Can Olympics medalists afford a flat in Olympic station?
They won Tokyo Olympics medals, but they might not afford a flat at the Olympic station.
Olympics gold medalist and fencing king Cheung Ka-long and swim queen Siobhan Haughey with two silver medals manage to reach the top of the sports world, but they might have trouble keeping up with the escalating home price in Hong Kong.
Right, Cheung and Haughey would get HK$5 million each as special bonus, thanks to Henderson Land. Cheung would receive another HK$2.5 million from a charitable foundation of Lam Tai-fai, Hong Kong Sports Institute chairman.
That would put Cheung on par with the other Asian winners, most notably heavy weight champion Hidilyn Diaz, who took home around 52 million pesos (US$1.04 million) for winning the first-ever gold medal for the Philippines.
By the way, no worry for Haughey, thanks to her well off parents.
Winning medals could make a big difference to the financial wellbeing of an athlete.
For Cheung, he would get a whole life free MTR ticket. And along with other medalists, he would get free business tickets from Cathay Pacific for one year.
The commercial ad, product sponsors and social media companies would throw money to these award-winning athletes, or even the badminton duo Tse Ying-suet and Tang Chun-man and women table-tennis trio Doo Hoi-kem, Winnie Soo and Lee Ho-ching who put in some marvelous Olympics games for Hong Kong.
Still, they might need to try harder to catch up with the rising property prices in Hong Kong. The latest Private Domestic Property Price Index in May surged to 393.7, slightly lower than record 396.9 in May 2019 despite the pandemic.
Though this year has seen many families leave Hong Kong, and mainland buyers have been inactive due to stringent border control, the cruel fact is there are many rich people in Hong Kong, and they are looking to property for better returns in a globally low interest rate environment.
A two-bedroom flat in the Olympics Station, Tai Kok Tsui, is priced at between HK$15 million and HK$20 million – which suggests our Hong Kong Olympics medalists might have to win the Paris Olympics if they want to fully pay up for their home.
Think about Sarah Lee Wai-sze, the London Olympics bronze track cyclist. The famous and friendly sprinter dubbed “Cycling Goddess of Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate" has been practicing almost 10 hours per day for her career and she just needs to ride a bit faster to catch up with the home market.
-- Contact us at [email protected]
-
Disappointed, Hong Kong migrants return from U.K. Mark O'Neill
Unable to find a satisfactory job and integrate easily into British society, some Hong Kong migrants have returned home – but remain discreet for fear of losing face with their friends and former
-
Visualisation is the best way for communication Dr. Winnie Tang
In recent years, environmental expectations have become increasingly high, and urban development is prone to disputes. The international tournament held at the Fanling Golf Course in March reminded
-
What drives you? Brian YS Wong
“What drives you?” All eyes were on me – the instructor at the front of the class. Before me were thirty eager high-schoolers, ambitious and aspiring, bushy-eyed and cherubic yet by no means naïve.
-
Integration of GIS and BIM can drive development of smart city Dr. Winnie Tang
The China Association for Geospatial Industry and Sciences (“the CAGIS”) released the Top Ten Highlights of China's Geographic Information Industry in 2023, which provides much inspiration. The
-
Equip young people for the future Dr. Winnie Tang
In late February, the inaugural flight of an air taxi from Shenzhen Shekou Cruise Homeport to Zhuhai Jiuzhou Port took only 20 minutes with an estimated one-way ticket price of 200 to 300 yuan per