Hong Kong women have all the rights they want nowadays, it's really up to them how they want to live their lives and what they want to achieve.

Let's raise our glasses then to Hong Kong women from all walks of life. Hong Kong women may be conventional on the surface, but they are fiercely independent at heart - or is it the other way around?

And yes, they are Cosmopolitan Animals, under an infinite number of skins.

They're men disguised in women's clothing. Hong Kong is still a male-dominated society. Its culture isn't diverse enough to nurture feminine psychological development from adolescence to womanhood.

Society only emphasises external femininity through consumption, ie. slimming products." The female figure strikes again.

Inequality still exists on a daily basis.

Precisely because people tend to think that many practical problems of women in Hong Kong society have been solved and a certain level of equality achieved, there is very little room and willingness to address and openly discuss any issues regarding gender and sexuality, as if they are already irrelevant and/or unimportant.

Sexual harassment in the workplace, fixed gender roles in the Hong Kong education system, mass circulation of stereotypical and often derogatory images of women in the media, denial of same-sex partnership in all levels of institutional protection,

Even today, we see evidence of this imbalance in the great preference for baby boys over baby girls.

The concept of gender equity has reached China slowly and quietly, and its advent has met with varying reactions in the different regions of the country.

Hong Kong is a good laboratory in which to examine the dawn of gender equity in China. Today's Hong Kong is a modern, bustling society filled with opportunities.

In the office buildings, on the street, indeed almost everywhere, people walk and work with intense speed.

People from all over the world come to Hong Kong for business, sightseeing, shopping, and research.

Naturally, that translates into a fast-paced life with long hours and often a 24-hour schedule for financiers trying to keep up with markets around the world.

The work ethic is strong and a five-and-a-half or six-day workweek is the norm. Despite the Western influence, Hong Kong remains ver much Chinese.

The culture dictates that getting angry and showing it in public is a loss of face and of your emotions, so try not to do it.

From a practical standpoint, there's very little to be gained by a public show of anger and rarely will it fix the problem. Even in business, some local customs have been adopted to ensure monetary success.

Using a geomancer to determine the feng shui (a system of divination using lines and alignment) of an event or a new building is common practice and is taken quite seriously, so don't mock it or question its value.

Flying the Taiwanese flag is against the law, but other than that there's nothing particularly unusual.

There are laws against public spitting and littering, but they are rarely enforced.

The country of Hong Kong is a comprehensive society, comprising of an international people, bringing with them a multitude of languages and religions.

Hong Kongers have shaped a new culture and society in which different ethnic groups have come together and have developed into one people; while still allowing each group to preserve its own individual appeal, distinctiveness and personality which adds to the exotic essence of Hong Kong. Local customs and manners of Hong Kong are extremely different from the traditional habits and customs of a Western society.

Westerners tend to feel that there is a basic universal code for etiquette and manners and this code is understood and practiced in the same manner throughout the world.

Deducting the pragmatic sentiment that we are all humans; we sense, we care, love and we mourn the loss of loved ones in the same fashion.

But we may not realize that not all humans do things the exact same way. There is no one way to live one’s life; there is no right or wrong, just different.

What constitutes good manners in one culture, may be portrayed as the height of rudeness in another.

This is the challenge that cross cultural communication brings to experts all over the world. According to Webster’s dictionary, ethnocentrisms are defined as “The emotional attitude that one’s own ethnic group, nation or culture is superior to others.”

Ethnocentrism has always been one of the biggest dangers in the cross cultural world. Anthropologists, business people, housewives, students, teachers, and all who cross cultures can fall victim to it. Defined anthropologically, ethnocentricity is a state of mind where one contrasts every culture critically and unflatteringly with one’s own culture.

Where a person views other cultures without an outside perspective and a very closed cultural mind. Unfortunately then forming an opinion based on a narrow-minded, prejudiced and bigoted feeling towards other cultures.

This feeling of cultural superiority is borne out of the belief that one’s own culture is honorable and moral as well as the feeling that one’s own set of morals and ethical behavior is universally and essentially true, and that one views one’s own customs as the original human ones and views all other customs as somehow inferior. Despite many well intended guidebooks, courses and friendly advice teaching westerners about how to understand life in Asian mentality, many unsuspecting experts still believe that the safest course of action is to be open, forthcoming, candid and outspoken.

