Young People Want to Leave Hong Kong

Young Hongkongers want to leave

Looking at the calendar it's not April 1, but this is quite a striking headline coming from Oriental Daily.

The top headline says: "Half of all Hongkongers want to leave", and below that, "Willing to leave even if their English is poor".

The survey was conducted by the Hong Kong Association for Academic and Teaching Exchange on 503 people, most of whom were high school students.

Students feel they have no future in Hong Kong

The article says Hong Kong's poor governance and draconian anti-epidemic measures in the past three years have made people's livelihoods miserable, the economy tanking. The story adds professionals and highly-educated elites have already left the city.

Seventy-one percent of those surveyed have thought about going abroad to study, and 38 percent intended to work overseas.

While 95 percent think it's important to have good English to go abroad to work or study, 36 percent think their English is poor, 49 percent think it's average, while only 15 percent think their English is excellent.

The most common reason for wanting to leave is life pressure at 57.5 percent, followed by the political environment at 51.9 percent, the economic downturn at 31.4 percent, and lack of job opportunities at 31.2 percent.

The article quotes social sciences lecturer Chan Wai-keung of Hong Kong Polytechnic University who says with property prices so high, it affects young people's thinking about their futures. 

They are willing to leave even if English is poor

If those with good jobs need to spend a good chunk of their salary on mortgages, then those with lesser prospects feel their chances of social mobility are very slim and would rather want to try their luck elsewhere. 

This has been a common refrain for decades, but with opportunities shrinking, young people feel that even if they did work to the bone, they still wouldn't be able to own a flat... so what's the point?

The issue is particularly acute in Hong Kong, but also in many other places around the world, including Vancouver.

So while these young people hope to get a new start elsewhere, they might be shocked to find out housing prices are out of reach globally...