One nation - two different standards

By Paula Taylor (JIN Magazine)
Updated: 2013-01-08

Whenever people from Mainland China visit Hong Kong they are always amazed. I think Hong Kong is an amazing place, but what I am amazed at and what Chinese people are amazed are quite different things. It is not so easy for Chinese people to go to Hong Kong, even though it is part of China, Mainlanders still need to get a permit to travel there. Although obtaining the permit itself is a fairly simple exercise, the problem yet again is the sheer number of people. When we decided to go to Hong Kong, Mary went to the permit office twice, the first time she gave up because the queues were so long and so she returned the next day. That time she was successful but she queued for over four hours, which she was told was quite good as others have queued the whole day. Therefore many people feel that it is too much trouble and Tianjiners in general do not like to travel much outside of Tianjin. Naturally when others find out Mary has been to Hong Kong, they are curious and want to know what it is like. The first thing she tells them is how clean the place is and how everybody obeys the rules.

There are signs on the metro telling people not to eat and drink and not to discard their unwanted trash. Mainlanders often come in for heavy criticism from Hong Kong residents for not obeying the rules. This presents an interesting question. Why, if they are all Chinese, all part of the same country, do the HK residents obey the rules for the good of all, and yet Mainlanders feel that rules are elastic and that obeying them is a personal choice? It was pointed out by one Mainlander that there are no police enforcing these rules on the metro, yet Hong Kong residents do not break them, they do not smoke or eat and drink whilst travelling. Aside from the obvious dangers of smoking on the metro, it could be argued that there is nothing wrong with eating and drinking. Now that we have the 3rd line on the metro here, which has made life much more convenient for us, and as it is brand spanking new, we should maybe examine what is and what is not acceptable behaviour on public transport, in particular two things, eating and drinking and using the trains and buses as public toilets.

As I often travel on the buses here I have seen much of what I perceive to be anti-social behaviour. For instance twice I have seen people allow their children to go to the toilet on the bus – except there is no toilet. One mother thoughtfully took a plastic bag out of her handbag and gave it to her son to use as a disposal toilet. OK so far so good, but then she hung the bag with its contents on a hook by the window, got off the bus and left the bag there. Most Chinese parents will ask “Well what was she to do, if a child suddenly wants to go to the toilet there is nothing that anyone can do?” This I can understand and at least she didn’t let him just go on the floor like a lot of parents do, but her conduct became unacceptable when she left the bag and its disgusting contents for someone else to find. On the metro in Beijing, a boy wearing crotchless trousers urinated and the stream of urine ended up on the legs of another passenger. The mother apologised but to my surprise, far from being angry, the other passenger just said “It’s ok, children’s urine is pure as they are innocent”. This would categorically not happen in Hong Kong, in fact when Mainlanders go there they make sure their children are wearing regular trousers. No Hong Kong resident would tolerate this kind of behaviour.

Regarding eating and drinking on the subway, the fact that everybody observes the rules in Hong and Mainlanders do not is a source of ever increasing friction. This problem was highlighted when a Mainlander fed her child on the train and was criticised by a Hong Kong resident. The visitor got into a quarrel with her, as far as she was concerned her child needed to be fed so she was going to feed him and couldn’t care less what anybody else thought. The locals were so offended that somebody filmed it and uploaded it onto YouTube, prompting many complaints about the habits and behaviour of Mainland visitors.

I find the attitude of many Mainlanders quite strange when it comes to this type of thing, for instance the non-smoking Mary being offended on behalf of smokers at the 5,000 HKD fine for illegally smoking. She feels that it is too unreasonable to demand that much money “just for breaking the rules”. Likewise Shanghai once had an eating ban on the metro but was forced to cancel it because so many commuters complained about it. They don’t mind the trains stinking of food, stained seats and rubbish everywhere, they can tolerate anything except rules. Chongqing also had a fines system but cancelled it and instead now just asks people nicely not to eat on the metro.

The latest city in Mainland China to attempt to eradicate eating and drinking on the Metro is Wuhan. They have opened a new subway line and the local government is keen to preserve the cleanliness. However as is to be expected, local residents have already started complaining about the fines system, voicing such gripes as “People who are running late need to eat their breakfast as they are travelling to work” and “Poor farmers will not be able to afford the fines of up to 200 yuan”.

Why are people speaking up for and supporting those who have no intention of respecting the rules? Surely if the metro is clean and safe, everybody will benefit. As long as I live I will never understand this ethos of protecting the rights of one person to the detriment of everybody else.

My view, which of course my Chinese friends do not like me to mention, is that Hong Kong residents are different because of the English influence in the past. Of course I am not proud of the fact that my country has done many bad things, including invading and conquering other countries. I am not proud that the connection with Hong Kong is due to the English government becoming involved in the opium trade hence the opium wars. However there is nothing I can do about this history, but nevertheless, one benefit is that Hong Kong residents have a different set of values to Mainlanders that is akin to the values in England. My mother taught me from a very young age not to throw rubbish on the floor and not to eat on the streets. Perhaps our Mainland friends have a different view as to the differences, if so I hope they can enlighten us. Meanwhile travelling in Hong Kong is a very pleasant experience. Most Chinese people I speak to deplore these bad habits, so just who are the perpetrators?