The Young Reporter Vol.55 Issue1 - Leaving Hong Kong

THE YOUNG REPORTER

Leaving Hong Kong

EDITOR

Hong Kong, home to more than 7 million people, is experiencing the biggest drop in its population since 1997 – more than 110,000 residents left the city last year, a 1.6% decline.

People are leaving Hong Kong, but why?

In this issue, we examine the experiences of Hongkongers from all walks of life to try to answer this question. Our reporters interviewed journalists, artists, pet owners, students, financial workers and more to tell the stories of those who are leaving as well as those who are staying.

Though the city is suffering from a labour shortage, many of our sources are confident that Hong Kong still has unique advantages as an international hub. With the drop in hotel quarantine and new government policies to woo talent, they hope, as do we, to see Hong Kong rebuild itself.

Parting is often sorrowful. Will residents keep leaving Hong Kong? Time will tell.

We hope you enjoy this issue.

Sincerely, Nick Yang Editor-in-chief

Advisers: Robin Ewing Jenny Lam

Editor-in-Chief: Nick Yang

Deputy Editors: Ayra Wang Kate Zhang Kiki Lo Tracy Leung

Art Designer: David Ren

Publisher: Raymond Li Printer: Win Fung Production Limited

Address of the printer:

Flat G, 13/F, Block 3, Golden Dragon Ind. Centre,172-180 Tai Lin Pai Road, Kwai Chung, N.T., H.K.

Editors:

CHAN Hung Ming

CHEUNG Hei Tung

CHONG Ching Chi

GAI Malick

KONG Lok Yee

LAW Tin Wing

LEUNG Wing Yan

LI Jiayu

LI Ka Man

LIU Ying LO Hoi Ying

MA Po Ying

PANG Yuk Ying

REN Ziyi

SHU Jingwei

WANG Jingyan

WONG Lok Ching

WU Cheuk Hei

YANG Zhenfei

YANG Zirui

YUEN Lok Man

ZHANG Yimeng

ZHAO Ziyu

Reporters:

AL-ZAIDI Dhuha Basheer Kasid

AW YONG Ming Min

CAO Yongyi

CHEUK Ka Ho

CHEUNG Ho Yi

CHEUNG Tsz Ying

CHU Lok Yi

DING Liqi

FUNG Ka Ki

GAO Yixin

HO Tsz Yin

HUANG Yuen Yi JO Subin

LAM Kei Tung

LAU Nga Ying

LEE Mei Ching

LEUNG Tsz In Warren

LI Jiaxing

LI Yuchen

LIMBU Wisha

MO Chengqi

NG Ka Tung

NGUYEN Le Ha

PANDEY Rajnandini

POON Kin Hou

TSANG Hing Tsz

TSE Man

WANG Yuhe

WONG Yu Yin

YIP Ming Wong

ZEINULLA Aruzhan

ZHONG Zimo

Photo: David Ren

IN THIS ISSUE

JOURNALISTS

National Security Law and COVID 19 behind exodus of Hong Kong journalists

P4

PET IMMIGRATION

ART

Artists have faith in Hong Kong even after leaving the city

FINANCE

Brain drain from Hong Kong’s financial sector

P13

MAINLAND STUDENTS Hon main

HOUSING

AUSSIE ENGLISH

NATIONAL SECURITY LAW AND COVID-19 BEHIND EXODUS OF HONG KONG JOURNALISTS

REPORTED BY

ARUZHAN ZEINULLA JOANA NGUYEN EDITED BY MALICK GAI

Cliff Buddle, 58, editor and columnist at the South China Morning Post, said farewell to Hong Kong after 28 years and returned to the UK in August.

“Leaving the city that means so much to me, it was a very tough decision,” said Buddle. “I recognize that the situation in Hong Kong has changed, and that undeniably had an impact on my decision to leave.”

Journalists are reportedly leaving Hong Kong amid an emigration wave blamed on restrictive COVID-19 policies and changes in the political environment following the introduction of the National Security Law in 2020.

Mandatory hotel quarantine for overseas arrivals was lifted on Sept 26, but the loosening of COVID policies has come too late for some.

“The vast majority of journalists left Hong Kong due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions,” said Keith Richburg, director of journalism at the University of Hong Kong and president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, a group of journalists and non-media professionals whose mission is to promote journalism and defend press freedom.

He said correspondents based in Hong Kong and responsible for covering stories in Asia relocated because travel was too restrictive.

Natalie Wong edits her colleague’s article at the South China Morning Post‘s office in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

“It was a bit of a double whammy for Hong Kong to get both the COVID restrictions and the National Security Law coming at the same time,” said Richburg.

A survey conducted by Hong Kong Journalists Association and the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute found that 97% of 169 professional journalists said the reporting environment has become much worse during 2021.

Almost half of the journalists polled said that they were considering leaving the city due to a decline in press freedom, according to a survey conducted by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in 2021.

The city’s press freedom rankings since the 1997 handover to China have also been steadily dropping. Earlier this year, it ranked 148 in the annual press freedom index by Reporters Without Borders, down from 80 in 2021. The city ranked 58 in 2019 before the introduction of the National Security Law the following year.

