Meeting the Author Night

One Couple Two Cultures: 81 Western-Chinese Couples Talk About Love and Marriage / Dan Waters

Speaker: Dr Dan Waters
Co-speaker: Mrs Vera Chan Waters
Date: 15 December 2005 (Thursday)
Time: 7:15 - 9:00 pm
Venue: Special Collections, 1/F, Main Library, The University of Hong Kong
Language: English

 

About the Book

One Couple Two Cultures: 81 Western-Chinese Couples Talk About Love and Marriage

One Couple Two Cultures highlights information provided by eighty-one Western-Chinese couples whose views on codes of conduct and lifestyles vary considerably. Whilst some believe that a successful marriage can depend as much on smelly gorgonzola cheese or fermented Shanghainese bean curd as on the actual compatibility of the spouses themselves, others believe a Western-Chinese marriage is no different, say, to a blond marrying a redhead. Still others hold that two sometimes antagonistic cultures and spice and an added dimension to marriage. (http://www.swindonbooks.com)

 

 

 

 

About the Speakers

Deric Daniel Waters served as a Desert Rat in World War Two and in Italy. The War over, Dan returned to the family construction business and later became managing director. In 1954, he joined the Colonial Service and set sail for Hong Kong.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Dan taught at the College which was the forerunner of the present Polytechnic University. He became Principal of the Technical Institute and, later, moved into the Education Department HQ. He retired from Government in 1980 and was made a Companion of the Imperial Service Order.

In "retirement" he obtained his Ph.D. in his 65th year and a section of his thesis was published by the HK Chinese University Press in The Economics and Financing of Hong Kong Education (1992). He had previously co-authored a series of books, Understanding Technical English (Longman). He has also written 21st Century Management: Keeping Ahead of the Japanese and the Chinese and; Faces of Hong Kong: An Old Hand’s Reflections, as well as many articles on subjects ranging from bamboo scaffolding, to Chinese funerals, and comparing Chinese and Western humour.

Dr Waters has served on the Antiquities Advisory Board and was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star in 1998 for his work in heritage. He is married to his Hong Kong Chinese wife, Vera.

Mrs Vera Chan Waters is the founder of the first beauty and charm school in Hong Kong. She is the first female manager in the Hong Kong Standard Chartered Bank and retired in 1988 as Staff Relations Manager, responsible for the benefits of more than 4,300 employees. In 1974 she was selected as one of the "Ten Outstanding Young Persons", the first female to be so honoured. In 1999 she received the Pharmanex Flo-Jo Memorial Award, a prestigious international award. In 2000 the Asia Pacific Hairdressers and Cosmetologist Association gave her an "Asia-Pacific Life-time Achievement Award". In 2004 she was honoured as one of the "100 Outstanding Women Entrepreneurs in China" by the National Women Association. She married Dr Dan Waters in 1960.