So half of our youth want to leave Hong Kong? We need to make sure they have reasons to stay
In the wake of a survey showing 57 per cent of young people under 30 would emigrate if they had the chance, it’s our duty to listen to their problems
My friend George helps people move their pets to their new homes when they emigrate. In the past year, his email inbox has been overflowing and his phones have been ringing non-stop. For every job he takes on, he has to turn down a couple of other requests.
His anecdotal account is borne out by a new survey by the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
An astonishing 40 per cent of Hong Kong people want to leave. Conducted last month, the survey polled 710 local residents aged 18 or older, with 38.9 per cent saying they would emigrate if they had the chance. But only 10.9 per cent of those who expressed this hope had made concrete plans to do so.
Younger people want to leave the most. Fifty-seven per cent of those aged 18 to 30 said they wanted to leave, compared with just 26 per cent of those aged 51 or above.
