Leaving Hong Kong isn’t the answer. Staying and building a new one is
- It is not only the national security law and protests that have some heading for the exit – high living costs and limited social mobility are playing a part too
- If a foreign government can purport to offer a million passports, surely the Hong Kong government working with developers and banks can offer a million homes.
01:38
UK offers Hongkongers with BN(O) passports path to citizenship after new national security law
A young Hong Kong family may choose to leave for a variety of reasons. One reason, commonly highlighted by the media, is apprehension over how the national security law will be applied, given all the fear that is being generated by the global media. But there are other more practical reasons too. Last year’s social unrest was disruptive:families may choose to leave in search of stability – e.g., educating their children – regardless of how they felt about the protests themselves despite the various downsides of moving overseas.
The national security law could turn Hong Kong into Asia’s Monaco
Hong Kong is not alone in having a young population that is disillusioned and discontented with the status quo, marked by diminished social mobility, increased competition, higher cost of living, relatively low political representation and irresponsible politicians. The difference is that Hong Kong’s openness means that its young professionals can – or at least believe they can – find opportunities overseas. They will be neither the first nor the last to discover that the grass is not always greener elsewhere and hanker for home later in life, often with regrets.
In fact, Hong Kong has benefited from other countries’ brain drain in the past decade: see the large increase in the French population working in the city. Plus, there has always been the joke in Hong Kong of “FILTH”: “failed in London, try Hong Kong”.
In the midst of all of this, both political camps in Hong Kong are irresponsibly tolerating, if not encouraging, this threat of a brain drain.
In Hong Kong’s national security law era, echoes of Northern Ireland’s Troubles
This attitude confirms the worst suspicions each has of the other: that the opposition is more concerned with scoring political points overseas than doing what’s best for the city, and that the establishment is hyper-focused on Hong Kong’s status as a business hub over the interests of ordinary people and seeks to appease Beijing.
But we can all agree that the loss of a wide swathe of young professionals would be hugely damaging for the city. It would weaken the city’s “DNA”: qualities and characteristics that make the city an attractive and exciting place to live and work, both for residents and for expats. More importantly, the institutions that allow “one country, two systems” to thrive only survive if there are talented and committed people to staff and nurture them.
More fundamentally, any society that allows this to happen is failing in its fundamental obligations to its people, especially the young. Even failed states do not actively pursue such outcomes.
Those currently in positions of power, responsibility and influence need to take actions now to encourage people to stay. The government needs to announce a vision for Hong Kong’s future, and fast, to counter the pessimism that is taking root within a segment of the population. It needs to be a vision that speaks to the young as they are the future of the city. They desperately need a vision that gives them a real stake in it, irrespective of economic class.
02:09
Trump signs Hong Kong Autonomy Act, ends city’s preferential trade status over national security law
And, in addition, if a foreign government can purport to offer a million passports, surely the Hong Kong government working in partnership with developers and the banks can make available a million homes and more to the needy by coming up with the world’s most innovative social housing scheme. All parties must do whatever it takes, given that this city has the resources to do so. There is a need once and for all to break with the past on this issue and, if needed, brush aside every rule in the book that stands in the way of addressing this most critical of challenges. If not now, then when? This one sweeping action will get the government the full backing of the public, not to mention even Beijing.
With that, prominent politicians from all camps, including the establishment, the opposition and those related to the protest movement, need to articulate a clear message of “stay and build”. This requires the various political camps to outline their vision for Hong Kong and what it should look like: a purely unrealistic and negative message would be the height of irresponsibility and may drive people to leave, whereas a realistic and positive policy platform will give people reasons to stay and push for change in a constructive manner. Therein lies the hard but meaningful work of politics and policy formulation.
But ultimately this message needs to be carried by the broader Hong Kong society.
Hong Kong national security law heightens South Korea’s choice: US or China?
Hong Kong faces many challenges, from diminished social mobility and rooted vested interests to sustainability concerns and, yes, a lack of political representation. But these problems will be solved only by those who decide to stay, not by those who leave. After all, the vibrant economy that has been Hong Kong since the handover was built by those who stayed and not those who left. The next generation now needs to be incentivised and inspired to stay and build a different economic and social fabric, given the dramatic shift in conditions. Leaving will not accomplish that.
05:50
What you should know about China's new national security law for Hong Kong
Finally, Hong Kong will be able to capture opportunities, ranging from the Greater Bay Area to turning the city into a global sustainable hub, only if people stay.
Those who care about the city should recognise that “the better future” they seek requires a commitment to staying and building. Leaving in haste often leads to years of yearning for what might have been and the missed opportunity to be part of something new.
If Hong Kong is to fulfil its obligation to its population and especially the next generation, present-day society needs to focus on retaining its most talented and do everything needed to make them build their future here.
They, like every next generation anywhere, have to be allowed the opportunity to flourish, realise their dreams, make mistakes, be demanding at times and build the future they want.
Those who care about Hong Kong – on both sides of the political divide – need to recognise this fact, stop the bickering and instead focus their efforts on encouraging people to stay and build the fairer city it needs to be.
It requires discarding destructive politics and reforming the laissez-faire economic policies of the past that have failed the current generation. ■
Chandran Nair is the founder of the Global Institute for Tomorrow and a member of the Club of Rome. He is also the author of The Sustainable State: The Future of Government, Economy and Society