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Theme: What motivates the young generation to travel overseas and what in particular do I expect to experience in Hong Kong?

Hong Kong —Differences and Acceptance—

Mizuki Urano / Sophia University

Today, I’m proud to stand here and to speak in front of such a distinguished group of people who love both Hong Kong and Japan, and who think earnestly about the great future of these two places. I want to thank those here, for such a wonderful occasion for which to celebrate the 2009 Japan-Hong Kong Tourism Exchange Year. Japan is the source of Hong Kong’s third largest market for inbound tourism, with over 1.32 million Japanese people visiting Hong Kong in 2007. I've been to Hong Kong 4 years ago, also to mainland China but Hong Kong was different and special. I remember the city with the streets illuminated by multicolor neon lights and a smell of various Chinese foods and old temples. People were working energetically. Soon I began to love Hong Kong! And not only me, for Japanese people, Hong Kong is becoming a place that is easy to go and feel refreshed. So today, by speaking about tourism, I hope to suggest a better future for the Japan-Hong Kong relationship.

First of all, what motivates the young generation to travel overseas? I can think of 5 reasons. To learn a language, to touch a foreign culture, to know the history, to go shopping and to eat local dishes. We must not forget that the young generation always wants to be a little more independent, and they try to go to places where nobody knows them. Why? To find out who they are, to challenge themselves. Therefore all these reasons amount to one thing: “Communication”. They want to communicate with someone and something different. In other words, their underlying need is to discover themselves by travel.

They want to learn language by communicating. They want to touch a foreign culture by associating with local people. They want to know the history of the country because they want to follow in the footsteps of those who went before them. They want to eat different foods because they want to know what the local people eat. They want to shop because they want to have what local people have made and appreciate them.

To make my idea clear, I will define communication. In my opinion, some people misunderstand the whole point of communication. I believe that Communication does not concern only language ability. For example, let’s imagine this situation. There is a girl who made efforts to master French in Japan. She received first prize in a speech contest and the French Embassy gave her a chance to go to France for the first time. However, in Paris, she couldn’t really communicate with the local people, simple things were very difficult for her. Why? Because she didn’t know the people, she had never communicated with them. If you can speak fluent English but without knowledge of the foreign culture it is applied to, it’s not always easy to communicate. Actually, that girl was me only 10 months ago. I learned from this experience, as someone once said "A journey is the best teacher in the world".

Let’s think of Hong Kong. What in particular do I expect to experience in Hong Kong? I say directly, “Improvement of my communication skills” because differences can add strength to communication. As you know, Hong Kong is a diverse modern metropolis steeped in unique blends of Eastern and Western traditions. Also, we can say Hong Kong is a mixture of old and new China which has very deep cultural roots and habits in everything from food, art and style to religion. Therefore, each Hong Kong citizen has a different identity and background. So if you try to understand their differences behind their culture and history, you might have many occasions to communicate with them. In other words, Hong Kong, the cultural melting-pot can improve your communication skills.

So finally, how to communicate actively with local people in Hong Kong? I’d like to suggest these two steps. The first one is “observation”. Let’s be open minded and be interested in other people. You can see what other people do and enjoy. In short, just try to see Hong Kong as it is — don’t stay in department stores or Disney Land! — Then, the second step is “asking questions”. If you discover something which you have never seen, don’t hesitate to ask local people. For example, on old streets of Hong Kong like Jordan or Sheung Wang, share a table with Hongkongers as they usually do in a restaurant. You can experience Hong Kong’s rich Chinese culture and ancient traditions. These experiences will be amazing and different from your own culture. In addition, we, students, the young generation should talk with University students in Hong Kong. Since Hong Kong was restored to China only 12 years ago, the people who were children then would be now my age. They are part of the generation who have lived through a period of transition. If I have a chance to go to a university in Hong Kong, I look forward to talking with students. I want to know what they are thinking, what did they think of the transition period and which do they prefer old Hong Kong or new Hong Kong.

In the end, I can say Hong Kong is the best place for communication with people if we accept each other. And through communications, we can grow in both Hong Kong and Japan and make our relationship stronger not only economically but also emotionally. Thank you.

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