Insights in Hong Kong

While in classes here at CUHK I have noticed that local students seem to care very little about time. It is not uncommon for a student to walk in thirty or forty minutes late for a class lecture. While I find this ridiculous the students do not seem to be concerned by this infraction and stroll right in to their seat. While students may be late to classes in the states on occasion the professor will likely want an explanation or make it clear that he/she would prefer that the student miss the class as opposed to coming for the last fifteen minutes and disrupting class. Students at CUHK also sleep very little at night and are often seen sleeping in class. I consider this poor time management and is at epidemic levels on campus. Most students dont even eat dinner until around 9 PM and after that they do homework and hang out with friends until 2 AM or later. In my Economy of China class today five locals were passed out in their chairs without any idea what material was being covered. Students are also often late to groups meetings and other informal gatherings. When I was the MC for the international house orientation night we had to start thirty minutes late as it was explained that the students would all wonder in about that time.
I am not convinced that all of Hong Kong holds these same views. As Hong Kong is the financial center of Asia and a huge world player I cannot imagine that the employees of these firms hold similar views. Also in support of these assumption, I have no experience with professors or speakers being late for events or classes. It seems that once some responsibility is placed upon the individual the time tables shift.
There is an old Chinese saying that “One should not attempt to eat a large plate of rice in just one sitting, you will become full before it is finished.” This saying is representative of the ideal in time management. Do not attempt to accomplish large tasks in whole in a short period of time. Tasks should be completed in a manner which allows the proper time for quality intake. I can see this thought in the study habits of many of my classmates. Although they very well may sleep very little, the study time put forth is adequate to accomplish to goal of proper intake.