I have lived in Hong Kong for many years and have always heard that Chinese people have a lot of respect for the elderly.
However, younger adults and children do not seem to have carried on this tradition. I am constantly amazed at the sight of children of all ages, grabbing seats on the trains and buses for themselves, not for their parents. If there is only one seat, the child sits in it. My children were taught to show manners and stand up for an older person. Why are the local children not taught this? I am somewhat puzzled at a two- or three-year-old being allowed to occupy a seat when he could sit on his mother's lap. I am annoyed by the children from expensive, so-called 'elite' schools, who push past me in their haste to get a seat. And I am saddened by the sight of a domestic helper meeting a 10-year-old lad, twice her size, from school. He immediately hands over his heavy school bag for her to carry.
Why are children not taught the simple rules of decency and politeness? Or if they are, why are these values not enforced?
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