Talented mainlanders unhappy in HK
Little support and cultural gap deter postgraduates from living and working in the city
Hong Kong has difficulty retaining talented mainlanders who study in the city because universities and the government provide little information or support to help them remain in the city to work, a mainland graduates' group warned yesterday.
The Hong Kong Association of Mainland Graduates - established in December in response to the surging number of mainland students - found that only about 20 per cent of those who wanted to stay in Hong Kong to work were able to do so.
And some that did stay were not happy with the outcome.
An association survey of 186 mainland graduates in Hong Kong in the first six months of the year found that 90 per cent wanted to stay in the city to work. However, Immigration Department statistics show that only 236, or 18 per cent, of the 1,322 mainland graduates last year actually did so.
Association president Geng Chunya blamed the situation on a lack of guidance and information offered to the mainlanders.
'There is not enough information given to the students before they come to the city,' he said. 'And there is not enough information on what they can do after they come.'
Mr Geng said support was particularly lacking for postgraduates, who did not get internship chances or job placements because overseas students were allowed to work only during the holidays, whereas postgraduates performed research throughout the year.
Some of the 'lucky' postgraduate students who were offered work after graduation had to be satisfied with jobs for which they were over-qualified, Mr Geng said. Others who did find satisfactory jobs missed out because their visas took too long to be processed.
'It normally takes the Immigration Department three to four weeks to issue our visas,' said mainland postgraduate Li Huan, who works for the association.
'Sometimes it could take up to two months before we can actually work. A lot of the employers would not want to wait that long.'
Three quarters of the 4,112 mainland students admitted to Hong Kong last year were postgraduates.
Those who do find work in the city also face difficulties blending in.
The survey found that a third of the respondents had a social circle of just 10 to 25 friends, while about 10 per cent of those polled had fewer than 10 friends.
Despite a high level of recognition for Hong Kong's freedom of speech, fair working environment, and high efficiency, mainlanders had problems enjoying the city's social life.
'Language and cultural discrepancies are two of our major hindrances,' Mr Geng said. 'There are no - or very few - language or bridging courses in universities for mainland research students, and we don't have courses that teach us about Hong Kong values and culture.'
