The wealth inequality is a serious problem in Hong Kong, but poverty is generally just a noun in rich's mind without any tangible cognition. Rich Mate Poor Mate (窮富翁大作戰) is a series
of reality show produced by RTHK to probe the problem of structural
poverty and the disparity between the rich and the poor in Hong Kong. The
content is about the interflow between the rich and the poor. The rich participants
are being arranged to experience the "poor live" in few days, in
order to have a taste of the bitterness of living poorly. Under the circumstance of having
low pay jobs, living in cramped living conditions, the rich participants are able
to have concrete experiences of being a grass root, at the same time, the
working poor.
In Rich
Mate Poor Mate III, which released in October 2013, the first episode is called
"窮富翁，為了扶貧可以去到幾盡?" which means "Rich Mate, how far are you willing to go for
anti-poverty? As the rich participants are in certain professions that possessed
considerable knowledge in the field, in addition to try to be "poor",
this time, they also need to provide some solutions to ease off the influence
of the wealth inequality after the firsthand taste of poverty live. All participants
will help the low income family and the working class in different ways to reduce
their burden, such as teach the low income family to cook cheaply and eat
healthily, and, arrange resources to provide suspended meal for the poor in
restaurant.
The show
constructed an identity to the participants, they try to act like, and live
like the poor, however, I reckon that it is not quite possible for the rich to place
themselves in the poor's position, under the condition that they are able to go
back to their own home after few days trip, but obviously they can feel more
about how the poor survives in Hong Kong during the show. This reminds me of the
idea of Judith Butler, "identity is performatively constituted by the very
'expressions' that are said to be its results." and it also can apply to identities
in general, "our identities are made from a contradictory series of
identifications, subject positions, and forms of representation which we have
made, occupied, and been located in as we constitute and are constituted by performances
that produced the narrative of our lives." (Storey 2003)
There is
an interesting experiment in the show, Professor Au of Chinese University of
Hong Kong asked an elderly lady to pretend to drop some of the cardboards on
her trolley to see how many passerby will help. The result of the experiment
shows the people that are wearing suit are less likely to help the lady, maybe in
the suit, they are performing the identity that they think they are. Professor Au
also mentioned the bystander effects, which means that the more people in the
surrounding, the less possibility of getting help. The above illustrated the
situation in Hong Kong, the rich are rarely had the empathy with the poor,
because they are busy at performing their identity, or they think that other
people will help.
As yet, Rich
Mate Poor Mate III may not change much about the situation of poverty in Hong
Kong, but the public interpretation and awareness of poverty and wealth inequality
would apparently changed after the circulation of this text.
Reference:
RTHK, 2013,
'窮富翁，為了扶貧可以去到幾盡?', Rich
Mate Poor Mate III, Available from: <http://programme.rthk.hk/rthk/tv/programme.php?name=tv/richmatepoormate2013&d=2013-10-05&p=6014&e=234673&m=episode> [16 April 2014]
Storey,
J., 2003, 'Popular Culture as the 'Roots' and 'Routes' of Cultural Identities', Inventing Popular Culture : From Folklore to Globalization, Malden, MA : Blackwell Pub.
Cathleen,
Fung Tik Yan
10487730/21233881
( 585 words)
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