Family Life Education Series
Family Harmony - final chapter

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This is the last article in this series. Hopefully, we have made clear the message on the importance of family to every individual. Family is for people to love, cherish, protect, sooth everyday stress, motivate and rejuvenate. With family acting as our haven, we are able to explore the outside world.

According to the statistics provided by the Hong Kong SAR Census & Statistics Department, the divorce rate in Hong Kong has been steadily climbing, with 12,943 cases in 2002, 13,829 in 2003, and 15,604 in 2004. Moreover, family violence cases are on the rise too. We cannot stop wondering what is going on with families these days. People pick their spouses and get married, but why do they end up in divorce? They should love each other. Why do they abuse their spouses and sometimes their children? Sociologists believe that family tie has been weakened by the rapid and drastic social changes closely knitted to the changes in our economic system and women's traditional role and social status. All these seem to have brought about a structural change in families.

In our Family Harmony series, we tend to focus more on the marital duel, relationship and their interaction. We introduced the concept of "Longevity of Marriage", which is hidden between the fine lines of "reality" versus "fantasy".

In the "A letter to Dad/Mom" Essay Competition of the "Family Carnival 2005", we were able to reflect on Force family relationship and interaction. All the first-prize winning essays from different categories were included in our previous publication.

As a contribution to family harmony, we have also introduced articles on conflict resolution, harmonious interaction in families, and fostering self-esteem in children. Last but not least, we end our series here with a quote from Dr Wong Chung-kwong, Director of Whole Person Development Institute, author of most of the articles in this series, who once said: "Family is the anchor of our existence. Even though we may be living on our own, we still exist in the context of a family because we are still connected in our heart and memory. It is so important for us to give our best to our families. A happy family is one of the keys to a life without regret."

PS & SR Branch Welfare Service Group