Kindergarten Numbers Continue to Fall in HK

Kindergarten schools are competing for fewer students

Kindergartens in Hong Kong and desperate for students, as the number of applications is one-third less than last year, due to emigration and the falling birth rate.

Parents need to submit a "Registration Certificate for Kindergarten Admission" in order to get government subsidies, and the number of applications for this designation has also fallen by more than 20 percent in five years according to official data.

Lam says the birth rate continues to fall

Nancy Lam Chui-ling, vice-chairwoman of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers and a kindergarten principal says the actual number of kindergarten students is actually even smaller.

"This is because parents will sign up for a few kindergartens to pick from, so the actual number of registrations will definitely be even lower than the number of offers we give out to the applicants," she said. 

"The number will keep falling as people emigrate and tend not to give birth. I do not think the emigration wave will stop."

For example, the number of births began dropping in 2017, from 56,500 to a record low of 32,500 in 2022.

In the first 10 months of last year, the number of registered births fell slightly from 27,823 to 27,293. The final figure will be revealed in February.

A few months ago the government announced it would offer a HK$20,000 bonus to eligible parents with newborns. The authorities project a 20 percent increased birthrate to around 39,000, but that's well short of the more than 50,000 recorded in 2020.

Many young families have emigrated overseas

Lam suggested kindergarten schools offer full-day classes, but are kids ready for that? For some just going to school is traumatic already... That said full-day classes would allow both parents to work.

Nevertheless, kindergartens are trying to entice parents to sign up with them by offering to teach their children other languages, such as Spanish, French and Japanese on top of English, Cantonese and Mandarin.

As if kids don't have enough to learn already!

Adapting Well in the UK, Thank You Very Much

The change of lifestyle is a welcome one for many HKers

Some pro-Beijing media are trying to find the narrative that Hongkongers who migrated to the UK have had a tough time surviving, with a recent survey that revealed 52 percent of the 2,000 BN(O) holders interviewed were unemployed and 47 percent worked in jobs that barely matched their work experience and skills.

But when other Hongkongers there were interviewed, many of them said that while they might be making less money, they are happier with their work-life balance, and their children are enjoying school.

Many were making less money that was exacerbated by inflation. One man named Jeffrey Lau said he and his family had a better lifestyle in Hong Kong as their double income allowed them to go out to eat more, but living in a small northern English town called Dewsbury meant his seven-year-old daughter had a less stressful education and didn't need to commute three hours to and from school.

He said less academic stress meant his daughter learned more in a year in the UK than in Hong Kong. Can you even put a price on that?

Another, 59-year-old Walter Cheung used to work in a high-end hotel in Hong Kong and in the UK was a food packer and then a restaurant waiter.

"I don't care [that it is a step backwards]. In Hong Kong, I would regularly work overtime, with no extra pay," he said. "Here, I'm asked if I want overtime, and I'm paid for it."

Cheung has even improved his health by losing 7kg. 

He was surprised by the survey as Cheung found there were lots of jobs available and the government assisted people to find work.

Meanwhile Paul Leung, a freelance delivery driver who used to have an office job, is adapting to his new life well. He is even making more money than he did in Hong Kong and spend more time with his wife and child.

"I need to look after my family, I need to accept this. It is not like I can starve to death," Leung said. "You have to adapt to people's culture when you go to another country. You also need to accept new things when you leave your own comfort zone."

Well said.

How about celebrating people's achievements instead of trying to find failures? That's the true Lion Rock spirit.

Hearing Chris Patten's Thoughts on HK

Patten (left) and Vines have a good chat over dim sum

Green Bean Media was started by former Hong Kong journalists who have migrated to the UK and want to keep reporting on news about their hometown.

They have followed people making the big move to the UK as well as developments in the 47 defendants charged in allegedly subverting the state for organising primaries, and Cantonese food.

Their latest video has garnered a lot of attention because it's an interview with Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong. One might assume members of Green Bean Media were terrified of interviewing him themselves so they rounded up fellow exile journalist Steve Vines to do it.

The video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoA8iMymy8c&t=561s

And they aptly arranged to have the video interview in a cha chaan teng in London. The small cafe pulled out all the stops, giving "Fat Pang" the opportunity to eat some HK-style food, including his favourite egg tarts.

Patten's book on HK

Personally doing food interviews, it seems rude to eat while someone is asking me questions, but Patten seems very happy to dig into the dishes even as Vines is asking him something! 

The 29-minute video focuses on Patten's thoughts about Hong Kong in his book called The Hong Kong Diaries, from his personal diaries he kept when he was governor from 1992 to 1997.

