For the past few weeks, I've jumped on board on an intense high profile masterplanning and design competition in Qianhai, Shenzhen. The runner ups? leading design firms in the world, pressure is on and the competitive atmosphere between planners/designers (a relatively small world for us)is present.
Hong Kong has this very competitive edge, it's a hub for people from the UK, EU & US to converge with shared ambitions. Here, they strive to be the best and they work VERY hard at it, even if it means "selling your soul"-- there is little regards to any other aspects of your life other than that ambition. I find my seniors unmarried and at the office day and night, it's not to say that they are unhappy people, they just have their priorities straight. My department is more or less a group of bachelors & bacherettes, and we've become pretty good friends over the long hours working together. Other parts of life? None-existent for now, most of us are pulling 60-70hour work weeks...
And so, in the midst of living, breathing and being in this competition, at the height of its intensity (can't tell you much more about it or else I'll HAVE to KILL you HAHA) I wonder if mediocrity isn't so bad after all. To strive for perfection, in order to make a difference, to come up with something new in the world comes with a heavy price tag.
In this VERY unbalanced lifestyle of mine, I wonder, IS it worth trading off every other aspects of my life to fully realize my ambitions as an urban designer? Can I just be happy with doing good work-- town planning, community/neighborhood design and live a balanced life? Being "average"-- not that I'm beyond average-- is a fine thing to be, we all want to be happy and live a well rounded lifestyle with family and friends and hobbies, apart from work.
On the other hand, having been unemployed for almost 9 months prior to this, I realize that being a designer, an urban designer and working hard is me. Without that ambition, I feel incomplete, lost and depressed-- I dig up conflict & things to theorize about hehe. Perhaps time will tell, as the saying goes, career comes first right?
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Power Outfit
Today, I wore a power outfit. Yes, you heard me right, a power outfit-- a medium length skirt with formal & patterned halter top under a black form fitting vest in high hills. Define power outfit? It's every woman's dream to be able to dress like a woman at work and not have to feel sexually harassed or even ridiculed for it behind her back. The beauty of Hong Kong is that it is non-existent.
It's an equal world in the working place here in HK. Women undoubtingly gain the same types of prominent roles as men unquestioned. HK has moved beyond even having such connotations as "It's a man's world," not to say that it is deemed true all over the West for all fields, but the fact of the matter is, in the US, it still holds true as an issue necessary to raise (especially in architecture & design).
I once spent hours during a week long conference listening to debates on women in the workforce by very prominent women in design. At the end of the day, these women described different approaches to coping with negative stereotypes. Such as just dressing and acting like men; deciding that it doesn't matter and that women who are concerned are weak, (not supporting other women) or by playing the "bitchy" role which is essentially what it takes for women in the design field to rise up the ladder.
Therefore, after having spent a few months here, having been way intiminated by the dressing styles of my colleagues-- most dress up in high hills and skirts or a full on body dress as they please-- I realized that I no longer have to live by those negative connotations as they don't apply here. This of course, goes beyond my little story on the power outfit, it's about the role, attitude and involvement etc. between men and women. Here you can be a woman and be proud of that. Women in dresses are just as respected as men in suits. As a matter a fact, I feel that women here can be much bolder than men are here, holding very prominent roles. perhaps the roles here are reversed hehehe...
It's an equal world in the working place here in HK. Women undoubtingly gain the same types of prominent roles as men unquestioned. HK has moved beyond even having such connotations as "It's a man's world," not to say that it is deemed true all over the West for all fields, but the fact of the matter is, in the US, it still holds true as an issue necessary to raise (especially in architecture & design).
I once spent hours during a week long conference listening to debates on women in the workforce by very prominent women in design. At the end of the day, these women described different approaches to coping with negative stereotypes. Such as just dressing and acting like men; deciding that it doesn't matter and that women who are concerned are weak, (not supporting other women) or by playing the "bitchy" role which is essentially what it takes for women in the design field to rise up the ladder.
Therefore, after having spent a few months here, having been way intiminated by the dressing styles of my colleagues-- most dress up in high hills and skirts or a full on body dress as they please-- I realized that I no longer have to live by those negative connotations as they don't apply here. This of course, goes beyond my little story on the power outfit, it's about the role, attitude and involvement etc. between men and women. Here you can be a woman and be proud of that. Women in dresses are just as respected as men in suits. As a matter a fact, I feel that women here can be much bolder than men are here, holding very prominent roles. perhaps the roles here are reversed hehehe...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