In April, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, who was the sole chief executive candidate at the time, said that press freedom is protected by the territory’s Basic Law.

“Freedom of the press always exists in Hong Kong. I think there’s no need to use the word ‘defend’ because it exists and we attach great importance to press freedom. But press freedom needs to fulfil the requirements of the law,” Lee said at a press conference when asked about press freedom by a reporter.

Patrick Blennerhassett, the managing editor of Morning Chalk Up, an online fitness magazine, lived and worked in Hong Kong as a sports reporter for South China Morning Post for four years. He left the city for the United States at the end of 2021.

The cancellation of sports events, closure of gyms and limited group gatherings under Hong Kong’s stringent social distancing policy all contributed towards his leaving, he said.

T“It was difficult for me to cover [sports events] because the government was very strict. The fitness industry was deemed as non-essential service,” said Blennerhassett.

Blennerhassett said he also found it difficult to publish articles that could put him under threat because of the National Security Law.

“I felt when I moved to Hong Kong in 2018, that press freedom was protected under Hong Kong's constitution, but when I left, I did not feel that at all. I had serious concerns about being thrown in jail for what I was writing,” said Blennerhassett.

Local journalists are also among the 113,000 people who have left the city over the past year, shrinking the population by 1.6%, according to the Census and Statistics Department

Having been a reporter for eight years, Sam Lam, a former breaking news reporter at a Chinese-language media outlet, arrived in Toronto, Canada a month ago. He spent one year considering the move, he said.

“[The freedom of the press] has been getting more and more limited. You also cannot report some topics,” said Lam, citing an incident when he was covering the Hong Kong 2019 pro-democracy protests for a pro-government news outlet and was told to alter his report so as not to offend authorities.

“I felt when I moved to Hong Kong in 2018, that press freedom was protected under Hong Kong's constitution, but when I left, I did not feel that at all. I had serious concerns about being thrown in jail for what I was writing”

Patrick Blennerhassett

Huang Liuquan, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, said at a press briefing in Beijing in September, that the decline in the city’s population is attributed to a number of factors and claims that the Beijing-imposed National Security Law will “mainlandise” Hong Kong are “biased.”

Tom Grundy, editor-in-chief and founder of the non-profit English newspaper Hong Kong Free Press, said he considers the city his home. Having lived in Hong Kong for 17 years, Grundy says he has no intention of leaving, but is still concerned over the declining press freedom in Hong Kong.

“It has been under fire since the onset of the National Security Law, which is broad and vague. A few years ago, we had a diverse media landscape, including Stand News, Citizen News, and Apple Daily, but now we don't,” Grundy said.

Apple Daily, Hong Kong’s former biggest pro-democracy newspaper founded in 1995, published its final issue in June 2021, after the arrests of senior executives and the freezing of assets worth HK$18 million.

In December 2021, Stand News, an independent non-profit media outlet founded in 2014, closed after authorities raided its office and arrested senior staff, freezing HK$61 million in assets.

In January, Citizen News, an independent online news portal, announced its shutdown citing the safety of its employees.

Some journalists have left Hong Kong amid the city’s current emigration wave

Grundy said the National Security Law is the main reason why journalists are leaving Hong Kong for countries with higher press freedom indexes.

Some journalists in Hong Kong say the National Security Law lacks clear definitions for journalists.

“The problem with the National Security Law is that there has never been a clear line to tell people what's legal and what's not legal. So some of the time, people have to guess by themselves,” said local journalist Natalie Wong, who covers Hong Kong politics and social policies for the South China Morning Post.

Wong said she has no plans to leave and is positive about the future of journalism as passionate young people will find new ways of discovering news in the face of changes.

“I feel lucky that our newsroom is still quite liberal, and we still have the freedom and flexibility to work on stories that we hope people are interested in,” Wong said.

Although there “seems to be a kind of war against journalism,” especially for local media on a “tighter leash,” Hong Kong is still a “massive media hub for all the international agencies that still have their Asia headquarters here,” Richburg said, adding that he has hope for the future of journalism in the city.

“It was a bit of a double whammy for Hong Kong to get both the COVID restrictions and the National Security Law coming at the same time”

Keith Richburg

Keith Richburg, president of the Foreign Correspondent Club， speaks to The Young Reporter at the University of Hong Kong campus.

ARTISTS HAVE FAITH IN ARTISTS HAVE FAITH IN HONG KONG EVEN AFTER HONG KONG EVEN AFTER LEAVING THE CITY LEAVING THE CITY

REPORTED BY

BELLA DING EDITED BY JAYDE CHEUNG

Vawongsir, a Hong Kong artist, has been drawing political comics for three years. Some of his art is critical of government officials. He does not wish to give his full name for the fear of reprisals.

"When working in Hong Kong, I would get so nervous if there was any sound of keys hitting or door opening that made me suffer physically and mentally. So leaving Hong Kong is the solution," Vawongsir said.

