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THE HONG KONG ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY
AND THE HONG KONG MUSEUM OF HISTORY
PRESENT
An Anthropological Talk by Yeong Jin Seong
Military Confucianism in a Wall Street Law Firm
Thursday 18 April 2013,
7:00pm
Hong Kong Museum of History
Lecture Hall, Ground Floor, 100 Chatham Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
The Korea practice group of a Wall Street law firm is managed by a mode of behavior and implicit rules that are quite different from the law firm's general policy. The group is operated based on a strict hierarchical order drawn from military experience and Confucianist tenets. What then, does it mean to be a Korean lawyer in a multinational firm? What does national identity mean in a world of global business? This talk, based on the presenter's own years of experience as a Wall Street lawyer, explores this question from a deeply personal point of view.
Mr. Yeon Jin Seong is a New York State-qualified lawyer and has been practicing law in New York and Hong Kong since receiving juris doctor from Columbia University School of Law in 2005. He studied cultural anthropology at Cornell University where he is a Ph. D. candidate. He lived in Nepal for an anthropological fieldwork, conducting a research on Hindu death rituals and social hierarchy.
THE HONG KONG ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY
AND THE HONG KONG MUSEUM OF HISTORY
PRESENT
An Anthropological Talk by Sandy To
Understanding Sheng Nu ('Leftover Women'): Constraints and Strategies in Chinese Professional Women's Marriage Partner Choice
Thursday 23 May 2013,
7:00pm
Hong Kong Museum of History
Lecture Hall, Ground Floor, 100 Chatham Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
The increasing number of highly educated, unmarried women in China over the past few decades has given rise to the sheng nu or "leftover women" phenomenon. This study is the first that investigates the phenomenon from the sheng nus' point of view, which differs from existing superficial media accounts that portray them as liberated city singles who are not interested in marriage, or women with overly high expectations for marriage partners who are to blame for being 'leftovers' in the marriage market. Using the Grounded Theory Method, I found that the majority of Chinese women wanted to get married, but were precluded from doing so by the "patriarchal constraints" of Chinese society. In this talk, I will discuss these constraints that sheng nu face in their quest for marriage in modern Chinese society, and the "partner choice strategies" they adopt.
Sandy To is a Teaching Consultant at the Department of Sociology of the University of Hong Kong. Her PhD, from Cambridge University explored Chinese professional women's marriage views and partner choices.
THE HONG KONG ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY
AND THE HONG KONG MUSEUM OF HISTORY
PRESENT
An Anthropological Talk by Allen Hai Xiao
In Search of the African Dream: Chinese Small Entrepreneurs in Nigeria
Wednesday 19 June 2013,
7:00pm
Hong Kong Museum of History
Lecture Hall, Ground Floor, 100 Chatham Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Many scholars discuss the Chinese presence in Africa in terms of government and big enterprises, but few have looked at individual Chinese entrepreneurs on the ground, and how they do business and live their lives. In this talk, I discuss the year I have spent working with an experienced businessman on his China-Africa business, and following Chinese small entrepreneurs from Guangzhou to Lagos, Nigeria. I explore how those businesspeople maintain their transnational networks and adapt their business strategies to Nigerian practices, including corruption, and I consider how those business activities shape informal China-Nigeria links and Chinese perceptions towards Nigerians and Africans.
Allen Hai XIAO is an M. Phil. Student in the Department of Anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
THE HONG KONG ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY
AND THE HONG KONG MUSEUM OF HISTORY
PRESENT
An Anthropological Talk by Reijiro Aoyama
Dissolving Pearls: The Japanese Community in Hong Kong
Wednesday 10 July 2013,
7:00pm
Hong Kong Museum of History
Lecture Hall, Ground Floor, 100 Chatham Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Previous research has drawn attention to the isolation of the Japanese community in Hong Kong. However, my research found that among Japanese nationals in Hong Kong, there is a new and pronounced interest in local culture. Since the early 2000s Japanese nationals have come to Hong Kong not only to take advantage of assumed Chinese economic growth but also to search for alternative values and a fulfilling life outside Japan. Japanese nationals have also started living outside Japanese communities and have close relationships with Hong Kong locals or other international expatriates. The findings suggest that, like Hong Kong's steady integration into China, the Japanese community in Hong Kong is also undergoing a process of dissolution, with the local Hong Kong culture increasingly infiltrating the once closely knit Japanese community within the city.
Reijiro Aoyama is a lecturer in the Division of Languages and Communication at the City University of Hong Kong.
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