Left behind: Hong Kong’s elderly face old age with less family support as children with BN(O) visas opt for new lives abroad
- Tears at Hong Kong airport as old folk bid farewell to Britain-bound children, grandchildren
- City’s social services may come under strain when elderly lose children’s help, experts warn
Saying goodbye to his only daughter at Hong Kong airport, 80-year-old James Leung* struggled to hold back his tears.
The former restaurant manager never expected his 39-year-old daughter to pack up and go to Britain for good, after spending her entire life with him and his wife in Hong Kong, where she was born.
He said he understood her reasons for leaving, pointing to fears that Hong Kong’s freedoms were being eroded since Beijing imposed the national security law on the city in June last year.
Leung said he and his wife had no intention of leaving the city he had called home for 70 years, since arriving as a child from the mainland, where he was born. For now, he added, their 41-year-old son was remaining in Hong Kong.
“For the young people, freedom is important. For us elderly folk, it is not as important,” he told the Post, while waiting by the British Airways check-in desk.
He said he was “heartbroken” to see the snaking queue of Hongkongers, many with young children in tow, leaving the airport’s departure hall to start their new lives in Britain.