Young professionals are leaving Hong Kong in droves in search of better lives where family, friends, and fun comes first
City’s 20-somethings are turning their backs on what parents class as success to build lives that don’t revolve around the avaricious accumulation of wealth
Hongkonger Lau Yuet-tan, 26, chose Iceland, when she decided to emigrate two years ago.
She moved from the crowded streets, packed trains and tiny flats of city life to the Nordic island nation of glaciers, dramatic coastal landscapes and a population of a little more than 330,000.
“The whole environment here is almost opposite to that in Hong Kong,” says Lau, now 26 and working as a blogger in a travel company.
“Life in Iceland is certainly not as luxurious and eventful as it could be at home. And sometimes I do feel bored, but I’ve also learned to enjoy the simplicity here. In Iceland, no one will force you to do extra work, and my boss gives me freedom to practise different ways of doing my job.”
Lau is part of a trend of younger people choosing to move to places that were not popular destinations before.
A small but growing number of young adults are moving to Iceland, New Zealand and Taiwan. The number for Iceland is not available, but Lau estimates there are about a dozen Hongkongers living there. For New Zealand, the number of the city’s residents moving there saw a 67 per cent increase in 10 years, while Taiwan saw a 50 per cent increase in five years.