Culture shock
Kazakhstan and beyond
J
eff Tam travelled in Kazakhstan on an exchange tour sponsored by the HKFYG Belt and Road Initiative. The experience opened his eyes to the diversity of other cultures and confirmed his view that the more we know of them the better. “Why did I choose Kazakhstan? Three reasons: I’d never been there, it has many interesting types of landscape and I was fascinated by its culture.” Looking back, Jeff says he expected a hybrid culture, an even mix of European and Chinese. “In reality, it was more westernized than Asian,” he says. Although its predominant religion is Islam, “Its people did not seem to me to be such devout Muslims as they are in some other Asian countries. In fact, I found them to be much more open and a lot of those who practice were called weekend-believers.”
When Jeff and his companions talked to locals about education, he learned how focused they were on succeeding in business. “They believe firmly that if the country wants to advance, it must be through business studies. There is not a lot of science or engineering at tertiary level. Personally, I was quite surprised as most Hong Kong people today believe that STEM is important.”
I expected a hybrid culture, an even mix of European and Chinese. In reality, it was more westernized than Asian.
However, core values and core traditions are strong, as are the ethnic bonds which Jeff could see were emphasized at tribal celebrations and festivities. Compared to Middle Eastern countries, he found more gender equality, “at least in terms of clothing and males and females can interact quite freely.” The younger generation is quite internationalized. They have Qpop, or Kazakhstan-pop and Kazakhstani youngsters seemed eager to go overseas and were confident in the potential of their country to become an international hub, with its position in Central Asia and its rich oil deposits. “Before the trip, I may have stereotyped Kazakhstanis and considered them more conservative than they really are. Nevertheless, an age divide definitely exists.”
The most eye-opening part of Jeff ’s trip was the mountain scenery. “Almaty city and the towering snowy mountains overlooking it, were breath-taking. We visited Shymbulak, originally to be the home of the Winter Olympics when the mountains already had a white cap of snow.” A deeper understanding of a Belt and Road country was one of Jeff ’s key takeaways and he encourages other youngsters to take as many trips abroad as possible. He also says they should look around them when at home. “Hong Kong has such a huge mix of ethnicities. We should definitely try to socialize with people from other cultures wherever we are in the world to understand each other better.”
More details Youth Exchange Unit ye.hkfyg.org.hk
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