through violent means. In this\u00a0article, the causes for the situation and the solutions will be discussed.<\/p>\n
The first cause to a less peaceful and harmonious society is the clashing of citizens over political issues. Since\u00a0the handover in 1997, Hong Kong people have been determined to keep the \u2018one country, two systems\u2019 idea\u00a0going in order to maintain relative democracy and autonomy from China. Recent issues that concern the notion\u00a0have caused huge divisions among society. The first was the framework of universal suffrage proposed by the\u00a0Central Government for the Chief Executive Election in 2017. On one hand, the framework drew support from\u00a0some members of the public as it symbolized the first step of Hong Kong towards democracy. On the other\u00a0hand, it sparked outrage among others as they believed that the proposal did not embody real universal suffrage\u00a0and undermined democracy. The people against the framework proceeded to participate in the Occupy Central\u00a0Movement, but the people for the framework believed that the Movement was unlawful, and this led to serious\u00a0clashes between the two camps, causing further rifts within society. The other incident was the interpretation of\u00a0Basic Law Article 104 by the National People\u2019s Congress in response to two young lawmakers failing to pledge\u00a0loyalty to China while swearing their oaths. Again, some people supported Beijing\u2019s decision to ensure Hong\u00a0Kong Independence sentiments would not continue brewing, while others bashed the Central Government for\u00a0undermining \u2018one country, two systems\u2019. There were arguments on social media, and even violent protests and\u00a0clashes on the night of the interpretation. All the incidents have caused huge political divide and led to frequent\u00a0quarrels, thus making Hong Kong less peaceful and harmonious.<\/p>\n
Another cause is the social problems in society. First, private housing in Hong Kong is unaffordable to a\u00a0majority of the population. A mere 600-square- foot flat can cost $7 million, which is not a small sum. Not able\u00a0to afford private residence, citizens have no choice but to turn to public housing, thus resulting in a rapid increase\u00a0in the demand for public housing units. The demand greatly exceeds the supply, so even though the current\u00a0Chief Executive is trying his utmost to build public estates, he is still unable to strike a balance between the two.\u00a0Citizens have to wait for up to 5 years to be allocated a public housing unit, and in the meantime, they are\u00a0forced to rent poor living spaces like subdivided flats and cage homes. Without a roof above their heads, many people\u00a0feel very frustrated. Another social problem is connected to the youth. With an education system that only\u00a0emphasizes spoon-feeding and memorizing, the young people in Hong Kong face difficulties when trying to\u00a0integrate into society. They are not trained to solve problems and think critically, which is important at work.\u00a0As a result, they find it hard to be promoted to senior positions and lack upward mobility. Feeling hopeless\u00a0towards the future, it is only natural that they are angry and dissatisfied. A lot of protests are about these two\u00a0social issues. Our city is getting more noisy and inharmonious.<\/p>\n
As serious as everything sounds, we must find ways to resolve the problems. In the political regard, the\u00a0government should try to communicate more with the public and take their views into account. In addition, it\u00a0should encourage rational social discourse within society. Instead of mindlessly quarreling which will only make\u00a0the opposing camps more riled up, people should be encouraged to discuss matters based on facts and reasons.\u00a0As a result, citizens of opposing views can voice their opinions in civilized and peaceful ways, which will lead\u00a0to many constructive discussions and satisfying results. The government can take these conclusions from social\u00a0discourse into consideration as well while setting up various policies. When citizens witness the endeavors of\u00a0the government to listen to their needs, they will feel less resentful and hostile, thus paving way for future\u00a0peace. Furthermore, citizens should try their best to reign in personal feelings and think with reason and not\u00a0emotions. This will significantly reduce the negatively in society as well.<\/p>\n
As for social problems, to solve the housing shortage, the solution would of course be increasing supply of\u00a0public housing units, but before that is achieved, the government should provide more subsidies to the people\u00a0waiting in line so that their financial burden from the sky-rocketing rents can be eased. With a lighter burden,\u00a0citizens will feel less frustrated and more appreciative of the government\u2019s efforts to improve their lives. For the\u00a0problem of the lack of upward mobility of the youth, the government should start changing the education\u00a0system by shifting the focus to critical thinking, instead of meaningless cramming of knowledge into students\u2019\u00a0brains. Instead of providing textbooks full of facts, schools should give students projects and inquiry-based\u00a0assignments to hone their problem-solving skills. The major stakeholder, the students, should also take the\u00a0initiative. They should definitely try reading more newspapers and developing their own stance and comments\u00a0to sharpen their judgment and thinking. At least, they won\u2019t use violent or unlawful means to achieve their\u00a0aims.<\/p>\n
As responsible citizens, we should point out flaws and injustices within society. However, it is important to bear\u00a0in mind that expressing ourselves in a civilized manner is just as important. Sure, there are still a lot of things\u00a0that have to be improved in our city, but before we point fingers at others, how about evaluating ourselves first?\u00a0To create a better society, we need to have better people, so let\u2019s all start making improvements by reducing our\u00a0own negativity! That way, Hong Kong can be a more peaceful and harmonious place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reducing Negativit<\/p>Hong Kong is becoming a less peaceful and harmonious society, and it is extremely saddening to witness.\u00a0People are unhappy and frustrated, sometimes choosing to vent their anger through violent means. In this\u00a0article, the causes for the situation and the solutions will be discusse.........Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":186,"featured_media":8474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","language-en","classlevel-s5","schoolyear-48"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/186"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5549"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5552,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5549\/revisions\/5552"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}