當不同學生先後請我寫同一題材，為了自我挑戰，我會盡量寫不一樣的版本，哪怕觀點一樣，也盡量引用不同的素材去證明觀點。

下面是我最近對一條DSE English 作文題目的兩個回應。

 

Question

A century ago, women in Hong Kong had on average five children. Today, that number is less than one.

Write an essay which gives reasons why having fewer children is more desirable now than in the past.

 

First version

There is a reason why Mcdonald’s is fine dining to so many children. They haven’t eaten out often enough to develop their ability to tell good food from bad food, so the mere act of thinking of Chicken McNuggets is enough to make their mouths water. Adults who have tried wagyu beef on a potato bun, in contrast, will drop by the Golden Arches only if they need to grab a bite and the fast food chain happens to be just around the corner.

Hong Kong women’s dwindling desire to have children similarly stems from a greater awareness of what is possible in life. In the past, there was no question of women working outside the home, so it was only natural for them to accept they were fated to be someone’s mum. Now that they can earn their own keep and forge their own identities through career-building, for some, the idea of blending baby food and changing nappies can hold as much attraction as forcing down one’s throat a serving of half cold, half soggy french fries.

Modern Hong Kong women’s dissatisfaction with the traditional female role can be most recently seen in this week’s media attention on the 40-ish former small-time singer 歐倩怡’s divorce from her more powerful and much older award-winning actor husband. The couple’s split sparked online discussions on the downsides of marriage for women: you give up your career to take care of your husband and children; before you know it, you’re taken for granted. If you want a divorce, the fact that  your husband’s assets are in his name only may cause you to hesitate. You realize all too late that the marital home is not a haven but a prison.

Hong Kong’s plummeting birthrate can therefore be explained by a concept anyone can learn in Economics 101: When there is an option to work, earn money, and be respected for one’s talents, being a full-time mother comes with a steep opportunity cost.

 

Second version

There are times when I suspect the internet plays a larger role in curbing birthrates than the birth control pill.

These days, when young women decide on what they want to do with their lives, information is power. Whereas in the past, they would simply proceed along the lines of society’s expectations – in China, this would have meant “obeying your father when you’re a daughter, obeying your husband when you’re a wife, obeying your son when you’re a widow” – in the 21st century, they only need to turn to Google, and they’ll gain access to a wealth of resources that are in effect warnings of the downsides of motherhood.

For example, if they search for “regret motherhood,” Google will give them 190 million results. Thanks to the cloak of anonymity provided by the internet, more and more mothers can finally let off steam on how they wish they’d never have children. A common refrain is “I love my child but I don’t like him/her,” which sounds like an admission that they are living a life directed by obligations instead of self fulfilment.

Even scarier are health issues related to the birth process that used to be little-discussed but are now the subjects of mum chatrooms: a permanent sagging belly (thanks to tummy muscles that have been damaged irretrievably),  chronic urine leaking, complications from being “stitched up.” Regarding the last item, there are many videos on Youtube showing how doctors perform the procedure after the walls separating the channels “down there” have been torn (search for “fourth degree perineal tear”). Women who are still interested in giving birth after watching those clips are masochists.

Thanks to Google reviews, many consumers can avoid buying substandard products. Now, the internet is also doing a good job at busting the myth that a woman’s life is complete only after she has become a mother.