The new generation of fathers is interested in doing this, and fathers are taking more time to be with their children.

Chinese men feel their role is to be more authoritarian.

Historically, in Chinese society, a woman's place in the family was never secure. In her own home, she was seen as marginal to the family since a son carried on the family name and contributed more to the family's livelihood. It was expected that girls would eventually be taken away to join their husbands' families after they were married.

They believe they must provide the discipline to their children, and they have a need to be respected. All of these attitudes tend to distance them from their families. Yet we know now that children, especially young children, need more than that. A father needs to bond with his children and build emotional ties with them.

[Yet a woman's position in her husband's family was not secure until she had his son.] And as a daughter-in-law, she was a relative stranger, ... So she had to work hard to gain acceptance in her husband's family.

They did not want to follow in their parents' footsteps and be housebound, ... And they strived for independence from their own mothers who had come to Hong Kong, having been brought up in stricter times and who wanted their daughters to follow the older ways.

Much of the bond between mother and daughter can be traced back to early childhood.