With the economic downturn, bird flu, a less-than-successful $70 million bid to drum up voters for what many resent as a rigged election, and a leadership that appears absent and confused, the perception that things are bad and getting worse in Hong Kong all around easily takes root.
However, more objectively, the good news is that Hong Kong has weathered the Asian meltdown pretty well, so far.
People in Indonesia have lost 75 per cent of the value of their currency, and nearly two-thirds of their stock values. They face no growth and 20 per cent inflation. South Korea and Thailand are not much better off and every other country in the region, except China and Hong Kong, has also lost value in currencies and stock markets.
In comparison, Hong Kong has not suffered nearly as much. It expects three to four per cent growth, lower inflation, no loss of currency value. Relative to the region, Hong Kong people are richer than ever and should consider this a superb chance to get out into Southeast Asia and identify investment opportunities.
Hong Kong also has substantially corrected its property bubble, one of the main impediments to its growth and social stability. Furthermore, while most countries in the region had to cancel infrastructure projects wholesale, Hong Kong has not.
Indeed, the SAR could, if its Government had more initiative, speed up these vital projects, such as the transport net throughout Kowloon and the New Territories, and especially connecting links to Guangzhou, Zhuhai/Macau, and Shenzhen. Building a growth triangle throughout the Pearl River Delta and promoting easier and faster access to it, are the keys to a revived and dynamic economy.