In it he says foreign secretary and ambassador to Beijing Percy Cradock believed Patten should not have caused so much trouble trying to fight for democracy for Hong Kong, that he should have just done his five years as governor and then left quietly.

"He wrote the Chinese leaders may be thuggish dictators, but they're men of their word," recalls Patten. "We know that they were thuggish dictators, but one thing we know for certain is that they weren't men of their word."

Patten remembers speaking to British and Hong Kong businessmen who believed the average person was not interested in democracy, only in making money, and yet these elites had foreign passports tucked in their back pockets. 

"It was always interesting when I looked at some of my critics just to think through what they would do if things went wrong," he says.

Cradock believed Chinese would keep their word

He adds some of them have since passed, but did not reveal any of their names in the interview, which he should have done for the record.

Meanwhile Vines shares a conversation he had with a friend back in Hong Kong, as they previously believed through crises like SARS and the economic downturn that the city would bounce back, but this time they didn't have this optimism anymore.

"I think the reason why he and you are more pessimistic now is what the Chinese Communist Party wants is Hong Kong without Hongkongers," Patten says. "Maybe you have a city but you don't have a thriving city, you don't have a city with any heart."

He talks about how young people from Hong Kong come up to him and ask if they should go back and Patten says he has no answer. While he has seen from history authoritarian states have disappeared at the snap of fingers, he doesn't know when that will happen in China. 

Vines mentions the BNO scheme, that has allowed over 140,000 Hongkongers to migrate to the UK with the possibility of settling there permanently.

Patten believes it is successful because people understand the plight of Hongkongers, and that they will be a boon to the UK economy.

Patten in Hong Kong on June 30, 1997 

The former governor cites the example of meeting one man in his late 20s who had just qualified to become a doctor and was on his way to a job interview with the local health authority in Oxford. 

"People from Hong Kong will make this a more successful country," he says. "They will be strong members of civil society."

He adds sardonically that perhaps the UK should thank the Chinese for giving them all these Hongkongers.

Vines' plight is also worth highlighting. He was a well known correspondent in Hong Kong, was the founding editor of the Eastern Express newspaper and Spike magazine, a commentator and interviewer on RTHK and author.

But after the national security law was implemented in July 2020, Vines began feeling the pressure of watching what he was saying and doing, even though he had written a book about the 2019 protests.

While he says in the video he found it unhealthy to be constantly watching his back, Vines did receive calls hinting it would be best if he left Hong Kong.

Within months he sold his food business and his flat in Sai Kung, packed up 34 years' worth of possessions and moved back to the UK in July 2021. 

Vines was well known commentator on RTHK

He is active in the Hong Kong community in the UK and says there isn't a day where he isn't talking to someone from the city or writing about it.

What comes through most in the interview is Patten's genuine love of Hong Kong and its people, and how he has carried the burden of wondering if he had done enough for them since 1997.

Which is why he is constantly advocating and doing whatever he can from his privileged perch, from writing to the Prime Minister about Jimmy Lai, to greeting migrants settling in their new home.

But once the interview is over, that good food can't go to waste, and Patten reaches over to pick up a slice of pork belly with his fingers.

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...

More HKers Leaving Continues for Third Year

Children under 10 have biggest drop, followed by those in 20s

In yet another sign that Hong Kong is seeing more people leave the city, its population has dropped for a third consecutive year, with a net outflow of 60,000 residents to 7.33 million in 2022.

According to official figures released on Thursday, the population dipped 0.9 percent from the year before, and births were a record low to 32,500. About 62,100 deaths were recorded in 2022, outweighing births by 29,600.

Send-offs all too common at the airport everyday

The net outflow of 60,000 residents as reported by the Census and Statistics Department indicates emigration from Hong Kong continues. This compares to 27,300 in 2021, when countries like the United Kingdom and Canada introduced dedicated pathways for Hongkongers.

The Hong Kong government would only say people left Hong Kong for various reasons including work, study and migration.

"The breakdown of figures is not available. Hong Kong residents travelling abroad are not required to declare to the government their purpose of travel. Therefore, the government does not have direct statistics on emigration of Hong Kong residents," the Census and Statistics Department said.

According to the UK Home Office earlier this month, 144,500 Hongkongers have successfully applied for British National (Overseas) visas to settle in the UK since the scheme's launch in 2021.

Countries like the UK welcome Hongkongers

Canada has seen nearly 17,400 get work permits or extensions since the start of the scheme since February 2021 until October 2022.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has launched a global campaign to attract top talent to Hong Kong, with a special visa for those who earn HK$2.5 million or more annually and graduates from the world's top 100 universities with relevant experience. So far 10,810 applications were received nearly two months after the launch.

