27th June 2010 (18)
TOO PROUD TO WORK, BUT NOT
TOO PROUD TO DEPEND ON FAMILY
My third younger sister who was 10 years younger than me, was
working in a foreign company and I believe her position was well-paid
and secured. For some reasons, she did not get along with a colleague.
After she had received unreliable advice from her friends, that she
should set up her own practice, and without conducting thorough market
research, she quit her job and set up her own business. It was a
quiet start and then misfortune fell on her. Hong Kong suffered from a
bad depression in 1998 as a result of the Asian financial crisis. Share
prices and property prices fell drastically and the economy had a free
fall. Hong Kong always had a very low unemployment rate but because
of the economic downturn, there was a drastic rise in unemployment. It
was reported in the newspapers that a University graduate could not find
a job and he was willing to work as a street sweeper. So my sister's
business was put to a halt.
As the property prices dropped, I bought a flat for the purpose of
investment and let it to her. Recession gradually recovered in Hong Kong
but my youngest sister still had not found a job. Of course I could not put
any pressure on her to pay the rent when she was unemployed. The
reason of not getting a job was that she was looking for a position which
was comparable to her last job; Her criteria of taking up employment
were firstly the location of the office must be in a respectable area, and
the position got to be in high managerial level. She also does not like to
queue up in order to obtain employment application forms.
Fifteen years have gone by and she is still unemployed. Who supported
her? Our mother, who is now 85 and luckily is enjoying good health,
sends her money every now and then!! I believe that I would never in
my life get my return in the investment of the flat that she is occupying.
Yuen-yee
TOO PROUD TO WORK, BUT NOT
TOO PROUD TO DEPEND ON FAMILY
My third younger sister who was 10 years younger than me, was
working in a foreign company and I believe her position was well-paid
and secured. For some reasons, she did not get along with a colleague.
After she had received unreliable advice from her friends, that she
should set up her own practice, and without conducting thorough market
research, she quit her job and set up her own business. It was a
quiet start and then misfortune fell on her. Hong Kong suffered from a
bad depression in 1998 as a result of the Asian financial crisis. Share
prices and property prices fell drastically and the economy had a free
fall. Hong Kong always had a very low unemployment rate but because
of the economic downturn, there was a drastic rise in unemployment. It
was reported in the newspapers that a University graduate could not find
a job and he was willing to work as a street sweeper. So my sister's
business was put to a halt.
As the property prices dropped, I bought a flat for the purpose of
investment and let it to her. Recession gradually recovered in Hong Kong
but my youngest sister still had not found a job. Of course I could not put
any pressure on her to pay the rent when she was unemployed. The
reason of not getting a job was that she was looking for a position which
was comparable to her last job; Her criteria of taking up employment
were firstly the location of the office must be in a respectable area, and
the position got to be in high managerial level. She also does not like to
queue up in order to obtain employment application forms.
Fifteen years have gone by and she is still unemployed. Who supported
her? Our mother, who is now 85 and luckily is enjoying good health,
sends her money every now and then!! I believe that I would never in
my life get my return in the investment of the flat that she is occupying.
Yuen-yee