Returning the key to his landlord and moving out of his apartment, Vawongsir has been switching shelters from time to time since then so that he can leave in a hurry should the authorities come after him. In April, he left Hong Kong for good. "I had no choice but to leave," he said.

Vawongsir is one of the artists who fled the city to escape the fear and political limitations on art and creation.

The enactment of the Hong Kong National Security Law in 2020 has set red lines for freedom of expression, shrinking a considerable amount of room for artistic freedom in Hong Kong. Of the 183 people arrested under the NSL since its introduction till Mar 28,2022, one-third have been made for speech crimes including secession and subversion as shown in the statistics of Hong Kong Police Force. The city is facing a severe brain drain with a 3.49% decrease in the labour force over the same period in the second quarter of 2022 according to the Census and Statistic Department. Bernard Charnwut Chan, the chairman of the M+ Museum Board, wrote to the South China Morning Post that the government’s move to require censorship of artworks could risk Hong Kong losing its global reputation.

In January 2020, the school where Vawongsir was working for received an anonymous complaint that he was posting political cartoons on his personal page.

The M+ museum took seven years to build and opened more than a year after the National Security law took effect. At 700,000 square feet, the museum is one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary visual culture in the world.

After the passage of the NSL on June 30, the school did not renew his contract due to lack of funds. On the same day, Vawongsir saw on a job site that the school was hiring teachers for his original position. Pro-Beijing news outlets Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao, named him for teaching misconduct as his satirical cartoons criticising the government could endanger the healthy development of students. "My new school told me that the Education Bureau was tracking the school down," he said. "It made me feel like my drawing was disturbing people and adding to their workload. I did not want to burden others," he said.

"Hong Kong used to be called a 'cultural desert,' but it is home to many creative and enthusiastic artists. It should have been doing well"

Kacey Wong

A year and a half after Vawongsir became a full-time artist, he decided to leave Hong Kong because one of his relatives warned that the government would take actions against him. "People who were more aggressive than me were gradually arrested and complained about, and eventually they left," he said. "People like me are just waiting to be arrested." He then bought a ticket to go to Ireland three days after the call.

Landing in Taiwan later, Vawongsir was advised by Hong Kong artist Kacey Wong Kwok-choi, who moved there last year.Wong believed his artwork would be stifled by the ambiguous standards of the National Security Law. "Artists should have 100% freedom of expression because most of their work responds to the voice of the public," he said.

Former Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the establishment of the M+ Museum was a significant investment by the Hong Kong Government to support the long-term development of arts and culture, and represented Hong Kong's ambition to become a world centre for visual arts and culture. Bernard Charnwut Chan said in an interview with RTHK that Hong Kong still allows open and diverse expression despite the “red lines” brought about by NSL. Yet, the museum decided not to display Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s Study of Perspective – Tiananmen Square, showing a middle finger to Tiananmen Square for the June 4 protest, two weeks after the museum director Suhanya Raffel said the opposite to the South China Morning Post.

"Hong Kong used to be called a 'cultural desert,' but it is home to many creative and enthusiastic artists. It should have been doing well," said Wong. However, witnessing the artwork being taken down, he said the government does not understand and respect the creators' intention. "That's why I left Hong Kong for Taiwan, a place without restrictions but respect for art creations," he said.

Taiwan became an ideal venue for hosting a two-month exhibition titled Don't Forget Your Name!. It included artwork from Vawongsir and two other artists from Hong Kong. "The government in Taiwan is highly supportive of cultural creation, and that goes for artists in political comics and webcomics," said Vawongsir. But he felt the Hong Kong government could not value this field as much as Taiwan’s.

Wong said the growing suspicion about increasingly stringent regulations on the art industry is scaring away artists. "The development of art in Hong Kong is about to go downhill, with movies banned, and news blocked from streaming," said Vawongsir. "Cultural development is stepping backwards."

The government has tried to retain Hong Kong's artistic talent. It set aside HK$42 million for the first Hong Kong Performing Arts Market in two years. Last year’s government budget has allocated funds for an Arts Technology Funding Pilot Scheme to be launched in the next financial year.

Chow Wai Sum, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Arts Development Council, said that the future of the arts is bright since the council has made considerable efforts to develop Hong Kong art and left enough physical activity space for local artists.

“We launched the ‘Arts Go Digital Platform Scheme’ in June 2020 to support local artists and artist groups, and implemented the ‘ADC Arts Space Scheme’ in 2014 to provide artists with creative and rehearsal spaces at affordable rental fees,” said Chow. “HKADC will also work in accordance with the government’s strategy to develop Hong Kong into an Eastmeet-West centre for international cultural exchange.”

But Vawongsir said this was just sugarcoating the confined creative space for artists. “Everyone knows they are done deliberately,” he said, “Hong Kong needs freedom, not slogans. If artists are allowed the freedom to do what they want, the city can pioneer in the cultural field without a doubt.”

Kevin Shum Chung-po, a film student at Hong Kong Baptist University, said he would not work in Hong Kong's art industry until the city becomes more inclusive and open-minded. "Art censorship only leads to a monotonous discussion of social issues, but I prefer a place where there is freedom of expression and art," he said.

