Crisis moral y resurrección del confucionismo: nuevo Clásico de las Tres Palabras en China

The transition from state socialism to market socialism in China since 1978 led to a sense of disorientation and moral crisis in the Chinese population which by the mid-1990s the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempted to correct. Specifically, the CCP Committee in the region of Guangdong responded by elaborating a new version of the teaching manual Three-Word Classic in order to meet the new social circumstances with a body of specific moral rules based on Confucian philosophy and aimed at the Chinese younger generations. The Party’s chief goal was to rebuild the framework of moral behavior ousted by the rapid social changes of the 80s and 90s and which until the reform era was supplied by the official line of the CCP and the ideas nurtured during the Cultural Revolution. The New Three-Word Classic soon became widely popular in the country and allowed schools to teach their students a series of moral rules through the examples of historical figures and events which overall championed patriotism and diligence in learning but failed to address public spiritedness, essential in guiding emerging public life in China.La transición del socialismo de estado al socialismo de mercado en China a partir de 1978 codujo a una sensación de desorientación y crisis moral en la población china que a mediados de la década de 1990 el Partido Comunista Chino (PCC) intentó corregir. Concretamente, el Comité del PCC de la región de Guangdong respondió elaborando una nueva versión del manual de enseñanza Clásico de las Tres Palabras para así responder a las nuevas circunstancias sociales con un conjunto de reglas morales específicas basadas en la filosofía de Confucio y dirigido a las generaciones chinas más jóvenes. El principal objetivo del Partido fue reconstruir el marco de comportamiento moral desbancado por los rápidos cambios sociales de los 80 y los 90 and que hasta la época de la reforma procedía de la línea oficial del PCC y las ideas surgidas durante la Revolución Cultural. El Nuevo Clásico de las Tres Palabras pronto se hizo enormemente popular en el país y permitió que las escuelas enseñaran a sus alumnos una serie de reglas morales a través de ejemplos de personajes y sucesos históricos que en su conjunto abogaban por el patriotismo y la diligencia en el aprendizaje, si bien no consiguió abordar la iniciativa pública, esencial para guiar la emergente vida pública en China

Contrôle gradué : l’évolution des relations entre gouvernement et Organisations non gouvernementales

En dépit de certains changements politiques, la surveillance et le contrôle des ONG de base en Chine restent, dans une large mesure, très répandus et bien réels. La mise en œuvre du contrôle des ONG est compliquée par trois facteurs : premièrement, ce processus n’est pas centralisé et plusieurs agences sont responsables en même temps du contrôle des ONG ; deuxièmement, les interactions entre le gouvernement et les ONG varient beaucoup d’un cas à l’autre et dépendent énormément du contexte politique local ; enfin, dans la mesure où les ONG ont des histoires très différentes, leurs réponses aux différents types de contrôle gouvernemental différent beaucoup, ce qui rend la situation encore plus complexe. Les résultats de cette recherche s’appuient sur des entretiens avec 60 employés d’ONG et avec des responsables des Affaires civiles de 17 provinces entre janvier 2011 et mai 2012

Contrôle gradué : l’évolution des relations entre gouvernement et Organisations non gouvernementales

En dépit de certains changements politiques, la surveillance et le contrôle des ONG de base en Chine restent, dans une large mesure, très répandus et bien réels. La mise en œuvre du contrôle des ONG est compliquée par trois facteurs : premièrement, ce processus n’est pas centralisé et plusieurs agences sont responsables en même temps du contrôle des ONG ; deuxièmement, les interactions entre le gouvernement et les ONG varient beaucoup d’un cas à l’autre et dépendent énormément du contexte politique local ; enfin, dans la mesure où les ONG ont des histoires très différentes, leurs réponses aux différents types de contrôle gouvernemental différent beaucoup, ce qui rend la situation encore plus complexe. Les résultats de cette recherche s’appuient sur des entretiens avec 60 employés d’ONG et avec des responsables des Affaires civiles de 17 provinces entre janvier 2011 et mai 2012

