Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2000

In a no t h e r project. Prof. Ma collaborated with Prof. Sidney Cheung of the Department of Anthropology in studying the government's housing policy as well as real estate advertisements o n televisionand in newspapers. They found that the idea of the ideal home has been changing continuousl y over th e last 50 years — f r om t he 'brightly lit room ' o f the 50s to the p r e s e n t - d a y r e s i denc e s w i th clubhouse facilities, sea view, and large p r i v a te space. A l t h o u gh related t o economic growth and changes i n social values, these c h a ng i ng d ema n ds ar ema i n l y influenced b ythe government's housing policy and the portrayals in advertisements o f the so-called ideal living environment. Cross-border Marriages and the Media As Hong Kong has more dealings a t every levelwith mainland China, the number of peopl e working or marrying on the mainland is also on the rise. As a result. Hong Kong men are featured much more frequently in the media on the mainland. Prof. Ma has embarked on another project t o study the interaction between cross-border marriages and their portrayals by the Hong Kong and mainland media. Researchers will analyse th e generic image of mainlanders in the Hong Kong media, and that of t h e Ho n g k o n g e rs i n t h e mainland media, as well as the socio-economic backgrounds of cross-border married couples. Th r o u g h this, t h e y h o pe to identify changes in the political culture o fthese couples both prior to and after marriage, and how much of these are due to the influence of the media. Research findings are expected t o reflect changes that are actually taking place in society, thereby helping people on both sides of the border to understand each other better. Researchers also hop e that data generated from the project will help the HKSAR government set more realistic housing, education, and social welfare policies. CHINES E UNIVERSIT Y BULLETI N Autumn .Winter 2000 24