Hong Kong is in crisis. Where are the billionaires who have profited so handsomely in the good times?

At first impression, it seems the Covid-19 pandemic has become the great leveller. No matter how wealthy we are, how fancy our homes, whether we are bank executives or domestic helpers, we’re all self-isolating, feeling threatened by the coronavirus.

But isolation is only a commonality. Behind the perceived levelling has been the crash of equity markets. How that has affected the wealth of Hong Kong’s billionaires isn’t yet clear; as of last July, according to the global real estate firm Savills, the city had 79 of them, second in the world only to New York, which had 85.

Despite the crisis and the related economic downturn, which has cut across almost all sectors, the silence of Hong Kong’s tycoons has been deafening. Only the second richest, Li Ka-shing, has publicly shown his philanthropic side, with his donation last month of 250,000 face masks to the needy, as well as protective clothing and respirators to public hospitals.

That is despite the outbreak worsening Hong Kong’s recession, hitting vital economic sectors and leaving many jobless or with their incomes slashed. Those suffering the most are the poorest in society, the ones who have the least job security and are struggling to get by day to day.

The people who don’t enjoy the luxury of working from home include delivery drivers, market vendors, cleaners, hotel, restaurant and bar staff, who all essentially work on the front line and are therefore the most vulnerable. They cannot afford to get sick.