But for Kacey Wong, Hong Kong still has great potential to be an art centre in the world. "Although artistic development will slow down, it is still on the rise," he said. He believed

“Art is not just art. It is a record of history and memory that is important to Hong Kong. We should preserve them, not abandon them,” he said. “If you do that, the artists could stay and work for development.”

“Art is not just art. It is a record of history and memory that is important to Hong Kong. We should preserve them, not abandon them”

Kacey Wong

Wong’s Paddling Home is in M+ Museum

Kevin Shum,an aspiring film producer, believes official censorship always leads to self censorship.

READY FOR SNAKES? HONG KONGERS BRING PETS REPTILES TO NEW COUNTRIES

Bonnie Kan’s seven pet reptiles include one Bearded Dragon, one Tokay Gecko, one Ball Python, one Hognose Snake, one Rainfrog and two Leopard Geckos (Photo

Kan)

REPORTED BY ZHONG ZIMO CAO YONGYI

EDITED BY KARMEN LI

When Bonnie Kan, 24, moved from Hong Kong to Canada in July, she spent HK$70,000 to take her seven pet lizards, snakes and frogs with her. It took eight months to make the arrangements with a reptile shop that helped her relocate her pets.

Before boarding, the staff from the reptile shop put warmers between each plastic carrying box to maintain a constant temperature during the flight.

"The body temperature of my lizard dropped to 26 degree Celsius when I arrived in Canada. Lizards may get pneumonia if they catch a cold. Therefore, I think the first concern of moving them is temperature," Kan said.

Last year, more than 113,000 residents left the city, according to government statistics, many of them with pets.

Courtesy:

Lau’s pet is a 12 year old African Shield Wall Tortoise (Photo courtesy: Lau)

The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department told The Young Reporter that the number of issued health certifications for pets that are needed when entering destination countries rose from 6,267 in 2021 to 9,622 permits as of August 2022.

Reptiles are harder to move than cats and dogs, as they are banned from entering some countries and some airlines do not accept them.

Kan, who ran a store selling hand-knitted clothing items for reptiles in Hong Kong, said her pets were the most important priority in considering which country she would move to. Some countries like Australia ban the import of pet reptiles to prevent bringing any exotic diseases to the local habitat. She eventually settled on Canada, which allows reptiles.

If a pet falls under one of the more than 38,700 species protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, then a permit is needed. Kan got the permits from the AFCD for her two endangered reptiles, the Tokay Gecko and the Ball Python.

“After hearing about an owner who successfully moved to Vancouver with his gecko in cargo last year, I emailed Cathay Pacific to apply for my seven reptiles to travel in cargo,” said Kan.

Though reptiles are not on the embargo list for live animals on the website of Cathay Pacific, the airline rejected her application, Kan said. She was eventually able to book tickets on Cathay Pacific, as the reptile shop she hired had a business certificate to trasnport reptiles in cargo. But individuals are still not able to transport reptiles on the airline.

Orange Lau, 36, also immigrated to Canada this year with his African Spurred Tortoise named Buji. He adopted Buji from his friend four years ago.

"I raised him from 200g to 12kg. He sleeps with me at night, and I walk him everyday. Buji has become an indispensable member of my family," Lau said.

Lau said it took a lot of time to find relevant information on reptile emmigration. After moving to Canada, he started a Facebook account to share his successful experience immigrating reptiles, including a video explaining how to “do-it-yourself” with a tortoise.

"I hope this information can help more owners who want to emigrate with their reptile pets. Everyone can share and help each other," said Lau.

Regan Wan, project manager of Pet Holiday, a local pet immigration company that has handled over 1,000 cases, said that 90% of the pet immigration cases they handled were dogs and cats, 10% were birds and 10% were reptiles.

“We receive roughly 20 inquiries from pet owners asking about pet immigration everyday, but nearly half of them gave up because of high fees, complicated procedural problems or other reasons,” he said.

Pet immigration company Dog Express charges between HK$4,500 and HK$28,000 for helping the animals with health checks, preparation, handouts of immigration documents and pet flight tickets. For private jets, the cost can be up to HK$200,000.

"Many pet owners treat their pets as family members and are determined to emigrate with them at any cost, which impresses me,” said Wan.

He once helped a client send his 17-yearold dog to Ireland. The dog couldn’t walk and could barely hear any sounds. “The owner insisted on bringing it and she booked a private jet which cost her HK$500,000 in total," Wan said.

"The dog died shortly after emigrating to Ireland, but her owner didn't regret it and felt it was well worth accompanying her till the end of her life," he added.

The Consumer Council reminded pet owners that a long flight may exacerbate the poor health condition of their older pets, especially those with medical problems such as heart issues.

Hong Kong airlines planned only 592 departures for the entire month of February compared to more than 14,000 departures per month before the pandemic, according to statistics from Cirium, an aviation analytics company. This is the lowest level since August 2003.

