ABSTRACT
Ethics governing impersonal relationships in China were largely the province of religion. While religion had a certain amount of influence on acquisitiveness it is doubtful whether religious ideas in this respect have much influence on tIle conduct of impersonal business relationships in Hong I<.ong. In contrast to Singapore, and for reasons we cannot discuss here, Chinese religious organization has not flourished in the Colony and the importance of spending for ritual purposes is not very considerable. One Buddhist attitude which is still of significance, however, is that relating to the importance of charity. There are several devout Buddhist laymen in the business community who give generously to charitable projects. There are non-Buddhists who give equally generously, however. It is not always easy to assess the motive of those who donate to worthy causes. However, we shall see later that there is a tendency for people to give to those organizations which have worked out ways of rewarding their benefactors in terms of prestige.
