As the number of mainland migrant mothers in Hong Kong grows, the social tension between migrants and locals increases, reflecting a need to understand the deeper inherent issues leading to the manifestation of this tension. This understanding should go beyond the surface of media portrayal or stereotypical images of migrant mothers. While a great number of local research related to mainland migration issues exists in Hong Kong, few focus specifically on the aspect of motherhood amongst mainland migrant women. Mainland migrant mothers are uprooted from their rural villages to a highly westernized city where they find immense difficulty in transplanting their maternal roots. Although people in Hong Kong are predominately Chinese, it is highly influenced by its colonial past making the culture in Hong Kong a hybrid of westernized Chinese values. This cultural context has great bearings on how migrant mothers interpret motherhood expectations and traditional Chinese values with reference to mother-child relationships. How such dynamic changes in mothering culture affect migrant women’s maternal identities are examined. This research studies the interpretations, rationalizations and strategies involved in the negotiation of maternal identity of financially deprived mainland migrant women in Hong Kong. More importantly, this research appreciates migrant mothers' needs to reconsider Chinese mothering values as they negotiate their identities in a new land. Migrant mothers navigate the westernized-Chinese expectations of local motherhood and redefine what constitutes good mothering, giving new denotations to traditional Chinese values such as xiao, or filial piety. I divided the discussion of this thesis into three domains: (1) to examine mainland migrant mothers in the wider context of Hong Kong, including schools and welfare institutions; (2) to understand how migration and poverty affect maternal identity in terms of their relationships with their children and finally (3) to study migrant mothers' behavior among their own social groups and how social relationships become conducive to their identity negotiation strategies. Hinged upon the practicalities of life, migrant mothers learn to navigate local motherhood expectations with limited resources and little relevant knowledge about the city. This study illustrates the intricate strategies that migrant mothers deploy as they construct identities based not only on the gap between Hong Kong and traditional mainland motherhoods, but also according to changing social context and culture. / published_or_final_version / Sociology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

This study examined the perceptions of secondary school students who had recently arrived into Hong Kong from China (New Arrivals). Specifically students’ satisfaction in the following five domains was assessed: self, school, family, living environment and friendship. Scores on these five domains were combined to index global life satisfaction. A total of 113 New Arrivals and 178 local students from 4 purposefully selected secondary schools in Hong Kong completed questionnaires. Local students had significantly higher satisfaction than New Arrivals in the following domains: self, school, and living environment. Length of residence in Hong Kong was significantly and negatively related to global life satisfaction. Further, perceived academic achievement was positively and significantly correlated with global life satisfaction. Implications of the findings are discussed. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

Lau, Ying Chui Janice. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 219-235). / Abstracts in English and Chinese; includes Chinese characters. / Abstract / Acknowledgement / Chapter 1 / Introduction --- p.1 / Background --- p.4 / Defining Female New Immigrants --- p.7 / Literature Review --- p.10 / Methodology --- p.22 / List of Informants --- p.25 / Thesis Structure --- p.27 / Chapter 2 / History of Female Mainland Migrants in Hong Kong --- p.30 / Invisible Female Migrants --- p.31 / Immigration Policy as Identity Marker --- p.35 / Gender Implications in the Immigration Policy --- p.37 / Shifts in Social Policy and Social Capital --- p.41 / Hong Kong Identity: a Gender Perspective --- p.45 / "Class, Popular Culture and Identity Politics" --- p.50 / Conclusion --- p.53 / Chapter 3 / Hongkongness in the Classroom --- p.56 / Learning Hong Kong English --- p.60 / Learning “accentless´ح Cantonese --- p.70 / Learning Proper Behavior --- p.78 / Learning the Hong Kong Spirit --- p.87 / Conclusion --- p.94 / Chapter 4 / Reconstructing Womanhood --- p.96 / Dressing up in Hongkong-Style --- p.100 / Reconstructing a Hongkong-Style Beautiful Face --- p.104 / Learning to be a Wife of Hong Kong Man --- p.109 / Learning to be a Hong Kong Mother --- p.116 / Marital Relationship and Adaptation --- p.119 / Conclusion --- p.137 / Chapter 5 / Empowerment and Disempowerment --- p.140 / Empowerment --- p.141 / Structural Resources --- p.143 / Gain and Loss of Capital --- p.147 / Defining Capital: Social Workers and Class Teachers --- p.152 / Redefining Capital: Mainland Women Migrants´ة Agency --- p.157 / Evaluation of Achievement --- p.163 / Breaking Down of Cultural Boundaries --- p.163 / Discarding Stereotypes --- p.166 / Constructing New Relations --- p.169 / Disempowerment --- p.175 / Conclusion --- p.186 / Chapter 6 / Conclusion --- p.189 / A Uniquely Hong Kong Process --- p.189 / Keeping an Imagined Boundary --- p.195 / Imitating Hongkong-Style Womanhood --- p.199 / Women´ةs Empowerment and Disempowerment --- p.203 / Policy Implications and Recommendations --- p.206 / The Way Ahead --- p.213 / Appendixes --- p.215 / Bibliography --- p.219

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics