Hong Kong Census 2011

The Census and Statistics Department has issued a press release of the population census conducted in 2011. Detailed results will be published in the coming months. So what’s changed since the previous population census in 2001?

The Hong Kong population has increased from 6.71 million people in 2001 to 7.07 million in 2011. During this time, the median age of the population rose from 36.7 years to 41.7 years. And the forecast is that the population will continue to age, with the median age in 2039 predicted to be 47.6 years. In my blog post of August 4th 2011, I pointed out the disparity between the ratio of males to females. Well, to update:

Census Year	2001	2011
Sex Ratio (males per 1,000 females)	960	876
Never married (male, age over 20)	27.8%	28.1%
Never married (male, age 20-49 years)	39.3%	46.8%
Never married (female, age over 20)	24.4%	25.4%
Never married (female, age 20-49 years)	34%	38.9%

So, how is it that there are so many single people in Hong Kong? Is it time for some Singapore style government sponsored match making? Yet, interestingly, we constantly read in the press about the need for more private schools, the lack of maternity beds etc etc. Also, where are the guys? As pointed out in my August blog post, the number of female foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong contributes to the disparity between males and females. The press release did not offer any explanation as to increased disparity. Has there been a marked increase of foreign domestic helpers or foreign brides or has there been an exodus of men? Looking at the statistics, there has been an increase in the proportion of never married men which tends to counter the argument about foreign brides…

Are Hong Kong men and women too choosy? Or are they choosing not to formalize their relationships with a marriage certificate?

Another interesting statistic I found was the median monthly income from main employment of the working population which was $11,000 in 2011, representing an increase of 10% in the past 10 years. From my personal experience in the last few years, this seems a small wage rise -especially given the recent announcement that in the 12 months ended January 2012, the CPI was on average 5.5% higher than the preceding 12 months. So I looked around for some more information.

The CPI index in 2001 was 94.9 and in 2011, the CPI index was 106. This implies that on average, consumer prices have risen 11.69% in the 10 year period. This was lower than what I had guessed, then I realised that a significant portion of CPI is attributable to the cost of housing which has been on a roller coaster since 1996 (remember how prices tumbled during SARs?). For guidance, I turned to the Census and Statistics Department’s 5 yearly Household Expenditure Survey. Apparently, in 2010, Hong Kong households spent an average of 28.2% to 33.3% of household income on housing. In New Zealand, it is 16% and in Japan, 6.5%. Eat your heart out!

Sensible marriage advice

I was fascinated by two little books (or should I say booklets as they only measure 7cm by 11cm) titled “DON’TS FOR HUSBANDS” and “DON’TS FOR WIVES” by Blanche Ebbutt. Never heard of her? Well, neither had I. The books were originally published in 1913! Okay I was intrigued - how can this still be relevant a hundred years hence? I had to read them….

You know what? Many of the advice are still so applicable in this day and age. In those days, the English “wives” the author was referring to generally did not work outside the home. It was not until 1918 when women over the age of 30 and who met minimum property qualifications were enfranchised. This was extended to all women above the age of 21 in 1923 ie a good 10 years after the book was first published. In any case, if you read the book bearing in mind the period in which it was written, it is surprisingly sensible and not at all sexist. The book also has references to how to treat servants-how relevant to Hong Kong today!

Here are few that I really like, see what you think of them:

For Husbands –

• Don’t think that because you and your wife married for love there will never be a cloud in your sky. Neither of you is perfect, and you will have to learn to avoid treading on each other’s corns.


• Don’t hesitate to mention the fact when you think your wife looks especially nice. Your thinking so can give her no pleasure unless you tell your thought.


• Don’t forget your wife’s birthday. Even if she doesn’t want the whole world to know her age, she doesn’t like you to forget.


• Don’t quarrel with your wife. She can’t if you won’t. Mud sticks and so do words spoken in anger.


• Don’t refuse your wife’s overtures when next you meet if you have unfortunately had a bit of a breeze. Remember it costs her something to make them, and if you weren’t a bit of a pig, you would save her the embarrassment by making them yourself.

For Wives –

• Don’t omit to pay your husband an occasional compliment. If he looks nice as he comes in dressed for the opera, tell him so. If he has been successful with his chickens, or his garden, or his photography, compliment him on his results.Don’t let him fall back on self-esteem all the while for want of a little well-directed praise.
  Don’t nag your husband. If he won’t carry out your wishes for the love of you, he certainly won’t because you nag him.


• Don’t say “I told you so” to your husband, however much you feel tempted to. It does no good, and he will be grateful to you for not saying it.


