Hongkongers’ three most sought-after emigration destinations

Ben Kwok October 07, 2020 09:45

Call it BAT. It is not the usual technology plays – Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent – one would think of, but it is the acronym of three hottest destinations for Hong Kong people who fancy emigrating.

That’s right – Britain, Australia and Taiwan. That is according to a survey of Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, which showed that almost one in six people in Hong Kong have already started preparations to live outside Hong Kong.

Some 15 per cent of respondents are planning for emigration, the highest percentage in three years, and a 5.7 percentage points increase from last year, but to me – it might be understated based on the unofficial count of how many times the issue of emigration was brought up in my lunch gatherings.

According to the survey, 23.8 per cent of people opted for Britain, followed by Australia (11.6 per cent) and Taiwan (10.7 per cent).

It is worth noting that 90 per cent of the 737 Hong Kong respondents aged over 18 under this survey had no right of abode outside Hong Kong.

All eyes are watching the details of what the British government would offer to Hong Kong people for the right of abode early next year. From my causal research, this proposal is especially popular among parents with children but without property in Hong Kong.

Despite the high threshold of Australia’s investment immigration scheme, it is still more popular than United States, Canada and other European Union countries because it is within the same time zone with less flying hours.

Taiwan is simply cheap and available and probably demands the least adjustment to living style for Hongkongers.

Among the reasons of emigration, the discontent with the government topped the list with 27.3 per cent, followed by “too much political dispute or political instability (23.6 per cent) and the loss of freedom (speech/media) (19.8 per cent).

The findings were consistent with the livability score in Hong Kong, where it dropped to 49.6 this year from 54.4 last year, the lowest in four years.

One key reason for the low score was simply the tiny cramped space, which accounted for almost a quarter of respondents. Around 10 per cent of the responsents said they would move to China because of space.

All that explains why almost 44 percent of respondents said they would emigrate if they had a chance, the highest in five years.

No wonder we found more people buying British properties than that of Hong Kong and increasingly more exposure in United States equities than that of Hong Kong and the trend of putting money outside continues.

-- Contact us at [email protected]

Ben Kwok

EJ Insight writer

Hong Kong

Is lifelong learning just an empty slogan? Victor Kwok,Christabel Chan

As technology advances at an unprecedented pace, Industry 4.0 is revolutionising the way industries operate and changing talent needs. Governments around the world are taking the initiative to

Lessons in new town planning Dr. Winnie Tang

One of the winning projects of this year’s Esri Young Scholars Award is to examine whether the planning of Hong Kong can achieve mixed and diversified land use which results in an ideal combination

The excitement of summer: Tokyo Olympics Ben Kwok

Forty-six young athletes. Thirteen sporting events. How many of them would bring medals back for Hong Kong? Hopes are high that the 28 star women and 18 men would provide some much-needed excitement

Releasing development potential in the New Territories Amy Liu Mei Heung

The Hong Kong Government has been committed to developing the New Territories for years– Hung Shui Kiu and Kwu Tung North/Fanling North inclusive. Have you thought of living in these New Development

Pandemic, NSL cast large shadow over Book Fair Mark O'Neill

The Covid-19 pandemic and National Security Law (NSL) have cast a large shadow over the Hong Kong Book Fair which opened on July 14 and runs until Tuesday. It was the first to be held for two years.