After all aren’t these the qualities Asians are supposed to appreciate about westerners? The truth is, Asians are less apt to admire these qualities than they are to view the Westerners as wanting in polish, manners, and adeptness when these same qualities cause hurt feelings, lost face, business breakdowns as well as unsuspecting resentment. The way a person views a behavior can vary from culture to culture, while a smile and laughter in one culture equates happiness, the same gestures and manners would constitute several things such as a loss of face, embarrassment and shame or even shyness.

Traditionally in Hong Kong, the immediate family is comprised of many people. As in most Asian cultures, it is not uncommon to have three generations under one roof.

Parents, children (adult and non adult), mother’s parents and siblings and their children’s children.

Can and are considered immediate family. Living with the in laws or elderly parents, taking in orphaned nieces and nephews, supporting a brother who is out of work is nothing unusual.

In Hong Kong, the family truly supports each other. They all know each other closely and their rights, duties, and responsibilities each have to the other, according to age, generation, sex and relation. Despite the history of the Hong Kong family there is a rising upper middle class, one which has adapting to Westernization, many newly wed couples are moving away from the extended family to set up separate and individual households.

Not only does the family start a new household, but it may also set up individual spaces for each individual.

Each child may have a separate room for themselves. Ties with extended family may not be close as in other generations, there is more autonomy within the family.

Their values are to be truthful but discreet and considerate; caring without being weak; and never lose your face or cause an Asian to lose face.

Face cannot be underestimated. Asians have long memories, and any loss of face will be remembered. It may even affect business transactions. How can we measure face? Face is the measure of one’s self pride, integrity, character and good name, but it is much more than personal pride; it involves the entire group (the family, the school, the neighborhood, the work place, the city and the country).

Face keeps relationships in order as it allows for the longevity of group harmony, and it promotes group solidarity.

It measures the social standing of the person within the group- and the social standing of the group as well.

If one person loses face, the whole group loses face, so it is much deeper and stronger than a simple embarrassment.

The theory of face allows the group to have social control over the behavior of the individual. It is most evident in communication between superiors and subordinates. Do Westerners have face or privacy? The answer is quite simply yes, Westerners have a face component in their society, but appear to place more value on privacy as they have even written books on privacy and adamantly guard their right to it.

It is the right of the individual not to have the group interfere in his/her business, and thus privacy helps the individual not to be under the social control of the group.

Westerners sometimes refer to having a loss of face as a form of slight awkwardness, but shame is usually not a large part of it.

When a westerner does something wrong, he/she feels more guilt than shame.

If an individual does something to cause guilty feelings, that particular individual will take full responsibility for their actions. Thus, the group is not held responsible for the actions of the individual.

Privacy is most visible when communicating with an individual; it is an important part of a democratic culture where every individual has his/her own personal rights. Through the actions of many Westerners, the absence of the Asian-type face is visible.

There is no timidity with a Westerner in regards to speaking their mind, asking questions in the classroom or challenging their superiors, to say an outright no to friends or colleagues, this end result of their actions does not affect the group in any manner, just the individual.

Hence, the individual is responsible for him/herself, and the pro-active and admired individual should always express individual ideas and stand out and away from the group. Unknown to a Western newcomer to Hong Kong, there are many ways “face” can be lost. Following are a few examples; doing or saying anything which could cause a member of the group to be left out of the group or expelled from the group, or points out the errors of elders, parents, teachers, or bosses.

Doing anything, which could cause the group to explode from within through anger, envy, jealousy, or criticism. Doing something to bring shame onto the group.

It is a form of social control. The group helps the individual to stay on the right path. Criticizing someone or pointing out mistakes or errors in public, especially if a junior.

Making someone feel embarrassed, insulted, humiliated , shamed and inferior. Asking questions of a person in a superior position, or asking for clarification, especially if this was done in public.

The person who was asked would lose face because it would be as if he/she did not understand the materials, instructions, and directions.

Showing anger by shouting or swearing at someone, throwing temper tantrums or losing your cool.

Pointing or shaking a forefinger at someone, especially in his or her face, saying no or refusing someone outright. Open confrontation, conflict or disagreement.

If a subordinate argued or disagreed openly with a superior, the superior would lose face.

This may explain why an Asian employee may publicly agree with the employer (but give signs of compliance; saying ‘it will be difficult’, while privately continuing to do things his/her own way.