I refer to recent suggestions that Hongkongers who obtain British nationality through the BN(O) immigration scheme should be deprived of their Chinese nationality , and Hong Kong residency and voting rights . Under the current guidelines, a person applying for the British National (Overseas) visa can bring their dependants and they can apply to acquire British citizenship after the stipulated 5+1 years. There is a list of approved dependants, such as a spouse or partner, and dependent family members. The problem is, children under the age of 18 have no real choice in this. Their parents are arranging for them to become British nationals. It would be unfair to deprive them of their Chinese nationality – which in effect punishes them for their parents’ decisions. Way before the introduction of this BN(O) scheme , I frequently heard stories from fellow parents about how students studying abroad missed Hong Kong so much; how they liked Hong Kong culture more; or even how they disliked the countries they were studying in. Those students were pushed by their parents to study abroad. Living abroad changed neither their feelings for nor loyalty to Hong Kong. In fact, many outstanding Hong Kong civil servants went abroad for secondary and tertiary education, some also perhaps compelled by their parents. Beijing and Hong Kong politicians should, therefore, make the distinction between those who voluntarily become British citizens as legal adults and those who do not. Ken K.K. Fu, Sham Tseng How will the elite survive without help? Hundreds of thousands of Hongkongers could move to Britain, according to Albert Cheng (“ Stripping BN(O) passport holders of Hong Kong residency could spark chaos ”, January 22). After having observed the Hong Kong elite for 15 years, I really wonder how they are going to survive without their “servants”. Who is going to clean, shop, cook, babysit, walk and dress and carry the dog (or push it in a stroller), dress and carry the kids, pack and carry the schoolbags, drive the kids to school and take them to after-school activities carrying all their equipment, wash the car on a daily basis, change a light bulb, or carry their (golf) bags? Josephine Bersee, Wassenar, the Netherlands