As reptiles are cold blooded, the staff of HKHerp put thermostatic lights into the breeding glass box to keep them warm.

"Some airlines haven't taken animals for three years, such as United Airlines. Pet cargo isn't their main way of making money," said Eric Lau, the manager of Pet Movers HK, a company with over 20 years of pet immigration experience.

He said unlike transporting products, the airlines have to arrange flight attendants to check the pets in live animal cargo regularly. They need to maintain the air conditioning between 23 degrees and 25 degree Celsius and track barometric pressure.

"There are cases that pets with disease or that are too old, die while waiting for an airline ticket or a document approval, and eventually, we can only help transport their ashes to our client," Lau said.

Some owners abandon their pets when they leave "One-third of the 400 pets adopted by us were abandoned because their owners emigrated," said Kestrel Lam, Director of the Hong Kong Society of Herpetology Foundation, a charity that aims to prevent animal cruelty, especially for amphibians and reptiles.

“Reptile owners abandon their pets such as pets like the Brazilian tortoise that are listed as invasive species by many countries,” Lam said.

Brazilian tortoises are banned from entering the United Kingdom, according to Invasive Alien Species of Union concern,

The Hong Kong Sliders Immigrate To Grate Britain Concern Group, which fights for immigration with Brazilian tortoises to the UK, emailed the UK CITES Management Authority regarding the ban of Brazilian tortoises. The authority replied that escaped or released Brazilian tortoise may eat native flora or fauna which can cause damage to the local ecosystem.

The abandoned reptiles are mostly in good health and will be adopted soon, Lam said. In the adoption center of the HKHerp, about 10 reptile pets are adopted by new owners every week.

"We should not treat reptiles as goods but as life,we are responsible for them," Lam said.

The staff of HKHerp prepare food for the abandoned reptiles.

Bonnie Kan hired a professional photographer to take a photo of her pet for her reptile clothing store. .(Photo courtesy: Kan)

BRAIN DRAIN FROM HONG KONG’S FINANCIAL SECTOR

Martin Li plans to work for several years in Hong Kong when he graduates from university in order to save up money to leave. He majors in accounting and management at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and this summer.

“I am not afraid of being jobless in the future. I am just worried about Hong Kong’s decreasing significance and competitiveness as a financial centre,” said Li.

In mid-2022, Hong Kong’s population declined 1.6% to 7,291,600 from 7,413,100 year on year. The net outflow of Hong Kong residents is more than 113,000 residents since June 2021, after deducting the population inflow.

Since January 2021, the UK has allowed all Hong Kong permanent residents born before 1997 to apply for British National (overseas) passports. According to the Home Office of the UK, 116,702 applicants have been successful as of 2022 Q2, while 68,146 of them were Hong Kongers.)

Some of Li's peers also plan to emigrate because they fear Hongkongers are losing their freedom of speech. But in some cases, plans to leave are limited by financial situations.

Cherry Tsang, former KPMG accountant, left for the UK in March for political reasons, and the strict COVID policies.

“My coworkers here are more openminded and willing to express their opinions without any concerns,” Tsang said in London.

Politics aside, Hong Kong’s living environment, fast-paced lifestyle and working conditions are other factors both Tsang and Li considered.

REPORTED BY

REX CHEUK JUDE TSE EDITED BY KYLIE WONG

“I am not afraid of being jobless in the future. I am just worried about Hong Kong’s decreasing significance and competitiveness as a financial centre”

Dr.Vera Yuen Wing-han, an economics lecturer at the University of Hong Kong, said that the emigration waves post neither immediate nor critical impact on the local financial industry, since corporates are attracting and retaining employees through promotions and salary raises.

In fact, the mass emigration benefits those who stay because it is now easier for them to get a job or a promotion, she added.

Although the effects of emigration have yet to cause major problems for the finance sector , local quarantine policies have caused a loss of foreign financial talents, said Yuen.

Martin Li

Photo: David Ren

Managers in Hong Kong face challenges in hiring and maintaining expatriate staff. About 48% of fund management companies with operations in the city said it’s “extremely difficult” to attract and retain financial talents for global roles, according to a survey conducted by Hong Kong Investment Funds Association in July.

On the contrary, Tsang has discovered that London’s accounting and finance job market is booming alongside economic recovery from the pandemic.

Li also said that Hong Kong lost its influence and competitiveness as a financial hub over the past two years due to pandemic policies when compared with other Asian countries, despite the vast amount of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong now ranks fourth behind Singapore in the Global Financial Centres Index released in September., Singapore has moved up from the sixth to the third, compared to the data in March.

Yuen is worried that the current emigration and loss of talent may drive financial institutions out of Hong Kong. Once the brain drain reaches a threshold, foreign companies may opt not to establish their branches or headquarters in Hong Kong, Yuen said.

In 2021, American hedge fund Elliot Management closed all its offices in Hong Kong, following the footsteps of Motley Fool, a US-based private financial and investing advice company. It announced its exit from the local market in 2020.

Since 2019, the number of regional headquarters in Hong Kong has shrunk..from 1,541 to 1,457 in 2021. Both America-based and Japanbased regional headquarters contracted approximately 10%.

