Home Sweet Hong Kong

There has just gotta be something special about Hong Kong. Out of the 455 big cities in the world (with a population of more than one million), thousands of people have chosen our dear ol’ SAR as their new home. According to the latest figures, there are an estimated 4.38 immigrants to every 1,000 people in Hong Kong—a figure that is ahead of even the United States. So, why Hong Kong? What’s the big attraction? These are some of the questions we asked the following group of people. Maybe through their stories, some of the more cynical veteran Hongkongers can awaken in the Year of the Tiger and see Hong Kong through new eyes.

Chrissie Chau

Model. She moved from Chiu Chow in 1995.

I moved to Hong Kong when I was 10 to live with my parents and three brothers, who immigrated earlier.

”In China I did really well in school. But when I got here things were more difficult because I had never learned English before in my life.

Andrea Oschetti

Private chef. Originally from Milan, he moved from London to Hong Kong in late 2002.

My then girlfriend—now wife—and I were hoping to “see the world.” We wanted to move out of London and were considering about seven cities but we eventually chose Hong Kong because of job opportunities. It was exciting because Hong Kong had always been a bit alien to Europeans because of its diversity in culture.

We couldn’t have chosen a worse time—we arrived in December 2002 and a few months later there was the Sars outbreak. It was a difficult time but it brought out the best in Hong Kong people. I was really impressed by how everyone in this really diversified city got together to help each other out. But my mother was freaking out—she read in an Italian newspaper that Hong Kong was very unsafe and that it had turned into a ghost city. I immediately wrote to that newspaper to clarify things. That’s when I first felt like Hong Kong was my home. The Sars outbreak turned into a defining experience for me.

Being in a new city and culture, I was really interested in Hong Kong’s diversity so I actually enrolled in a masters degree course in anthropology at Chinese University to help me understand Asia better. Instead of finding things strange, which is what most newcomers do, I chose to study it so I could understand people’s behavior. In fact Italians and Hong Kong Chinese, although looking very different in appearance, are very much alike—we like our own cultures very much, we are family-oriented, and we make business deals over dining tables.