Deference to ones elders is usually seen as a fundamental component of Chinese values - if such a coherent body exists, which is arguable. The United States and western Europe, on the other hand, tend to prize critical thinking and creativity, and value innovative young minds. Hong Kong, according to the usual argument, straddles both worlds.
But exactly what are the proven characteristics of youth and age, and how universal are they?
Age bestows the same basic changes on individuals the world over, according to research. Enthusiasm and openness wane early on; but so do negativity, selfishness, narrow-mindedness and confusion. Personality-wise, a 35-year-old is more like a 70-year-old than a 20-year-old.
Studying change over a lifetime poses obvious logistical problems, which one group of researchers sought to overcome by gathering data retrospectively on famous people. In their study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, they looked at all the written material they could find by authors such as William Shakespeare, Louisa May Alcott and Charles Dickens at various times in their lives. Then they analysed how writers' perspectives on life altered by the language they used both in their works of fiction and in their personal journals, papers and letters.
They discovered, as expected, that older people use more complex language and longer words, indicating more complex cognitive thinking. But they were surprised to find that older people tend to talk about the future considerably more than younger people do.
Another big contrast was in how often these writers mentioned other people. From the age of 25, it seems, individuals talk (and write) more in generalities. The most dramatic finding in the private writing was the increase with age in the use of positive language.