Campus Life

Part-time working

Students struggle for lives

By Peggy Chan

Flipping through newspapers and magazines, it is common to find criticisms against university students doing part-time jobs. Adjectives like materialistic and shallow may be used to describe them; pictures of trendy youngsters seem to be adequate evidence to support the criticisms. Meanwhile, the actual situations of part-timers is seldom exposed.

Dick, a business administration freshman at the Chinese University of Hong Kong , has received a part-time job since he sat for the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination.

“My mother has been staying in the elderly home since I was in Form 3. Worse still, my father soon got unemployed.” he said.

He was once a private tutor of one student. But he said the financial difficulty has pushed him to go further. He is now a tutor of five students.

Dick is not the only one who works due to unfavorable financial conditions.

Mani Ho, an associate degree student of Health Studies at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University , works on a part-time basis for similar reason.

“My relatives in China need our financial support but my father is unemployed. So, we have not much left for the school fee,” said Mani. “I have to work in order to continue my study. To save money, I seldom go shopping and seek entertainment.”

Ming Fai (not his real name), a year 1 undergraduate at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, started working as a clerk in a switchboard company two years ago.

He refered increasing expenditure after studying in university as another reason for working.

“Expenditure in the university is much larger than that in high school,” he said. “Besides transportation and meals, I always need to pay for piles of reference notes.”

In addition, according to him, whenever he meet some new friends, his social expenses increases.

“However, I don't want to ask for money from my family. I know they cannot afford it, ”

Many others are working to gain working experience.

“I had tried to seek other jobs. Yet none of them could provide me with greater learning opportunity,” he said.

He cherished the experience of working there.

Calvin Tang, a year 3 student of Marketing at Lingnan University , is another student working to gain experience.

“A bachelor degree is useful for obtaining a well-paid job in the future. Besides, I learnt something practical in the university. Yet, the working environment is always changing. Working as a part-timer is one way to train myself for future career,” said Calvin.

But part-timers still make sacrifices. They usually get inadequate rest.

“I gave up desired courses in order to arrange a day-off, not for rest, but for the job. The workload is really too heavy,” said Ming Fai.

Calvin had six part-time jobs in the past three years. He is now a part-time administrative assistant.

At the first glance, students who work on a part-time job may ignore their studies. Doing part-time jobs seem impinging on their campus life, especially their studies.

It is not always the case, however.

Ming Fai and Calvin do not work on their school day, while Mani makes use of the time after school. None of them have ever been absent from school because of their jobs.

“It is foolish to skip classes as they are even more valuable than jobs,” explained Ming Fai.

Moreover, they all say that they would go on leave before school examinations.

“Study is still my first priority,” said Mani.

Meanwhile, Calvin argues against social misapprehension. “The society takes for granted that university students must get good results if they are full time students. This is wrong,” he said. “A part-time job is no obstacle to students who really love to study.”

He stresses the importance of time management. “Though I work two days a week, good time management helps me finish my work on time and even arrange time for leisure,” he said.

Dick states his principle clear.

“As long as we do not harm any others, why isn't it positive to earn a living by our own efforts?” said Dick.

In view of impression that many university students are materialistic, Calvin make no denial. He love buying clothes of famous brand. He thought peer influence is the main cause of the behaviour.

“Clothes from famous brand makes me confident. Although I am materialistic, as what you may call me, different people have different judgments of values. It is too subjective to think that a good university student is simply one with brilliant academic results,” he commented.

Mani thinks it is the media which exaggerates the situation. She said, “I know that there are a few materialistic students. However, the media always exaggerates the minority.”

Facing the ongoing social criticism and the difficulties in balancing studies and part-time jobs, part-timers never regret.

According to Mani and Ming Fai, who are quite unhappy to work, the jobs are vital to support their daily lives.

“It is urgent to pay the school fee,” explained Mani.

Dick once felt pity for himself, for he worked because his father was out of a job. Worse still, he had to study for his public exam. He recalled that the time sitting for Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination was a stressful period. Nonetheless, he soon changed his mind.

“I treated it as a training. If my family situation was affluent and I did not work on a part-time basis, I might have become unself-disciplined,” said Dick.

Being a tutor of 5 students should be exhausting, however, Dick still leads a joyful life. “This kind of business-filled life is meaningful. When I give part of my salary to my grandparents, I am glad to see their smiles. But I feel sorry for visiting my mother less frequently,” he said.

The jobs broaden the students' view of life. They acquire extra knowledge like communication skills. Furthermore, students develop optimistic attitudes even when they are in difficult times.

All of them hope for a better understanding from the society. Dick look into the matter in another angle.

“It is socially right for exchange students to earn their tuition fees and livings from doing part-time jobs, why isn't it for Hong Kong students?” he asked.

Dick leads a joyful life though he has to work to earn a living. Peggy Chan

Ming Fai thinks the society has misunderstood all part-timers. Peggy Chan