HKU Bulletin

‘Leftover’ Women

Speak out

Successful single women in China can have difficulty
finding a partner, but the media calls them ‘leftover’ and blames them for being picky about partners or lacking genuine interest in marriage. Sociologist Dr Sandy To has been listening to the women’s side of the story.

After the Split

The psychological and social impacts of divorce linger long after the final papers have been signed, as the Director of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention Professor
Paul Yip Siu-fai explains.

Marriage in Transition

Marriage in China today can come in a rainbow of permutations: fake or naked, arranged or for love, delayed or early. But traditional values still persist and underpin even the newfangled options,

says anthropologist
Dr Gonçalo Santos.

The Battlegrounds

of Divorce

Most divorces in Hong Kong can be settled with talk and mediation, but when they aren’t, children and the court system suffer.

State of the Union

The economic and political changes experienced by China, Hong Kong and to a wider extent Asia in recent decades have had an impact on intimate affairs, too. While traditions remain strong, marriage is starting to take on new forms and divorce is on the increase. HKU scholars have been tracking the changes and examining the repercussions from sociological, anthropological, economic and legal perspectives.

The Dowry Debate

Dowries may be scorned as old-fashioned and even harmful to women. But economist Dr William Chan argues that in some circumstances they may actually be beneficial.

A Class Divide :

Divorce and
Cross-Border

Marriages in Hong Kong

Hong Kong has one of the highest divorce rates in the world but it is concentrated disproportionately among the poorer classes. At the same time, cross-border marriages have skyrocketed. Professor Richard Wong Yue-chim explains the links.

In traditional Chinese weddings, paper cutouts and other ornaments featuring a Chinese character denoting double happiness are displayed around the house of the groom and bride.