Graduated Control and Beyond: The Evolving Government-NGO Relations

Despite recent policy changes, governmental monitoring and control of grassroots NGOs remain pervasive and effective to a large extent in China. The enforcement of control over NGOs is complicated by at least three layers of factors: First, multiple agencies are involved in NGO control without a centralised norm. Second, government-NGO interactions vary across cases and are deeply rooted in local political contexts. Last, but not least, since the NGO community at its origin is highly diverse, NGOs’ responses to various types of governmental control differ, which in turn triggers further complications. The main findings of this research are based on interviews with 60 NGO staff, as well as with civil affairs officials in Shanghai and Shenzhen from January 2011 to May 2012

Desire for experiential travel, avoidance of rituality and social esteem: An empirical study of consumer response to tourism innovation

AbstractThis study investigates tourist consumption responses toward tourism innovation. To measure tourist responses, this study posits three key consumption drivers, namely social esteem, desire for experiential travel, and avoidance against rituality of tourism settings (a subscale of need for uniqueness) and models consumers’ affective response within the context of tourism innovation. It involves 295 respondents in an empirical survey. The findings affirm the three drivers toward tourist consumption behavior. Avoidance of rituality reflects tourist preference toward tourism product and service innovation. Desire for experiential travel and the pursuit of social esteem signify tourism management and marketing innovation. Social esteem, need for status and creative choice have significant influence on tourists’ affective responses. Acquiring unique tourist products, desire for experiential travel and seeking social esteem are important motivations for tourist consumption. The implications of the study enrich the existing literature of consumer behavior and tourist consumption in response to tourism innovation

Age composition and survival of public housing stock in Hong Kong

Emerging notably in more developed regions, building stock ageing which is characterised by shrinking new completions and falling “mortality” has been posing challenges to various stakeholders in built environment. To find way out of this transition, we need to know how long buildings will last these days and the factors leading to their “mortality”. By using data from 1950s till to date, a comprehensive investigation is conducted to analyse the age composition and life expectancy of public housing stock in Hong Kong. What comes after are survival analysis and empirical analysis of those demolished to identify the key factors leading to demolition. Presented in this paper are the preliminary findings as well as the research agenda on the theme to model age composition and survival of both private and public building stocks in Hong Kong and other similar cities in Asia Pacific Rim such as Adelaide and Singapore, together with research activities to formulate policies for sustainable urban management

Moderate Alcohol Use and Mortality from Ischaemic Heart Disease: A Prospective Study in Older Chinese People

Abstract Background: Moderate alcohol use is generally associated with lower ischaemic heart disease (IHD) mortality but it is difficult to ascertain whether this is due to attributes of moderate alcohol users or the properties of alcohol itself. Evidence from populations with different patterns of alcohol use and IHD can provide crucial evidence. We assessed the association of moderate alcohol use with IHD mortality in older Chinese people from Hong Kong. Methodology We used Cox regression to determine whether moderate alcohol use was associated with IHD mortality in a prospective, population-based cohort study of all 56167 attendees, aged 65 years or over, from July 1998 to December 2000 at all 18 Elderly Health Centers operated by the Department of Health in Hong Kong. Principal Findings After a median follow-up of 4.2 years, there were 406 (188 in men, 218 in women) deaths from IHD in 54,090 subjects (96.3% successful follow-up). Moderate alcohol use in men was not associated with IHD mortality adjusted only for age [Hazard Ratio, HR 1.01 (95% CI 0.55 to 1.84) compared with never drinkers] or additionally adjusted for socioeconomic status and lifestyle. Almost all women were occasional drinkers and their current alcohol use was not significantly associated with IHD mortality [HR 0.88, (95% CI 0.51 to 1.53)]. Conclusions Moderate alcohol use had no effect on IHD mortality in older Chinese men. Lack of replication of the usual protective effect of moderate alcohol use in a setting with a different pattern of alcohol use and IHD could be due to chance or could suggest that the protective effect of alcohol on IHD does not extend to all populations

