You Get Stronger While Facing Difficulties

Our society is consistently changing. Different generations of people may have different kinds of life. Since my mother and I grew in different environments, we may have different set of values. I have had interview with my mother who grew up in an environment which is different from mine, and I found that our personal history, sense of cultural and social history are very different. Although she grew up in a relatively poor environment, she still succeeds due to her hard work. My mother was born in Hong Kong. She has two brothers and two sisters. At the time when she was a child, Hong Kong was not a rich city.

The majority of people were poor. In my mother’s family, since there are five children, they did not have sufficient income to maintain their lives. In this case, my mother needed to get a part-time Job after school in order to reduce the family financial burden. According to my mother, she always worked till 11 pm every day. She added ” [This was really very hard. ] At that time, there were only a few ways to entertain. When my mother had spear time, she usually listened to the radio. She always said that Refortifies ” [At that time I was bored. I could only listen to the radio when I had time. When comparing to her, I grew up in an environment which had many kinds of entertainment. Watching television, playing computer games and surfing the Internet are major types of activities that we do after school. Since Hong Kong is richer when compared to the past, most of the kids do not need to get part-time Jobs. These show that we grew up in different environment. Obviously, my mother faced more difficulties than me. Besides that, my mother thought that she was like living in a reign country. In terms of race, more than 90% of Hong Kong people are Chinese.

However, since Hong Kong was a British colony before 1997, our national identity was not clear. According to my mother, every time she traveled to another place, she had to say her nationality was British, although her race is Chinese. She always said -3–t%-o [It strange. ] She added m, was in a place where the majority of the populations are Chinese. However, this place was ruled by another country. I was like living in foreign country. ] Luckily, since the majority of the populations were Chinese, my mother could still participate in a home country traditions. Clammed. L could still celebrate Chinese festivals such as Lunar New Year; I could also eat Chinese food everywhere. ]According to my mother, racism problem in Hong Kong still existed when she was young, although it was not serious. “she said. [People usually thought that White people were more superior. ] Apart from that, before 1997, Hong Kong was a British colony in which English was the only official language in the city. According to my mother, all the subjects at school were aught in English, [l have to read English book every day because all the textbooks were in English. She added, tiff, [In this case, I needed to learn an additional language other than Chinese. ] On the other hand, Chinese songs were very common. My mother quite enjoyed listening to Chinese songs. She said there were local Cantonese songs and Mandarin songs from Taiwan. When compared, nowadays the importance of English in Hong Kong has declined. There are more and more high schools use Chinese as medium of instruction. In other words, nowadays Hong Kong is more likely to be a Chinese city. In terms of culture, now it is “easier” to live in Hong Kong than before.

Although my mother faced some cultural difficulties before, she tried her best to deal with it. Therefore, she can have a better life nowadays. Last but not least, my mother faced a lot of social problem when she was a child. She really concerned about social issues when she was a child. She said ” [l am not a recent immigrant; I was born in Hong Kong. I should be more concern about social issues. ] According to my mother, there were many social problems. For example, at the time when she was a child, the irruption problem was quite serious.

My mother said that the police department was the most corrupted department in the government. “Г*, ” she claimed. [At that time, the majority of people hated police very much. ] Furthermore, the housing problem in Hong Kong was also very serious. My mother said, ” [At that time, many people lived in squatter areas. ] She added, [l was comparatively luckier because I could live in public housing estate. ] When compared, due to the establishment of Independent Commission Against Corruption (IAC) in 1974, at the present, the corruption problem has been greatly improved.

Besides that, since Hong Kong people are richer than before, they can live in tall buildings instead of living in squatter areas. Although my mother did not live in a good environment, she did not give up, so she can succeeds and have a better life at present. In conclusion, the growing environment of my mother and me are really different. She grew up in a relatively difficult and poor environment. Although she faced many problems, she did not give up. Working hard to solve all the problems that she faced, now she can have a better life. This positive attitude should be learned.