Yuen said a simple taxation system and low-income tax rates are Hong Kong’s advantages in attracting and retaining talents.

Under the progressivetax system, individuals are taxed on their net chargeable income, starting from 2% to 17%, according to the Inland Revenue Department of Hong Kong.

In comparison, the income tax rate of the UK ranges between 0% to 45%, while that of Canada varies from 15% to 33%.

Yuen said the straightforward working visa requirement is another longrunning advantage of Hong Kong because it provides an alternative to foreign talents who may not be able to obtain a working visa elsewhere Another significant edge of Hong Kong over its Asian counterparts, such as Singapore, is its proximity to China, Yuen said. Under China’s efforts to control capital, mainland investors can weigh in around the globe through Hong Kong’s financial markets.

“Hong Kong is a stepping stone for foreign institutions and investors to enter the China market,” said Yuen.

Since September 26, the Hong Kong government has lifted compulsory hotel quarantine for arrivals. Under the new “0+3” scheme, inbound travellers need to undergo a three-day home medical observation, but are forbidden from entering certain premises, such as restaurants and clubhouses.

Hong Kong officials are confident about attracting lost talents, such as fund managers due to the quarantine easing. Paul Chan Mo-po, the financial secretary, defended the city’s reputation as a financial hub in a blog published in October.

“Hong Kong has been developing and growing in the face of fierce competition. There is no need to downplay ourselves or avoid talking about shortcomings; What we really need to do is to take measures to further enhance the competitiveness of our financial market,” said Chan.

Photo: David Ren

HONG KONG LOSING POWER TO RETAIN MAINLAND STUDENTS AFTER GRADUATION

REPORTED BY JOY GAO JASON LI EDITED BY DAVID REN

Yang Yuhe will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in advertising from Hong Kong Baptist University in 2024, but she has no plans to stay.

From Hubei Province in mainland China, she moved to Hong Kong to attend university in 2020. Yang said she plans to go to the United States for graduate school as soon as possible.

“The housing here is oppressive, and I would not need to withstand it in the mainland or the US,” she said, “Besides, universities in the US can give me more and better internship opportunities with a higher salary.”

Like Yang, more mainland students are coming to Hong Kong to study but fewer are staying after graduation. Students and experts say the reason for mainland graduates leaving Hong Kong is a weakened labour market and unaffordable housing prices.

Even fewer are applying for permanent residency, available after seven years of continuous employment in the territory. In 2019, immigration data showed that 3,117 were granted permanent residency under the IANG program, meaning around 10% of mainland students educated in Hong Kong end up making the city their home.

Lily Yang, a 20 year old student studying in Hong Kong, hopes to immigrate to the US for further development

In 2020, the government issued 31,123 student visas to mainland students, an increase of 68% from 2015. But in the same year, 6,125, fewer than 20%, applied for an IANG visa, the work visa available to non-local students who graduate from accredited programmes in Hong Kong. This is down from a peak of close to 10,000 IANG applicants in 2019.

“Mainland students are the bridge between the mainland and Hong Kong in business and many other fields. Their increasing leave means loss of connections,” said Kaxton Siu, a professor of social sciences at HKBU who has mentored students from the mainland for nearly eight years, “The number of mainland students leaving Hong Kong has increased because of a lack of employment opportunities.”

People go through customs and immigration at Shenzhen Bay on the Hong Kong mainland border. The mainland has the strictest COVID 19 quarantine policy in the world.

The labour force fell by 3.5% year-on-year from March to May, hitting a new high since records began in 1982. And while the unemployment rate dropped to 4.1 % over the summer, according to data released by the Census and Statistics Department, more than 160,00 are still out of work.

Siu said the demand for labour has become weaker because the pandemic interfered with the development of many fields. Some international companies moved out of Hong Kong because of the strict COVID-19 restrictions.

It means the loss of potential job opportunities for Hong Kong’s job seekers, including mainland graduates, Siu said.

The median salary for a public relations officer is HK$ 271,305 per year, according to government data. It is close to double that in the US at US$ 62,810 (HK$ 493,055), according to the Office for National Statistics.

For all fields, the Hong Kong median salary in 2021 was HK$ 18,700 a month. The median salary in London was around HK$21,581 a month, according to UK government data.

Hong Kong remains the world’s most unaffordable property market for the 12th year in a row, with a median home price ratio of 23.2 times the median household income, according to Demographia’s new Global Housing Affordability report. The report said that the average household must save their entire salary for 23.2 years to buy a house without a mortgage.

Ariel Chow, a 20-year-old student majoring in public relations at Hong Kong Baptist University, grew up in the mainland and moved to Hong Kong to attend middle school as a teenager. She said she is applying to go to the US for further studies after graduation as her field doesn’t pay well in Hong Kong.

“Coastal cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen are developing rapidly with a high demand for labour. The talented may get well-paid jobs. As a result, fewer mainland students will stay in Hong Kong for the salary here. Given that the living cost and housing prices are very relatively higher, many may move on to somewhere else,” said Siu.

