「女人 GPA 高都無用」中大教授「釣金龜」論引爆爭議｜ 愛情顧問解說

📰 What Happened

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is at the centre of a gender discrimination storm. Terence Chong, associate professor of economics and vice-dean of New Asia College, gave a talk titled “How to invest in your life?” at a college assembly. During a section on “the economics of partnership”, he made a series of inflammatory remarks:

• “Women’s GPA is useless — in the end they just need to marry rich.”
• “Women shouldn’t do a PhD, because a woman’s youth is precious.”
• “Women must invest in their appearance; men just need to be decent.”

His slides even included phrases like “the cost-benefit of girls marrying rich”, and he advised male students against choosing partners of the same age or who live too far away.

Students pushed back on the spot, and after the event launched a “one person, one letter” campaign demanding a public apology and his removal as vice-dean. Chong denied the discrimination, insisting “boys can marry rich women, and girls can marry rich men too”, and said he was simply speaking from an economics and game-theory perspective.

👩‍💼 The Advisor’s Take

① Where Chong went wrong: reducing a woman’s value to one dimension

Chong’s biggest problem isn’t “talking about economics” — it’s brutally shrinking a woman’s value down to “looks” and “marrying well”.

“Women’s GPA is useless” is the most damaging line. No matter how much a woman studies, how talented she is, or how much she achieves, in his framework she only counts as successful if she “marries rich”. This kind of framing ties a woman’s life value to marriage and her partner’s finances, completely erasing her own self-fulfilment.

② The gender double standard in “marrying rich”

Behind this storm is a bigger question: the term “marrying rich” itself carries a gender bias.

A woman who “marries rich” is seen as materialistic, shallow, wanting something for nothing. But a man who “marries into money”? Society usually calls him “capable” or “smart”. For the exact same act — finding a financially well-off partner — a woman is “greedy” while a man is “astute”.

This double standard is the deeper reason Chong’s remarks sparked such anger — he didn’t just say “money matters”, he used a gendered label that puts women in the position of “depending on a man”.

③ Should you judge a partner by money? Separate two things

So should you judge a partner by money? We need to separate two things: “practical consideration” and “money-only” are not the same.

In psychology there’s “social exchange theory”: choosing a partner is really an exchange of resources — you give something, I give something. Those “resources” include looks, financial ability, emotional support, social status and values. So “considering money” in itself is human instinct, not a sin.

The problem is “single-dimensionality”. Compressing your criteria down to “are they rich” is the same kind of narrowness as compressing a woman’s value down to “will someone marry her”. A healthy partner choice should be “multi-dimensional” — finances, personality, values, emotional support, lifestyle, all weighed together.

Especially in Hong Kong, with some of the world’s most expensive property and a high cost of living, money already carries heavy weight in marriage. Many couples reach the marriage talk and the first thing that hits them isn’t “do we love each other” but “can we afford a flat”. Hongkongers understand “considering money” very well — but understanding “practical consideration” is different from “reducing a partner to a gold-digging target”.

💡 What You Can Learn

This storm is really a mirror. Whether you’re single, dating or married, ask yourself three questions:

First, is your criteria “multi-dimensional” or “single-dimensional”? Money matters, but does it outweigh personality, values and how you get along? If you find yourself wanting someone only because “they’re rich”, think carefully — do you like “them”, or “their conditions”?

Second, do you apply a double standard to men and women? For the same act of “wanting a well-off partner”, do you think women are materialistic and men are smart? If so, you’re reinforcing the exact gender bias behind Chong’s remarks.

Third, do you respect your partner’s independent value? In a healthy relationship, two people should be complete on their own and lift each other up — not one “depending” on the other. Man or woman, no amount of education or achievement should be reduced to “did you marry well”.

Chong’s remarks were offensive not because he “talked about economics”, but because he tied a person’s value to a single, gender-biased frame. Considering money in a partner is human nature; treating your partner as an “investment project” and calculating “cost-benefit” is another thing entirely.

Talk to a LoveWise love advisor — whether it’s dating criteria, gender issues or relationship management, we’re always here to talk 💕