• Don’t sulk with your husband. If he has annoyed you, ‘get it off your chest’. A sulky wife is as bad as a termagant.


• Don’t refuse to give way about trifles. When a principle is at stake it is a different matter, but most matrimonial differences arise from trifles.


• Don’t return to an old grievance. Once a matter has been thrashed out, let it be forgotten, or at least never allude to it again.

Definitely a good read and a good gift for couples with a sense of humor.

At issue are truth and integrity

Did any of you watch Henry Tang Ying-Yen, the Chief Executive hopeful on television last night? For some time, Henry Tang has been embroiled in a controversy with allegations raised in the press about an “illegal structure” at No 7 York Road Kowloon Tong, a property which he co-owned with his wife until 2010. (In 2010, he transferred his share of the company that owns the property to his wife thus making her the sole owner.) The “illegal structure”, which he had dismissed as a small storage area, turned out to be a large basement of approximately 11 meters by 19 meters installed over an extended period of several years. Two glass panels at the bottom of a swimming pool provide illumination to the basement. This was verified by government officials from the Buildings Department late yesterday. Henry Tang and Mrs Tang (Lisa Kuo) met the press after the inspection to make a statement and answer questions.

I was absolutely amazed at his gumption. His statement had two key points – it was his wife’s doing and that even though he was aware that the renovations were illegal he did not handle the matter swiftly as it occurred during a low ebb in their marriage in 2007. Okay, swiftly? This is 2012, a good 4 to 5 years since! This coming from someone who said (roughly translated from Chinese) that “a man has to have broad shoulders and a strong spine”? In response to a direct question by a reporter “Did you lie?” he said he was confused and torn between his desire to tell the whole truth and protecting his wife. So………faced with two difficult choices he chose to not tell the truth and then when the chips are down, ” throw his wife under the bus” anyway. Go figure! You would have thought that Henry Tang had a few months or at least a few weeks to prepare for this final showdown and I am so disappointed that last night’s performance was the best that he could do. In life, one has to prepare for the worse and hope for the best. Surely in this case, he hoped for the best and did not prepare for the worse.

Mrs Tang on the other hand has shown unwavering loyalty to her husband despite his infidelity and again in this incident, courage and integrity to own up to the truth and shoulder full responsibility for the illegal structure and sincerity in her remorse and let’s not forget her single minded dedication to her noble (if misplaced) purpose of providing the best for her family’s comfort.

Let’s vote Mrs Tang for Chief Executive instead!

For a report in the South China Morning Post click here.

Water Chestnut Pudding

For the Lunar New Year, I got busy with making some traditional favorites as gifts to family and friends. Amongst this is the very famous Hong Kong Cantonese dessert called the water chestnut pudding. It’s a great “pantry staple” (it can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week). As part of my experimentation, I varied the recipe by substituting some of the rock sugar with some Chinese brown sugar which comes in blocks 冰片糖. It added a very pleasant depth to the flavor and so I would recommend it. Here is the recipe for this adaptation of the original recipe:

Water Chestnut Pudding with brown sugar

Ingredients
500 g water chestnut powder
500 g rock sugar冰糖
250 g Chinese brown sugar冰片糖
8 water chestnuts
3 litres water

Method

1. Peel water chestnuts and chop into little bits.
2. Boil 1.5 litres of water, rock sugar and brown sugar in a large stock pot. Add in the chopped water chestnuts.
3. Place the water chestnut powder in a large mixing bowl. Add 1.5 litres of water and mix thoroughly. Make sure that the batter is absolutely smooth with no lumps of water chestnut powder.
4. When the sugar is dissolved, add in one cup of the water chestnut batter. Stir immediately. The sugar solution should thicken slightly and the mixture is clear. Bring to boil again.
5. Turn heat off and stir in the rest of the water chestnut batter. The mixture is now opaque. Keep stirring the bottom of the pot to ensure that the mixture does not stick.
6. Divide the mixture into 3 deep 8 inch dishes.
7. Place a trivet in a wok and fill with water to slightly above the top of the trivet. Use high heat. When the water is boiling, place a tray of the batter on the trivet and steam with the lid on the wok for about 20 minutes. When cooked, the pudding will be honey coloured and clear. When necessary, top up the water in the wok with hot water.
8. Leave the cooked pudding in the dishes to cool.

Whilst still warm, cut into slices and serve.Leftover pudding can be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week. To reheat, fry slices with a little oil.

This is what water chestnut pudding batter looks like before being steamed.

This is water chestnut pudding being steamed. Notice that the batter is translucent around the edges and is turning a light brown honey color.