Social Development in Hong Kong: Development Issues Identified by Social Development Index (SDI)

Surviving the aftermaths of the Asian Financial Crisis and SARS in 2003, Hong Kong’s economy has re-gained its momentum and its economic growth has been quite remarkable too in recent few years. Nevertheless, as reflected by the Social Development Index (SDI), economic growth in Hong Kong does not seem to have benefited the people of the city at large as we see social qualities such as cohesion, security, equity, and empowerment are gradually eroded. This paper aims to summarize the current state of social development in Hong Kong based on the SDI-2008 and identify the major social, political and economic challenges that are confronted by Hong Kong. Based on the findings, a range of policy options proposed for promoting a more balanced approach to social and economic development are discussed. The article illustrates the utility of social indicators research such as the SDI in assessing quality of life and assisting related social planning initiatives in Asian communities such as Hong Kong.     

Queer-friendly nation? The experience of Chinese gay immigrants in Canada

In the past decade, the People’s Republic of China has become the leading source country of immigrants to Canada. However, little is known about the experience of Chinese gay immigrants in Canada. Using narratives collected through a qualitative study, we show the way in which Chinese gay men construct their experience of immigration in Canada. Unlike the national discourse that claims Canada is a friendly nation for members of the LGBTTQ community, the experiences of Chinese gay immigration present a different story. As racialised gay men, they continue to be subjected to social violence in Canada – albeit differently from what they experienced in China. The analysis demonstrates the complexity of social marginalisation experienced by these men, the understanding of which is essential for social workers to engage in practice with them that is socially transformative.     

Glorious Work: employment of adults with a learning disability in Guangzhou from the perspective of their parents

Promises and policies in ensuring employment opportunities for disabled people are stipulated in the State Laws and local regulations of the People's Republic of China. It is assumed that having a job implies better integration in society. However, the experience of young adults with learning disability in finding jobs tells a very different story. This article analyses the experience, perceptions and worries of parents of such young adults who are employed or have striven hard to obtain a job, comparing the ideal with a very different reality.     

Malaysia's outward FDI: The effects of market size and government policy

This paper extends the empirical literature of Malaysia's outward FDI (OFDI) by considering the impact of foreign market size and home international reserves using multivariate cointegration and error-correction modeling techniques. The empirical results reveal that there is a positive long-run relationship between Malaysia's OFDI and its key determinants, viz. foreign market size, real effective exchange rate, international reserves and trade openness. The main findings suggest that apart from the market-seeking incentive and the adoption of outward-oriented policies, the Malaysian government could also encourage OFDI by implementing liberal policy on capital outflows. On the basis of these findings, we draw some policy implications for the country's economic development and the internationalization of Malaysian firms in the era of globalization.     

On the relative accuracy of certain bootstrap procedures

We show the second-order relative accuracy, on bounded sets, of the Studentized bootstrap, exponentially tilted bootstrap and nonparametric likelihood tilted bootstrap, for means and smooth functions of means. We also consider the relative errors for larger deviations. Our method exploits certain connections between Edgeworth and saddlepoint approximations to simplify the computations.     

白先勇小说同性恋者的悲剧命运探微

白先勇的小说脍炙人口,其中不乏以同性恋为题材的小说。1988年,白先勇公开了自己的性取向。因此,从白先勇的小说看同性恋的世界,不再是雾里看花。白先勇以他独特的小说技巧描述同性恋者的悲剧命运。同性恋者的命运是充满悲剧的,同性恋者一生被流在血液里的生理欲望孽魔纠缠。年轻俊美时,尚能容易满足生理欲望孽魔的需要;随着时光流逝,年岁增长,面容逐渐衰老,再也无法轻易满足生理欲望孽魔的需要。为此,老同性恋者得奔波劳碌、伺机寻找可以满足他们生理欲望孽魔需要的青春鸟,不少的同性恋者也因着得了爱滋病而离开世界。同性恋者一生的命运是悲哀的,白先勇悲天悯人的情怀让读者更深入地了解了同性恋者的世界和他们黑暗的国度。     

Some Issues of Particular Concern to Sociologists As Academic Administrators

As a sociologist who has served in deanships and other university administrative positions in the past 15 years, the author has been particularly concerned with race/class/gender issues in academia. This paper identified some of the issues and discussed the relevance of sociological training in addressing them.     

Graduate Training and Initial Job Placement*

This study examines the extent to which professional credentials accrued during graduate school are related to postgraduate employment. The undergraduate and graduate records, demographic characteristics, and initial job placements of 711 Ph.D. recipients from the University of California, Santa Barbara, are analyzed. We find that several aspects of graduate training (e.g., holding research assistantships) have greater influence on the initial placement of women than men. Further, coauthored publications with the mentor influence the initial placement of men and women somewhat differently. Given the importance of initial placement in determining career productivity (e.g., Long and McGinnis, 1981; Reskin, 1978). these differences may have considerable impact on professional life chances.