Xiao Kaiyi, a 20-year-old student from the mainland studying physics at HKBU, said he didn’t expect a high-salary job or a cosy workplace after graduation. Still, he desires an enriching spiritual life and a comfortable living environment, which he said is difficult to achieve in Hong Kong.

Before the pandemic, Xiao planned to rent a house in Shenzhen and commute to work in Hong Kong after graduating to save on cost. However, he shelved this idea because of the pandemic border restrictions.

“Mainland students are the bridge between the mainland and Hong Kong in business and many other fields. Their increasing leave means loss of connections”

Kaxton Siu

If he sticks with his original plan to get permanent residency in Hong Kong, not only will he have to afford HongKong’s rent but he’ll also have difficulty returning to the mainland to see his family because of strict quarantine rules, he said.

“A comfortable life for body and mind is hard to achieve in Hong Kong,” said Xiao, “If I pay my happiness for a high-wage job, I would prefer giving it up.”

Hong Kong is the most expensive city in Asia, followed by Tokyo, Shanghai and Singapore, according to Numbeo’s cost of living plus rent index.

Zhang Zhiping, a mainland postgraduate student at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University who has been in Hong Kong for more than five years, said she finds Hong Kong attractive for its cultural diversity and low taxation. However, she has decided to return to mainland China soon after graduating because of the high rent.

“For the long term, it’s a fatal problem for me that Hong Kong housing is simply too poor value for money,” she said, “My home is in Shenzhen, so I can live in Shenzhen and work in Hong Kong without extra housing costs,” adding that this is only possible if China relaxes its quarantine requirements.

Chen Weiyi, a mainland postgraduate student at the Education University of Hong Kong, said the high living cost makes her miserable. She had planned to stay in Hong Kong for a few more years, but the expensive monthly bills made her quickly abandon the plan.

“The shortage of land supply and sky-high housing prices are the most urgent issues in Hong Kong,” said Siu, “Some local students may live with their parents when they start working, which could save them some money on renting a place. But mainland students have to face the problem if they choose to stay.”

In Kowloon, renting a one-bedroom apartment smaller than 450 sq feet can cost up to HK$20,000 per month, or even more, according to the Rating and Valuation Department in September.

“I no longer wish to curl up in a room that is only 100 feet large,” said Yang, “I guess the day I say farewell to this unique city will come sooner or later.”

“Some local students may live with their parents when they start working, which could save them some money on renting a place. But mainland students have to face the problem if they choose to stay”

The number of mainland students applying for an IANG visa in Hong Kong after graduation dropped by 37% in 2020. (source:Immigration Department)

Kaxton Siu

HOUSING PRESSURE FORCES HONGKONGERS TO LEAVE

REPORTED BY YOYO LEE EDITED BY NANCY YANG

Wong Chun-yip moved to London from Hong Kong with his wife in 2019. They have just bought a house in the city. In Hong Kong, where housing prices are among the highest in the world, owning an apartment was something the 37-yearold could hardly imagine.

"I am a freelance writer with a very unstable income. It was too much of a struggle to rent a flat and support my family on a basic salary of $37.5 per hour in Hong Kong. The high property prices gave me no hope," Wong said.

Hong Kong ranked the least affordable housing market for the 12th consecutive year in 2022 . Hongkongers can expect to work up to 23 years before they can buy their first home, according to Demographia’s International Housing Affordability report.

High housing prices were one of the reasons that drove Wong to leave. He said it was a difficult decision because his family and friends are in Hong Kong, but he had no better option.

Data from the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce showed that 27% of Hong Kong people moved to foreign cities for a better quality of life in 2005.

“It is much easier to buy an apartment in the UK than in Hong Kong,” Wong said.

According to the latest data from Numbeo, a global statistical database, it is twice as expensive to buy an apartment in Hong Kong as it is in London. The cost per square metre of an apartment in central Hong Kong is HK$249,000, compared to an average of HK$115,000 in London. However, the average monthly net salary (after tax) was HK$23,637.69 in Hong Kong, while HK$26,333.14 in the UK.

Photo: David Ren

Wong Chun yip, a housewife, said in the UK she often invites friends to her home, whereas in Hong Kong she usually didn’t because of limited space

Wong also said that many of his friends in Hong Kong thought about leaving because of political issues and to seek a better future.

Poon Tat-hang, the vice-president of the Hong Kong Real Estate Agencies General Association said they are getting more inquiries on overseas home ownership, especially after 2019.

“Housing demand for overseas properties is on the rise due to the current migration trend,” said Poon.

Government figures show that Hong Kong’s population has been declining for three consecutive years since 2020.

More than 113,000 residents left the city in the past year. The population has dropped from 7.41 million to 7.29 million in 2021, according to the latest figures from Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department.

“It is difficult for Hong Kong people to buy an apartment, let alone a second one. Policies such as the stamp duty, which is a 15% on a second property, are a big deterrent to home ownership,” Poon said.

He added that British real estates appreciated faster than Hong Kong, and that the pound has been depreciating recently, so that more Hong Kongers are thinking of buying property in Britain.

