Carrie Lam’s government must help Hong Kong’s angry millennials dare to hope

Bernard Chan says Hong Kong is not alone in being home to resentful youth who feel dispossessed by an unfair system, and the fate of the community as a whole depends on helping them to believe in the future

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Chinese University of Hong Kong students hold up symbolic yellow umbrellas at their graduation ceremony, at the height of the Occupy movement, in November 2014. Photo: May Tse

Published: 11:41am, 6 Jul 2017Updated: 7:33pm, 6 Jul 2017

During his visit to Hong Kong last week, President Xi Jinping ( 習近平 ) addressed an audience of political and business leaders. He set them four tasks: support the new government, create unity, care for the youth and build cooperation with the mainland.

The fact that he specifically mentioned the young is important. Hong Kong has serious divisions, but I believe the greatest threat to our cohesion may be an increasingly resentful and even angry younger generation. This could be the greatest challenge facing new Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.

Hong Kong is not alone in having a discontented younger population. In the lead-up to the UK general election, an incredible 70 per cent of under-25 voters reported supporting the opposition Labour Party. This was a bigger split than that between rich and poor, or pro- or anti-Brexit camps. One notable thing was that Labour actually focused more on attracting elderly voters.

Elderly pro-Beijing demonstrators are among those protesting against localist lawmaker Cheng Chung-tai at the Eastern Law Courts Building on April 18. Cheng was charged earlier in the month with desecrating the national and Hong Kong flags at the Legislative Council in October. Photo: Edward Wong

Hongkongers’ sense of Chinese national pride and opinion on Beijing policy at an all time low

US surveys show some 55 per cent of millennials, basically the under-35s , are pro-Democrat, compared with only 33 per cent who say they are pro-Republican. In both the US and UK, the over-50s lean far more to the right. Some analysts believe that relatively radical candidates like Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn or the Democratic Party’s Bernie Sanders could have won their countries’ recent elections – if their own parties had focused more on younger voters.

The reasons for radicalism among the young should sound familiar to anyone concerned with the generational divide in Hong Kong

Commentators looking at the West come up with some consistent reasons for this radicalism among the young. These reasons should sound familiar to anyone concerned with the generational divide in Hong Kong.

Globalisation and technology have boosted growth, but unequally. While some groups have enjoyed rising incomes, median pay levels have stagnated. Something similar has happened with economic opportunities for the less skilled, and even for new graduates. The financial crisis of 2008 added to this. Low interest rates have increased asset prices, largely benefiting older people who own homes and financial assets. Governments have had to slash spending, but politicians have tended to put older constituents first. Younger people see housing prices out of reach. At the same time, they face rising education costs (student loans and tuition fees were key reasons for Corbyn’s and Sanders’ appeal to the young).

Hongkongers’ post-1997 identity crisis at the heart of youthful mistrust of government

As in the West, Hong Kong politicians and officials have focused on the needs of the poor, the elderly and other deprived groups. This makes sense in terms of social welfare. The young missed the relative hardships (and rapid growth) of the 1950s to 1980s. They are far better educated than previous generations, and enjoy better material comforts. A recent report showed 80 per cent of Hong Kong’s millennials have begun retirement planning and investing.

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