22/23
Conclusion
In general the results from the pilot are fairly reasonable and very
largely make sense. The workers in the sample were mainly motivated by
money considerations though they were not
entirely so as their preference
for more social services and general job security shows. They were on
the whold fairly satisfied with their present jobs and felt that further
improvements should come about through joint consultation. They were
There
not greatly ambitious for themselves but they were for their children and
their search for good pay may to some extent be a reflection of their
desire to provide for their children in the best way possible. The
sample respondents displayed a considerable degree of collective feeling
although some signs of the Chinese phenomenon of "face" were discernable.
They had high expectations of their employers' paternalism which they
did not feel were met in reality and this led to some hostility.
was a considerable amount of indecisiveness on the question of trade
unions but it was not clear whether this was due to ignorance or fear
of reprisals. Those who did have an opinion seemed to be slightly in
favour of trade unions rather than against then. The younger respondents,
particular the younger men, seemed to be more demanding, better informed
and have less of a "refugee mentality" (although it should be noted that
few of the respondents had been actual refugees). There was also some
substantial differences between employers ennloved by large and those
employed by small firms; the employees of the latter tended particularly
to give "don't know" replies on the question of trade unions.
Note:
a) In the above text, or in the footnotes that follow, "England and Rear" refers to J.England and J.Rear, "Chinese Labour under British Rule, (0.U.P.,1975); similarly, "Jarvie and Agasi" refers to I.C. Jarvie and J.Agasi, "Hong Kong: A Society in Transition"(Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1969).
b) A series of additional suggestions by Dr Fosh for the revision of the questionnaire used in the pilot survey reported above were numbered p.23 and were taken account of in the extended survey. P.23 is therefore not included in this Anrendix.