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on depression incidence and healthcare service use among patients with depression: an interrupted time-series analysis from a nine-year population-based study

Background: Most studies on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on depression burden focused on the earlier pandemic phase specific to lockdowns, but the longer-term impact of pandemic is less well-studied. In this population-based cohort study, we examined the short-term and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on depression incidence and healthcare service use among patients with depression. Methods: Using the territory-wide electronic medical records in Hong Kong, we identified all patients aged 10 years with new diagnoses of depression from 2014 to 2022. We performed an interrupted time-series (ITS) analysis to examine changes in incidence of medically attended depression before and during the pandemic. We then divided all patients into nine cohorts based on year of depression incidence and studied their initial and ongoing service use patterns until the end of 2022. We applied generalized linear modelling to compare the rates of healthcare service use in the year of diagnosis between patients newly diagnosed before and during the pandemic. A separate ITS analysis explored the pandemic impact on the ongoing service use among prevalent patients with depression. Results: We found an immediate increase in depression incidence (RR=1.21, 95% CI:1.10-1.33, p<0.001) in the population after the pandemic began with non-significant slope change, suggesting a sustained effect until the end of 2022. Subgroup analysis showed that the increases in incidence were significant among adults and the older population, but not adolescents. Depression patients newly diagnosed during the pandemic used 11% fewer resources than the pre-pandemic patients in the first diagnosis year. Pre-existing depression patients also had an immediate decrease of 16% in overall all-cause service use since the pandemic, with a positive slope change indicating a gradual rebound over a three-year period. Conclusions: During the pandemic, service provision for depression was suboptimal in the face of increased demand generated by the increasing depression incidence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings indicate the need to improve mental health resource planning preparedness for future public health crises

Projecting the 10-year costs of care and mortality burden of depression until 2032: a Markov modelling study developed from real-world data

Background Based on real-world data, we developed a 10-year prediction model to estimate the burden among patients with depression from the public healthcare system payer's perspective to inform early resource planning in Hong Kong. Methods We developed a Markov cohort model with yearly cycles specifically capturing the pathway of treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and comorbidity development along the disease course. Projected from 2023 to 2032, primary outcomes included costs of all-cause and psychiatric care, and secondary outcomes were all-cause deaths, years of life lived, and quality-adjusted life-years. Using the territory-wide electronic medical records, we identified 25,190 patients aged ≥10 years with newly diagnosed depression from 2014 to 2016 with follow-up until 2020 to observe the real-world time-to-event pattern, based on which costs and time-varying transition inputs were derived using negative binomial modelling and parametric survival analysis. We applied the model as both closed cohort, which studied a fixed cohort of incident patients in 2023, and open cohort, which introduced incident patients by year from 2014 to 2032. Utilities and annual new patients were from published sources. Findings With 9217 new patients in 2023, our closed cohort model projected the 10-year cumulative costs of all-cause and psychiatric care to reach US$309.0 million and US$58.3 million, respectively, with 899 deaths (case fatality rate: 9.8%) by 2032. In our open cohort model, 55,849–57,896 active prevalent cases would cost more than US$322.3 million and US$60.7 million, respectively, with more than 943 deaths annually from 2023 to 2032. Fewer than 20% of cases would live with TRD or comorbidities but contribute 31–54% of the costs. The greatest collective burden would occur in women aged above 40, but men aged above 65 and below 25 with medical history would have the highest costs per patient-year. The key cost drivers were relevant to the early disease stages. Interpretation A limited proportion of patients would develop TRD and comorbidities but contribute to a high proportion of costs, which necessitates appropriate attention and resource allocation. Our projection also demonstrates the application of real-world data to model long-term costs and mortality, which aid policymakers anticipate foreseeable burden and undertake budget planning to prepare for the care need in alternative scenarios