Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences between Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Mainland in terms of education and also the influence of it on doing comparative educational research. Hong Kong SAR is ruled by the Chinese Government under the framework of “One country, two systems.” It makes Hong Kong SAR different from other Mainland cities based on different aspects including, education. The finding of this paper provides a systematic review about the differences between these two Chinese societies in terms of education and also implication for conducting comparative educational research in these two societies and also generating some implications for cross-national and cross-cultural study in education. Design/methodology/approach This paper made references from the framework proposed by Bray and Thomas (1995) in relation to comparative educational research to make comparison between Hong Kong SAR and Mainland China. Multi-level comparison is conducted between two societies in terms of education, especially aspects relating to conducting educational research sat social, school and individual levels. Findings This paper identified the influence of “One county, two systems” on education at different levels such as ideology, school management system and use of languages in teaching. Such differences affect the choice of topics, sampling strategy, research design, data analysis and interpretation and also ethical considerations when conducting comparative research between Hong Kong SAR and Mainland China. Originality/value This paper is an integrated analysis of conducting educational research in two Chinese societies and provides insights for further discussions and possible research about this topic.

Religion plays an important part in the lives of many immigrants. The second generation is assumed to have a higher level of integration into the host society and lower religious and ethnic identification. This assumption, however, views acculturation as an essentialist process producing common outcomes for all groups. Yet such an assumption needs to be tested with different ethnic groups. This chapter, therefore, explores the cases of second generation Pakistani and Indian immigrant youth in Hong Kong. The findings indicate that it is not possible to generalise across these groups. Indian youth seem to have acculturated with a lower sense of religious and ethnic identification. Pakistani youth, on the other hand, reported relatively strong religious affiliation and sense of belonging to their heritage culture. This suggests that acculturation is a more nuanced process than is often portrayed and is strongly context dependent, influenced by group values, commitments and practices.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of Special Administrative Region (SAR) performance on the “trust” of Hong Kong and Macau people, who “live” under similar context of “one country, two systems,” toward Beijing Central Government. The different perceptions, relating to the abovementioned issue, of the young peoples’ are also investigated. Implication for civic education in these two societies will be brought to light. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts secondary data analysis on the captioned topic. To further illustrate the said issue, this study reviews and analyzes data from protest campaigns in both societies. Findings This paper finds that the performance of Hong Kong and Macau SAR Governments has different impacts on the peoples’ “trust” toward Central Government. It may attribute to the different perceptions about the role of Central Government and levels of democratization in these societies. Civic education emphasizing the “core spirit” of “One country, two systems,” roles of SAR and Central Governments could enable young people better comprehend their relationship with Mainland China and their role as SAR–Chinese citizens. Originality/value This paper is an exploratory study for providing implications for further research on this topic.

No abstract