Perspectives March 2020 | Youth Hong Kong
Home again • Living with parents as an adult is often difficult but in Hong Kong it is not at all unusual. • Both the mother and the daughter in this story feel the tension between them acutely and neither wants their predicament to continue. • Putting up with one another in the meantime tests their tolerance and patience.
• 成年後繼續跟家人共住通常出現相處 困難，但在香港跟家人共住還是比較 常見。 • 故事中的母女都感到共住的矛盾，並 希望能解決問題。 • 同一屋簷下確實需要互相容忍及體 諒。
I went back into my childhood bedroom and for some reason it seems as though I reverted to being a child again in my mother and father’s eyes.
Christine I am 23 years old and I live with my parents. For the past few years while I was studying, I was living in university accommodation, but after that, when I started working for a technology firm, I had to move back home.
The reason is obvious, I could not afford a place of my own, either by renting or by putting down a deposit to buy and then making mortgage repayments. Once, I did consider going in for shared accommodation with some university friends, but even my share of the rent would have taken out a large chunk of my salary that I would prefer to save. 18
Living at home is complicated. On the one hand it is nice to be “cared” for, having someone concerned about how you are and whether or not you’ve eaten. There are other practical advantages too: my parents’ helper ensures that my clothes are always clean and ironed and my room is tidy. On the other hand, when I came back to live here, I went back into my childhood bedroom and for some reason it seems as though I have reverted to being a child again in my mother’s and father’s eyes. It seems to have given both my parent’s “permission” to treat me like a child.
