When passions

become your
professions: How
slashers blend their
pursuit of life with
work

GESH4010 Proposal
Just curious

How ’s your culture thinks of the following perspectives of work?

- Work (generally speaking)

- 9-to-5 (Fixed working hours)

- Office sitting

- Work for passion v.s work to earn income

- Work-life balance
“You have to balance your passion, not your time”

Slasher: New Trend of Working Blooming

- A concept first introduced by Marci Alboher: describe people who

have multiple concurrent careers and identities instead of a single
cohesive career

- someone who is a X/Y/Z - or journalist /web editor/PR, for

example.
Example:

Jo Lam

Graduated from Oxford University

Quitted Barrister

Insurance broker/ Teacher (IELTS)/ Founder of

@jolamchok2 Jo Lam Workshop / Consulting / Career
Coach / KOL / Actor
Example:

Prof Simon Sham

Graduated from Yale and Oxford
CUHK Associate Professor/ Fb Content Creator/ Co -
Founder of GLO Travel / Co -Founder of GLO Café /
School Founder

https://www.glos.world/

https://simonshen.blog/2019/07/14/%E5%BE%8C%E7%89%A9%E8%B3%AA%
E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E6%99%82%E4%BB%A3%EF%BC%9A%E4%BB%96%
E5%80%91%E6%BF%80%E9%80%B2%E5%97%8E%EF%BC%9F/
Example

Joyce

S.H. Ho Alumni

Chinese teacher/ Columnist /

Founder @spec_culture : education,
cultural & travel agency /

Founder @flowwords.hk : handicraft and

art
Our interview focus

- To break some traditional assumptions / definitions on work

- To foster the understanding on the worldview of millennials

(meaning of work & meaning of life) through the lens of a
slasher

- Our Focus: Motivation | Job Hunting | Career | Deliverables

Slasher: how the Gen Y view our
meaning of work

We hypothesis that the existence of slasher symbolises some

modern vocational values possessed by the millennials

As opposed to traditional perspectives on work: a linear career

path, single Organization and loyalty to the company, full -time
employment, single source of income, concentrating on one
means better (專才)
From work to values of life:
Interesting perspectives to delve into…

- Flexibility of work (Where and When to work [vs Of f ice 9 -to-5

schedule], Authority of workplace [workplace dynamics, hierarchy,
warning letter])

- The pursuit of freedom (Individualism: You are your own boss; Work -
Life Balance)

- Actualization of talents (on the assumption of multiple intelligence)

- A multiple source of income (Financial Independence)

- Stability and Sustainability (Embracing change / Stretching out of

comfor t zone)

- Pressure from society and family

The Meaning of life of a Slasher

Professor Victor Wong (HKBU):

• Rather than material comforts , they pursue meaningful

achievement and craf t their own identity through multiple
professional roles that reflect their passion, expertise and
generational values.

• A portfolio career enables them to develop new experiences and

talents as well as social and professional networks, leading to
greater flexibility in life and work, recognition and satisfaction.
The different motivating factors behind juggling various jobs
are what distinguishes a Slash and a casual worker.
Extra: Are there any cultural differences on
the traditional vs modern values of work?

Given the fact that we have teammates from all around the
world, why don’ t we make use of this opportunity to explore if
there is any cultural differences on the traditional vs modern
values of work?

Example: How do people in Hong Kong view Slasher?

How do people in __________ see work?

How do people in __________ view ‘9 -to-5’

Presentation Format

Part 1 (2 mins): Impromptu Interview of people from different

cultural background (How they see the ‘traditional’ values of
work: working 9 -to-5, office sitting,…)

Part 2 (6-8 mins): Interview of the selected slasher + some

interesting presentation format (for example: documentary)

Part 3 (5-7 mins): Our own reflection / feeling from the interview
 Culture A

Ideally…

Meaning of
The millennials “Older” people
work

Culture B
 Culture A

Ideally…

Meaning of
“Older” people
The millennials work

Stability
Freedom & Flexibility Loyalty
Self-Actualisation

Reflected Reflected
Life value Life value
Culture B
Interview Questions and Objectives

- To brainstorm

What makes you become a slasher? (How does it relate to your

life philosophy?)
Gordon JunHo Anna All
Stage 1: Research
Starting from scratch
- Defining the scope of the interview
- Read some work/ interview on slasher
- Identify some target interviewees
- Draft brief interview questions
Stage 2: Research
Preparing for the interview
- Part 1: Find interviewers
- Part 2: Schedule appointm ents with
the selected interviewers
- Finalise interview questions
- Review the background of the
interviewers (Previous interviews)
Proposed Division on Work
Stage 3: Interview
Yay! Conducting the Interview
- Asking questions and recording
Stage 4: Post-production
Post-interview work
- Video-editing
- Creating Subtitles
- Adding Subtitles
- 1-min Self-reflection
Stage 5: Produce
Almost there!!
- Housekeeping work (Project Descriptions)
- Final check on video
- Group Reflection video
References