Little adults and little emperors

I tapped a cute child in a primary school uniform on the shoulder. He looked up at me with big beautiful eyes and a shy smile, just a bit taller than my hip. I pointed to the vacant seat next to him and me, gesturing that he should sit down. The daladala gave a lurch, almost throwing me off balance. Everyday practice of the art of daladala balancing (read: holding on for life) can’t make up for the creative ways the drivers steal seconds here and there.

The boy giggled and looked back at me with a hint of confusion in his eyes. He shrugged his shoulders and didn’t sit down. The seat remained empty.

I always feel bad when little kids won’t sit down on daladalas. Or when they jump up once an adult gets on. I was brought up in a culture where little kids should be given seats on public transport, especially on ones that bang around as much as the daladalas. But here, kids are the last ones to sit. Cognitive dissonance is the word when I see spoiled “Emperor” kids* in Hong Kong taking over two seats while their parents or others elders stand. Which one is better? I can’t tell.

The explanation I’ve been given is that it is more of a “survival” culture here. The biggest and strongest get most of the food and resources, since giving precious resources to those who are weak doesn’t help them survive in the end. I don’t really buy into this idea. If survival culture is true, then it should be everywhere, since humans have always, until very recently in rich countries, struggled valiantly to survive.

I prefer the explanation that this phenomenon is due to a hierarchical culture combined with children being viewed as capable/responsible/grown up from a younger age than I’m accustomed to. Children are essentially viewed as competent for household chores from single-digit age. I see seven year olds with sharp knives peeling potatoes. I see five year olds carrying ten litres of water from the borehole. After that, what’s wrong with standing up on a daladala? The hierarchical culture I’m a bit more familiar with. Elders are to be respected and not questioned. They get food first, they drink first, they enter the house first, they sit down first.

What do you think?

*that’s what they call the single-borns in China/Hong Kong – Little Emperors. I’m sure you can guess why.