Hong Kong’s youth must be given reasons to stay
- The government should redouble its efforts to reach out and genuinely engage young people on the issues that will make a difference between them staying or starting a new life abroad
Young people in Hong Kong have always been eager to travel overseas and gain work experience abroad whenever possible before returning home to enrich our society.
It is therefore regrettable that the events of recent years – from the social unrest of 2019 and the current Covid-19 pandemic to the introduction of a national security law and a controversial plan to reform the electoral system – have prompted some talented youngsters, aged under 35, to leave the city for good.
And traditional destinations such as Britain, Canada and Australia are offering new pathways for them to do so.
That, unfortunately, is the conclusion to be drawn from the results of a recent poll of 1,135 graduate or postgraduate under-35s by Youth Ideas, a research centre under the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups. It may not be a crisis of confidence so much as a reflection of uncertainty amid political change.
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We did, after all, experience an exodus prior to the handover of sovereignty from British to Chinese rule in 1997, only to see people return when their fears for the future proved groundless. But, given that Hong Kong’s future as a so-called world city and financial hub weighs heavily on the shoulders of the younger, highly educated generation, surveys such as this one should not be ignored.
The survey found that 24.2 per cent of respondents had plans to work outside the city in the next five years, with Britain, Australia and New Zealand being the top destinations. The reasons were split fairly evenly between work-life balance, social and political stability and plans to emigrate anyway.
Asked what would persuade them to consider returning or not to leave, 41.6 per cent said attractive pay, 38.1 per cent said better protection of personal freedoms and 35.8 per cent said better career development opportunities.
It is not unusual for young people to dream of combining work with travel, or setting overseas experience as a career goal. Making a choice to go for good is another matter, even if it can be reversed later.
The survey results should prompt the government to redouble its efforts to reach out and genuinely engage young people on the issues that will make a difference between them staying or starting a new life abroad.
