I HAVE a certain amount of sympathy - but not much - with Mr D. Alexander (South China Morning Post, October 21), regarding his problems of finding a job in Hong Kong as a Westerner. I came to Hong Kong in 1981 with a background in low temperature high vacuum physics, and at that time finding a suitable job with my qualifications anywhere east of Suez was difficult. As a UK citizen Mr Alexander does not require a working permit to work in Hong Kong (unlike Hong Kong citizens who do require a working permit to work in the UK). If Mr Alexander is unable to find a suitable job it is therefore presumably only because his experience, qualifications, Chinese language skills and stability are not attractive to any local employers; or else he is expecting too high a salary. Hong Kong is under absolutely no obligation to provide jobs to any and everyone who chooses to come here to stay. Our job market is completely open and, by comparison with most other countries in the world, it is relatively free of sex or racial discrimination. However, it is a simple and obvious fact that the great majority of jobs require real experience of working in Hong Kong (visits to Hong Kong hardly qualify as working experience). Also nearly all positions also require Chinese language, just as most jobs in the UK require English. Mr Alexander says he is learning Mandarin at his own expense. This is commendable, but it hardly qualifies him any the better either for work in Hong Kong or China until he is totally fluent which, conservatively, will take him a lot longer than a few months. Even if a Westerner speaks and writes fluent Chinese there is still the question of how long he or she will stay here. Mr Alexander says that he only came to Hong Kong because his fiancee was posted here. Does that mean he will leave if his fiancee is posted elsewhere? If so, this fact alone would immediately rule him out for almost every managerial position he might otherwise be qualified for. If Westerners, or indeed nationals of any other country, want to work in Hong Kong there is a simple formula: plan to stay here long-term and ask only for a local salary package (that is, no housing and other expatriate benefits). If Mr Alexander cannot fulfil these two basic requirements I doubt if he will ever find a job. On the other hand, if Mr Alexander is willing to live and work in Hong Kong on local terms as do I and many other Westerners I know, it should be quite easy to point him in the right direction to find a suitable job. I invite Mr Alexander to contact me c/o GPO Box 217, Hong Kong if he would like some informal and friendly advice. PETER D. BENTLEY Mid-Levels
