There's an old saying that goes: "There is no money that Cantonese people won't dare to earn."
And in the minds of many people from outside Guangdong Province, local money and fun-loving Cantonese residents care little about politics and the State affairs.
But young Cantonese are now showing that they may be wrong.
According to a recent survey, an increasing number of the younger crowd in
GuangZhou have showed interest in participating in government.
The survey of 490
GuangZhou residents between 15 and 42 years old indicated 59 per cent of young Cantonese expect to participate in government work.
Those interviewees averaged 22.8 years old.
The survey was jointly conducted by the
GuangZhou Committee of the Communist Youth League,
GuangZhou Municipal Educational Office of the Youth and
GuangZhou Research Institute of Youth in Guangzhou,
Hong Kong and Macao.
Chen Jijing, deputy director of
GuangZhou Research Institute of Youth,
Hong Kong and Macao, said the number of
GuangZhou residents who show interest in political affairs has greatly increased from a decade ago.
Less than 30 per cent of Guangzhou's youth has an interest in participating in politics, a similar questionnaire in the early 1990s indicated, Chen said.
Meanwhile, 85 per cent of the respondents take pride in being Chinese.
The figure compares with 80 per cent in the 2000 survey.
Chen said many young
GuangZhou residents show their political interest only after they have solved their basic needs of life. That means they have at least enough food and clothing.
He attributes the number of business-minded locals tuning in to the country's opening up drive to wanting to know more about the world.
Now, as many Cantonese residents get richer and richer, they want to travel home and abroad to understand more about their motherland and compare the country with other nations.
Most
GuangZhou residents who have traveled abroad believe China will become stronger and stronger and will play a more important role in international political arena, Chen said.
According to Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, more than 50 per cent of the graduate students sit exams to compete to become civil servants last year.
The figure increased by 50 per cent from the data collected in 2002.
Other major universities and colleges in
GuangZhou reported more students also showed interest in becoming bureaucrats. Lin Danying, a fourth-year student at Sun Yatsen University, said civil servants have many opportunities.
In addition to promotion, salaries are improving. The Guangdong provincial government annually selects and sends many qualified civil servants abroad to further their studies, Lin said.
Beijing residents are usually considered to be most interested in State affairs,
Shanghai people are well known for their special care for their families, while Cantonese are famous for their interest in doing good business.
This trend is probably changing, the survey indicates.
