Job Discussion Forums

[beg13]

[quote="Perilla"]Staying with the HK universities theme, there are two general observations that immediately come to mind, having spent over 10 years here including a fair bit of contact with local universities and their students ...

1. Compared to the UK (I can't make a comparison with anywhere else), HK's university students are rather naive and unworldly, and

2. The range of topics available for study in HK unis is overwhelmingly biased towards science and business. There are remarkably few arts-based options.

The reasons for 2 are roughly attributable to the local money obsession mentioned earlier, though I couldn't say what causes 1. Complicated, no doubt.[/quote]

The same goes for Japan for the most part.

[beg13]

Thanks Rivermystic for your thoughtful replies. Your observations remind me of Jacques Ellul:

"Modern technology has become a total phenomenon for civilization, the defining force of a new social order in which efficiency is no longer an option but a necessity imposed on all human activity."


I wonder if there is one area in which it appears the rest of asia is head and shoulders ahead of Japan: English Language Learning and study abroad.

Just at a time when Japan's sharply declining population should spur a more outward looking orientation, Japan is becoming more insulated:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110106f1.html

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110108003158.htm

It seems that young people in China and Korea have no problem learning English and studying abroad.

[beg13]

Why is it that I can't figure out how to quote other people in those boxes? If it's my browser I won't feel so foolish!

[Henry_Cowell]

Your quote tags look good to me. If I paste your quoted material here, I get the following:

[beg13]

I must be doing something wrong because
I don't see quotes in a separate white box.
I'm using Chrome. Maybe I'm making a
Silly mistake.

[A'Moo]

[beg13]

Yes of course there is an economic reason. I don't think that high a number of Koreans stay overseas these days (but there is a large Korean population in the states compared to Japanese) but whether or not they do, there is an economic reason for studying abroad. Now Japan is losing out to Koreans in terms of the global market. Japanese young people are comfortable and insular. Once upon a time there was a big interest in language learning and study-abroad. Again, like a Japanese CEO said, Japan is like a frog being boiled alive. Now the water is only warm.

[Tiger Beer]

I'm in Japan as well. I know exactly what you are saying about Japan and the Japanese too.

That being said, if the ship is sinking, this is certainly a very pleasant ship to be sinking on...

I lived in South Korea for many years before Japan. While I think students and the economy and entrepreneurship is thriving in Korea and with Koreans...it's just so much more comfortable living in Japan.

I've visited HK many times, and I love it there as well. But, overall, I think you are looking for a 'love of learning for learning's sake' group of students. I just don't think you'll find that that kind of people 'in bulk' anywhere in Asia.

That being said, there is certainly a lot less of it in Japan than anywhere else.

[beg13]

I think you're right! I wonder if Japan will get a lot worse before it gets better in terms of the quality of higher education. They say half the private universities will close over the next ten years. There is a lot of dead weight to get rid of before it can be improved. I wonder what's ahead for Japan. I guess a lot of businesses and townships will go bankrupt and a lot of services and benefits will be cut before young people mature enough to realize the mess they've been handed.
But it's so comfortable here. I certainly don't want to struggle harder for less money in less comfortable places. Although I'm always curious about other places. People say HK is a fun weekend, Korea is an unfriendly place to live, Taiwan is friendly but uncomfortable, and Japan is comfortable but it's a sick society.