Globalization, de-industrialization and Hong Kong's private rental sector

A number of scholars have identified a changing role for private rental housing, as it becomes a more mainstream tenure to house the insecure rich and poor alike in globalizing cities. Hong Kong is an important global city and is experiencing rising rates of social polarization associated with globalization generally, its articulation with the Chinese economy specifically and the impact of the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997. Our empirical research suggests that Hong Kong's private rental sector has responded to and articulates with the city's specific globalization trajectory. It increasingly houses the highly paid, highly skilled but relatively insecure elite and the low paid, low skilled and very insecure underclass, for whom prospects of public housing or home ownership are diminishing. Private renters are younger, more mobile and house both top-end and bottom-end ethnic minorities. The traditional role of private renting and large scale obsolete inner-city housing stock, combined with the aggressive development of up-market and highly desirable private housing estates makes the sector particularly adept at meeting the needs of Hong Kong's hour glass shaped global society. We anticipate that the size of the private rental sector will increase, albeit from a low base and that its hour-glass shape will become more pronounced.     

我国诸法域法定继承制度之比较

大陆与港澳台的法律分属不同的法系或法律文化,它们虽有很多共同之处,但彼此也有不少差异。从法定继承的地位及适用、法定继承人的范围、法定继承顺序以及法定继承份额等方面,对四法域的法定继承制度作全面比较分析,对了解四法域继承法律制度的异同具有一定参考价值。     

《孔丛子》考证

<孔丛子>一书最初以<盘盂>作为书名,东汉以后始名<孔丛>,宋人改作<孔丛子>,当以<孔丛>为是.其书作者,旧题汉孔鲋撰,宋以后多疑后人依托,今人径称伪托.窃以为前六卷当出自孔鲋之手,第七卷为东汉时孔氏后裔补缀.其书在形成过程中被一再修润,故其文风类似东汉人.笔者发现书中所记多处不合常情常理,子思与孟子的对话更出于杜撰.对于全书内容的可信度有待通过深入辨析予以确定.     

“荒凉”的人生意蕴——论《生死场》、《呼兰河传》兼及萧红的其他作品

萧红短暂的一生饱经磨难,坎坷曲折的经历、由此而来的看待生活的独特方式以及对人生悲苦的独特体悟,使她的许多作品都弥漫着一种"荒凉"的人生意蕴.风物环境是荒凉的,人们近乎原始荒原上荆棘蒿草似的生存状态更是荒凉.这种生之"荒凉"甚至淹没了人伦之爱,但她不是悲天怆地,而是平淡从容地传递着人生的悲剧感和迷惘感,在对世间种种烦恼的达观诠释中有其对人生命运的深沉反思.     

Live-in Foreign Domestic Workers and their Impact on Hong Kong’s Middle Class Families

This paper discusses the impact of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) on parental roles and family dynamics of Hong Kong’s middle class families. The increase in married women’s labor force participation in Hong Kong has led to a greater demand for childcare, which has been filled by FDWs. Based on interviews with 15 dual-earner couples in middle class nuclear families employing FDWs, how FDWs affect the mother’s gender role and family dynamics is discussed. Boundary work is used by parents in their daily interaction with their children and their FDWs so as to reconcile the perceived indispensability of these workers on the one hand, and the challenges they pose to the definition of parenthood on the other. This research was funded by a Lingnan University Social Sciences Program Research Grant RES/SOC010/978. I am grateful to the guest editors and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.     

结构意蕴:"流散"作家虹影小说的"叙事语法"

虹影难以摆脱对早年生活那刻骨铭心的痛切感受,从而自然而然地将创作主体的精神世界投射于她的作品,并由此形成她小说独特的"叙事语法"中的"表层结构"孤独的(定语)‘我'(主语)在路上(谓语)";在此"基本结构"的背后,虹影还试图将个人的苦难大而化之,在"超文化"的广阔的人性地带表现人精神的挣扎与幻灭,更表现人顽强保留对"爱"真"等价值的寻求和对生活作哲学与宗教式的颖思和感悟--由此形成虹影作品蕴涵的"深度结构"孤独的(定语)‘我'(主语)在路上(状语)寻觅(谓语)."     

Development of a Dose‐Response Model for SARS Coronavirus

In order to develop a dose‐response model for SARS coronavirus (SARS‐CoV), the pooled data sets for infection of transgenic mice susceptible to SARS‐CoV and infection of mice with murine hepatitis virus strain 1, which may be a clinically relevant model of SARS, were fit to beta‐Poisson and exponential models with the maximum likelihood method. The exponential model (k= 4.1 × l0²) could describe the dose‐response relationship of the pooled data sets. The beta‐Poisson model did not provide a statistically significant improvement in fit. With the exponential model, the infectivity of SARS‐CoV was calculated and compared with those of other coronaviruses. The does of SARS‐CoV corresponding to 10% and 50% responses (illness) were estimated at 43 and 280 PFU, respectively. Its estimated infectivity was comparable to that of HCoV‐229E, known as an agent of human common cold, and also similar to those of some animal coronaviruses belonging to the same genetic group. Moreover, the exponential model was applied to the analysis of the epidemiological data of SARS outbreak that occurred at an apartment complex in Hong Kong in 2003. The estimated dose of SARS‐CoV for apartment residents during the outbreak, which was back‐calculated from the reported number of cases, ranged from 16 to 160 PFU/person, depending on the floor. The exponential model developed here is the sole dose‐response model for SARS‐CoV at the present and would enable us to understand the possibility for reemergence of SARS.     

日本传本《古文孝经》回传中国考

《古文孝经孔传》当是汉魏以后长期流传的《孝经》注本之一 ,未必是孔安国所作 ,其书在梁末亡逸。隋朝开皇十四年以后 ,经刘炫之手又出现了所谓的《孔传》本 ,对于其真伪问题当时即有争议。此本在隋唐时期传入日本 ,而五代以后在中国却已佚失。《古文孝经》在日本的传授源流是清楚的 ,祖本当是隋唐旧本 ,非日本人伪造。日本江户时代学者太宰纯校刻的《古文孝经孔氏传》正是以日本足利学所藏刘炫《孝经直解》本为底本 ,参校众本 ,旁及他书所引 ,更加音注而成。此书回传中国 ,在清朝学界产生了较大影响 ,也引起不少争议。     

香港人类学:学术研究与学科建设

本文从学术研究与学科建设的双重视角出发,简要论述香港的人类学研究,并从大学、学会、期刊出版、学科带头人等几个方面呈现20世纪七八十年代香港人类学学科建设状况。文章认为,从学科建制的历程重新认识香港人类学,能够为我们全面了解中国民族学与人类学史提供重要的参考。同时,从香港这样一个特殊地域的学术研究与学科建设出发,我们也可发现建设新世纪人类学的多元路径。     

Generational conflict and provisions for the elderly in Hong Kong: The relevance of position‐based interest and values

Respect for the elderly and hence the associated rights support a generational contract. Nevertheless, the case of the recent debate on the universal retirement scheme in Hong Kong has raised concerns about its strength. We identify relevant items from the sixth wave of the World Values Survey to explore the orientations of different generations toward others. The analysis shows differences between younger and older generations. Regression analyses show that values are not significant in explaining the differences, but various positions, including sex, marital status, and education, and perceptions of the elderly are relevant. Such differences across generations might weaken the generational contract and potentially engender conflicts as shown in the recent debate about the retirement scheme. We suggest short‐ and long‐term interest calculations, informed by their positions, play a more significant role in policy discussions and decisions, rather than simply appealing to values.