Hong Kong may boast of being a modern world city with liberal and open views, but a recent survey suggests it is still highly traditional when it comes to women's rights - especially in the workplace.
According to the Women's Commission poll, over half of 3,000 respondents said 'women should focus more on family than work' and 39 per cent agreed that 'men's job is to earn money while women's job is to do household work and take care of the family'.
'An overwhelming amount of people - old and young, male and female - still think women should give up their careers and stay home to take care of family members, raise the children and do the housework. Women are still stereotyped as better at these things, and not as good at others,' said Dr Liu Ngar-fun, executive committee member of the Federation of Women's Centres.
Susanne Choi Yuk-ping, associate professor and director of the Gender Research Centre at Chinese University, said such attitudes led to discriminatory practices.
Women make up about 46 per cent of the city's workforce. And yet, says Choi: 'Hong Kong places many limits on women' with its traditional views, which turn into discrimination at the workplace.
About 70 per cent of respondents said being a woman would hinder job promotion.