Or Chong-shing , a member of the Hong Kong Housing Authority and Subsidised Housing Committee, said that the supply of housing has lagged behind demand in Hong Kong for decades.

“There are around 100,000 subdivided flats in Hong Kong. At the same time, the population living in subdivided flats has more than doubled to 200,000 since 2016,” Or said.

Or said he believes the government is doing its best to address the problem, in terms of agreements, laws and the actual situation.

According to the annual report on the Long-Term Housing Strategy in 2020, the government expects to provide 428,000 more units of housing by the end of 2032.

"I believe that the first five years of this plan should be calculably stable under government management," said Or. "However, the government should pay more attention to this plan in the next five years because it seems to have too much uncertainty, including the policies, at the moment."

Or said that the housing problem in Hong Kong will remain serious despite the emigration wave.

He suggested that community isolation facilities meant for COVID quarantine can be used as transitional housing to alleviate the pressing housing needs.

Wong said he does not have many friends in London yet, but he does not regret leaving Hong Kong because he likes the slow pace of life and low housing pressure in the UK.

“The biggest trouble is loneliness. But things are getting better as time goes by,” Wong said.

Wong Chun yip said that the days in London was the "real life", and that in Hong Kong was more like subsistence

“BREKKIE, ARVO, THONG”: THE CHALLENGES OF AUSSIE ENGLISH FOR HONG KONGERS

REPORTED BY ANGELA HUANG EDITED BY CLARICE WU HAMISH CHAN

“I know they're speaking English, but I didn’t understand even a single word, such as the slangs, the intonation, accent, everything”

Li Yan yan

Li felt embarrassed because she couldn’t understand Aussie English when she first arrived.

Chan was confused about Australian slangs when she heard of them

When Chan Pak-yu immigrated from Hong Kong to Sydney in 2021, she thought her fluency in English meant she could fit right in. But not so. She was 32, a professional in e-commerce and has been working in English.

“Text me as ping me, Mcdonald's as Maccas. I really didn’t understand when I first heard of these,” Chan said.

Last year, 4,312 Hong Kong citizens became permanent migrants in Australia, a jump from 1,391 the year before, according to Australia government data.

Since the emigration started in 2021, Hongkongers have been facing all kinds of challenges in their new home. The language barrier is often the first obstacle.

“When I heard my colleagues use slang like this, I had to ask them what they meant. It made me feel embarrassed,” said Chan. She believed it all boils down to cultural differences.

“I don't know how to imitate their accents. But you can imagine when they are speaking too fast, I can only understand half of the conversation and then I need to guess what they are talking about,” she added.

According to the 2021 Australian Census, 29.1% of the population were immigrants and 17.4% were Asian Australians.

Sylvia Tam, 27, is a psychiatric nurse who moved to Melbourne from Hong Kong a year ago. Working in a hospital in Melbourne city centre, Tam meets patients from diverse backgrounds. She feels it’s important to improve her conversational English.

“For my speciality, we mostly assess patients and provide tailor-made therapies for them through casual conversations,” said Tam. “The patients I'm taking care of struggle with mental health concerns, it is more difficult for them to express themselves compared to others.”

Although Tam is comfortable with her English ability in her professional setting, she still feels the need to communicate with local people and understand their “talking styles”.

Tam is not alone.

Li Yan-yan, 30, is a theatre nurse who moved to Tasmania last year. She had a hard time understanding “Aussie English” when she first started working there.

“I know they're speaking English, but I didn’t understand even a single word, such as the slangs, the intonation, accent, everything, ” said Li. “I was so nervous and so sorry. I could just smile but I couldn’t give any responses. I just couldn’t understand.”

Li passed her Occupational English Test (OET) with a B and like most Hongkongers, she spent years learning standard British and American English while growing up. But that did not help Li understand Australians.

“I know many Hongkongers are coming to Australia. I think they need to be prepared for Aussie English. It is harder than you imagine,” said Li.

In March this year, the Australian government introduced the “Hong Kong Stream”,a new specialised pathway to permanent residency for Hong Kong citizens.

Although Li and Chan both attained Proficiency English level according to the Australian Department of Home Affairs, they still an effort for them to get used to Aussie English.

Even experienced learners of English may find Aussie English difficult, but the will to improve can enhance understanding, according to a 2019 study published in the Australian Review of Applied Linguistics.

Besides having a proactive mentality, the more time people are exposed to Aussie English, the easier for them to get used to the language. The study also found that a proactive mentality and more exposure to the language help new migrants to improve.

Julian Yeung, 21, moved to Gold Coast, Queensland three years ago. He believes the language barrier could be overcome after spending some time in Australia.

He has been working as a hotel concierge for two months and finds the working environment harmonious.

“I get along with everyone. The manager is very welcoming and I’m really glad to be able to work here,” said Yeung.

He admits sometimes he can’t catch up with the local conversations, but he thinks people in Australia are generally nice and would not mind repeating themselves.

Figure 3

Photo: Hamish Chan