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This paper explores attitudes toward dating people with disability amongst young people in Australia and Hong Kong. Data relating to disability were extracted from an e-survey that investigated young people's (n = 2208) experiences of and attitudes toward dating. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics while open ended responses were subjected to interpretive content analysis. When asked about preferred characteristics for potential dates, young people identified factors that were unlikely to be negatively influenced by disability, such as loyalty, honesty, dedication, humour, and kindness. Yet when asked whether disability would influence their dating choices, most said that it would and expressed an unwillingness to date people with disability. Young adults in Hong Kong expressed less openness to dating people with disability than those in Australia. Physical disability and mental health issues were seen as less of a barrier to dating than intellectual or developmental disability. Despite recent gains in public attitudes toward people with disability, improvements are needed in terms of young people in the general population viewing people with disability as suitable partners and thus, allowing them to enjoy equal rights to relationships and sexuality. Culture is an important determinant, indicating a potential for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes up the study of Tibet in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Tibet studies are defined through scholars working in universities in the specified countries/regions who have published works in which the Tibetans and the Tibetan areas of China are focal. The methodology is to analyse selected published works on Tibet as well as to interview selected scholars. The paper attempts to draw some characteristics of Tibet studies in the regions or countries specified, defined according to factors such as discipline, priority of language, area of interest, approach or political stand. It reaches no grand conclusions, but finds that the spectrum of Tibet studies in the places considered is fairly wide and, though not comparable with several other countries, the value is quite high in terms of quantity and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Previous research has identified that effective and high-quality communication between patients, families and professionals is a key contributing factor to end-of-life (EOL) care and recovery after bereavement. Increasingly, this communication work is being done by non-clinical staff in places such as homes and community settings. These additional care providers offer important pre- and post-bereavement support that can improve the quality of EOL care as well as promote healthy grieving for families, friends and communities. Despite this contribution, though, little is known about how these non-clinical workers use communication in their daily practices. This paper reports on the analysis of a set of nine in-depth interviews conducted in Hong Kong and in one region of Australia that examined in detail relational aspects of communication that shape interactions between non-clinical workers and service users. Data were collected during the COVID-19 health crisis, when the workers experienced exceptional restrictions on communication. The findings of this study highlight the fundamental importance of both verbal and non-verbal communication to the relationships established between non-clinical workers and service users. Specifically, greater support for the development of communication skills in non-clinical EOL workers will promote improvements in the quality of EOL care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper extended the analyses of Ng (2005) and explored the differences between students with polarized schematic views in learning mathematics. Two groups of high school students from Hong Kong and Australia completed a questionnaire tapping their views on their cognitions of the self or academic self-schemas, achievement goals, learning approaches and anticipated performance. Ng (2005) located two groups of schematic students across both cultures demonstrating consistent characteristics in motivational and learning processes. The current investigation explored the differences between corresponding schematic groups found in this previous study. It was found that positive schematic students in Hong Kong are less schematicised than Australian students. In contrast, negative schematic students in Hong Kong were more schematicized than their Australian counterparts. These differences in the development of schematicised selves among students in two different cultures could be attributed to the difference in evaluation practice in two different educational systems. The results draw our attention to teaching and learning processes in schools and call for more reformative effort in Mathematics learning in order to prevent premature dropping of the subject due to the development of a negative self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The planning fallacy is at play in projects when optimism bias and/or strategic misrepresentation are present. We examine the cost performance of approximately US$ 6.5 billion worth of social infrastructure projects that were procured in Hong Kong and specifically the differences between their final accounts and the various types of estimates that were prepared prior to construction. We focus on the (honest) planning fallacy and hence aim to determine whether estimates are more optimistic than actual costs. Our data shows that 43% of projects incurred a cost underrun from their contract award. We therefore infer that at best 57% of projects may be explained by the presence of the planning fallacy. Based on our findings, we argue that optimism and pessimism bias coexist. Likewise, the planning fallacy and competing explanations can simultaneously account for cost deviations in social infrastructure projects. We submit that the prevalence of the planning fallacy has been exaggerated and hence provide an explanation as to why this has occurred. We finally suggest there is a need for additional empirical work to test the claim that the planning fallacy is the underlying cause of cost overruns and thus the best “theory” to explain “how projects work.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been much discussion about the high performance of East Asian students in international high stakes testing, but little attention has been paid to their lifeworlds beyond school. In this article we explore findings from a survey of 627 Year 4 children (nine and ten years old) in three global cities (Hong Kong, Singapore, and Melbourne), focusing on their out-of-school activities as one aspect of their lifeworlds. The findings indicate that the most common activities in each location were comparable. Since the activities in the three locations were largely similar, the findings problematise East/West binaries which have been a feature of research and discussions in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The least effective working capital management and poor corporate governance resulted in the 2008 global financial crisis besides various other factors as highlighted by the prior studies. So far, the existing literature reveals that WCM and CG affect firm performance (FP) on an individual basis. However, the collective effect of working capital management and corporate governance on firm performance has been paid the least attention. This study investigates the collective effect of working capital management and corporate governance on firm performance for Australia and Hong Kong markets, being the top two markets in the Pacific region. For this purpose, a system generalized method of moments based on two steps is applied to address the endogeneity issue. The results establish that working capital management and corporate governance affect firm performance on an individual basis and then these individual effect results compliment the collective effect results. The limitation of the study is that it did not consider two stages of Least Squares Regression due to difficulty in the identification of instrumental variables for both explanatory variables. As a policy implication, firm manager may take the benefit of the findings of this study while devising financial policies to enhance firm performance. Future investors may use the findings of this study to make an informed decision on future investment in both markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines whether the later development of awareness of gender issues in Hong Kong compared to Australia is reflected in patterns of gender representation in the English language textbooks published in these two places. A comparison of 10 currently-used Australian books with 10 Hong Kong books revealed that such awareness has impacted most on the use of gender-inclusive terms and symmetrical phrases in both places. The Australian writers tended to use generic they while their Hong Kong counterparts preferred either the coordination he or she or 'generic' he. Both sets of writers maintained the convention of male-first presentation, depicted women in a more limited range of social roles, and presented stereotyped images of women as weaker and more passive than men, and as operating primarily within domestic domains. The visual representations also reinforced traditional gendered roles. Hong Kong textbook writers, nevertheless, paid more heed to the inclusion of females visually. Controversy persists over whether textbook writers should reflect reality or whether they should lead social change and strive for gender equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compared the self-reported physical activity, perceived social support for, and perceived barriers to, physical activity of primary and secondary school children from Hong Kong and Australia. Hong Kong boys and girls reported spending significantly less time, outside of school hours, on physical activity than their Australian contemporaries (p < .05). There was significantly higher perceived support for activity from Australian parents (p < .001), teachers (p < .001) and peers (p < .001) compared to their Hong Kong counterparts. Parental support significantly correlated with self-reported activity in Australia, but not in Hong Kong. These data add support to the notion that strategies to increase physical activity need to embed family and school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]