It's elitist to think Hong Kong only needs these top tier talent -- it also needs the general workforce too... even if you attract top CEOs and such, who's going to executive their brilliant plans?

Canada Opening Arms Wider

Canada becoming the favoured destination over the UK

Canada is becoming more enticing for Hongkongers now that it has extended the special work permit that can fast track them to permanent residency that was supposed to expire on February 7 by two years.

Those who graduate from eligible post-secondary educational institutions in the past 10 years -- previously it was five -- will be able to get a three-year open work permit that will allow them to apply for permanent residency.

Fraser welcomes more people from Hong Kong

"Expanding the open work permit program from my perspective is a win-win, as it gives Hong Kong residents more opportunity to gain work experience here in Canada, but it also allows us to support the Canadian economy by bringing workers at a time when they're needed most," said Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship on Monday.

The open work permit allows eligible graduates to apply without securing a job first, and spouses and dependents of permit holders can also move to Canada.

Thos with an open work permit must work full-time for at least a year, or accumulate 1,560 hours of employment to qualify for permanent residency.

The scheme, which was introduced in 2021 was extended until February 2025.

Since the launch of the scheme until October last year, nearly 17,400 open work permits or extensions were issued to Hongkongers.

Vast majority are young people in their 20s

Young people were the majority, with 72 percent in their 20s, 20 percent in their 30s, and 6 percent in their 40s. Only 1 percent are over 50 or under 20.

So the steady stream of Hongkongers fleeing further repression and gaslighting may increase in the coming months and years as Canada welcomes these people with open arms.

Emigration is "Inappropriate"

Huang says there are no stats on HK people moving abroad

In the past year, 113,000 people have left Hong Kong, either because of the never-ending pandemic restrictions, or because of the increasingly repressive environment, but Beijing refuses to acknowledge this drop in the population.

On Tuesday Huang Liuquan, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office instead said it was a number of factors which caused the decline.

"Hong Kong's population drop is caused by various factors and there is no way to suggest that it is a result of an emigration wave," he said, adding there were no official figures by the Census and Statistics Department showing the number of residents who have moved abroad.

113,000 people left Hong Kong in the past year

He also quoted a local government official who said Hong Kong was an international city and that the population was "highly mobile".

"From the population data announced by the city government and its spokesman's explanation, it is inappropriate to describe it as a wave of emigration that has emerged in Hong Kong," Huang said.

Then how do you explain the population drop to 7.29 million, down 1.6 percent from a year earlier, and the biggest drop since records began in 1961?

In addition, the labour force decreased to 3.75 million in June, the lowest figure in nearly a decade, and a 3.49 percent decline from the same period last year.

Huang can spin it all he wants, but it is clear to not only Hongkongers, but also to the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and Canada that they have left for a better life. Why else have young families sacrificed good jobs for their children's education, while young graduates and professionals see no future in Hong Kong?

But the more Huang and other Chinese officials say it, they hope their mantra will become fact.

However numbers do not lie... 

Canada Second Most Desirable for Study for Hongkongers

After the UK, Canada more popular for higher education

Canada has beat the United States and Australia to become the second most popular destination for higher education after the United Kingdom.

Previously it was the UK followed by Australia, the US and then Canada.

But after the Canadian government last year announced new ways for Hongkongers to emigrate in Canada, 6,365 Hong Kong residents were granted student visas, just behind the 6,511 student visas issued by Britain.

Hongkongers looking for ways to leave the city

Canada used to be the least popular of the four countries for Hongkongers to study abroad. Only about 2,500 were granted Canadian student visas each year, from 2018 to 2020, making up about one-fifth of the total student visas issued by the four countries.

Australia was popular because geographically it was closer, and the United States for its quality education, but perhaps the racial attacks against Asians and the rise in gun violence may have played a role as well. 

This latest news will be a boon for the Canadian education sector from kindergarten to post secondary, as being a student who graduates in the last three years can be granted permanent residency; they can also gain residency after graduating from post-secondary school in Canada or abroad, and has one year's work experience in Canada.

Interest in these two new pathways grew as a result. Last year, nearly 2,300 Hong Kong residents gained permanent residency, a newly 50 percent increase compared with the pre-pandemic total of just over 1,500 permanent resident landings in 2019.

Growing interest in HKers to come to Canada

In addition, in 2021, 10,143 Hongkongers and those holding BNO passports obtained a Canadian work permit. This compares to only 931 people who got work permits in 2019.

It's good to see the Canadian government stepping up and offering opportunities for young Hongkongers -- and middle-aged ones too -- who need a fresh start and a good education to move ahead in their careers as they settle down in their new home.