Owning a flat impossible for many people
I wish to add to Richard Diesel's response ('Cost of housing is outrageous', June 2) to the letter by Keith McNab ('Some homes are affordable', May 31) about property prices in Hong Kong being affordable.
Property in Hong Kong is not only expensive per unit area, it is unaffordable for the majority of people for whom Hong Kong is home.
May I remind Mr McNab that the median income in Hong Kong is around HK$10,000 a month and many people earn considerably less. The sum of HK$10,000 often represents household income. Factor in the lack of a pension, paid maternity leave, and inflation and for many families the need to support a sickly relative, and I have often heard it said that conditions are better across the border, where at least many people are entitled to a state pension upon retirement. Mr McNab's, and our government's, declaration that some housing can be had for as little as HK$2 million and is therefore affordable only highlights the divide in this society, which is not only economic and social, but increasingly philosophical.
How is an average family, say the family that sells vegetables in my local market, supposed to afford a home on an income of between HK$2,000 and HK$4,000 a month?
In Chinese tradition, when a man marries his wife the couple will either move in to his family's home or purchase a new home. I have spoken with fathers who feel ashamed that they can no longer afford either a place to accommodate their children's families nor buy a new home for their sons, and young men (and women) without hope of affording a place of their own.
Education is a way out, but as our universities seem more interested in international reputation and therefore are more keen to subsidise international students, local students are left with huge debts.