Hong Kong’s leaders should tell its youth that the future lies in embracing the mainland

There is a youth dimension to every major policy issue dogging the government, be it land, housing, education, the economy, development and, most sensitive, Hongkongers’ relationship with mainland China.

Granted, not all young people are as disgruntled as those who caused havoc on the streets during Occupy Central or the 2016 Mong Kok riot. A minority with the benefit of a superior education have no problem in the globalised workplace. The same cannot be said of those from average or lower-income backgrounds. Other than top graduates from business, finance, medical and law schools, most fresh graduates make between HK$14,000 and HK$15,000 per month, not much higher than starting wages for graduates 20 years ago.

Young people cannot ask themselves, “Are you better off than you were 20 years ago?” But they know their parents had it better, 20 years ago, than they do today. Their parents either moved into secure, subsidised public housing or, after working 20 years, bought decent middle-class homes today’s average youth cannot dream of owning even after working their hearts out for more than 50 years. That’s partly why some have become nostalgic for the colonial days, while others toy with relocating to Taiwan.

Not surprisingly, in the wake of the influx of nouveau riche mainland Chinese visitors, a few, including some candidates in the current Legislative Council by-elections, have started to consider mainlanders “locusts” depleting Hongkongers’ resources.

These are not problems piecemeal palliatives from the government can solve. The fact is the world has changed radically since the baby boomers managed to build a fortune through “blood, toil, tears and sweat”. In today’s winner-take-all economy, those with capital, knowledge or technology win big, while those without remain stuck at the bottom, with little hope of a bigger piece of the pie.