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Bhavan Jaipragas

Are you “a stayer or a quitter”?
For Singaporeans – and indeed for many Hongkongers who keep an eye on developments in the city state – this question surely must ring a bell.
It harks back to 2002, when Singapore’s prime minister at the time, Goh Chok Tong, criticised younger citizens for leaving the country when the going got tough.
“Look yourself in the mirror and ask: ‘Am I a stayer or a quitter? Am I a fair-weather Singaporean or an all-weather Singaporean?’,” Goh said.
Exit rate for Hong Kong expats fast outpacing number of foreigners moving in
Expectedly, his remarks caused many citizens to recoil. He later said: “If you stand up for Singapore, no matter where you are, you are not a quitter”.
The mini-controversy came to mind recently amid discussions surrounding the exodus of expatriates in Hong Kong.
The leavers, who are primarily from the West based on anecdotes, have left the city having grown jaded by its recent political turmoil and the authorities’ unflinching stance on maintaining a “dynamic zero-Covid” policy.
Many are said to have made Singapore their new home. A senior official there this week said the island state had benefited from talent movement amid a “flight to quality”.

The pessimism about Hong Kong can’t be said to be pervasive.
As a colleague reported last weekend, many Asian residents remain hopeful about the city’s prospects.
On the balance, I would say that I, too, believe there is hope for a better age in this city.
As the new administration readies itself for the task of forging a “new chapter” that guides the city from stability to prosperity, I hope there is eminent focus on keeping the city inclusive, not just for its native-born residents, but for all “stayers”, too.
That means taking concrete steps, not mere platitudes, to address discrimination based on ethnicity, sexuality and income strata.

This city’s army of gig workers, many of whom are of South Asian descent, urgently need better welfare and job protection.
There is also far more that the government can do for migrant domestic workers, without whom so many Hong Kong households would be rudderless.
As Manisha Wijesinghe of the NGO Help for Domestic Workers wrote recently, it is no longer enough to see migrant workers as an afterthought in Hong Kong’s future. They must be given the same consideration as any other community.
Hong Kong’s transition to a new chapter is an opportunity to make the city a better home for all who have stayed, not just a few – and hopefully, that will go some way in rebuilding its reputation as a world city.


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Hong Kong must improve its diversity as it ushers in a new chapter

People wave Chinese and Hong Kong flags to mark the 25th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China on June 28, 2022. Photo: AFP 

Expat families depart Hong Kong’s international airport. File photo: AFP

A domestic worker crosses the road with an elderly woman in Sai Ying Pun. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong’s Asian expats still see city as a ‘land of opportunities’

A view of Hong Kong’s skyline from Victoria Peak. Photo: Sun Yeung

Gary Lim Boon Yew. Photo: Handout

Police officers patrol in the Lan Kwai Fong nightlife area of Hong Kong earlier this month to check bar patrons have proof of a negative Covid-19 test. Photo: Bloomberg

Alfian Michael Sharifuddin. Photo: Handout

Achareeyah Parkmaruk. Photo: Handout

Protesters throw petrol bombs at police and towards the government’s headquarters during 2019’s unrest. Photo: Lam Chun Tung/ Initium Media

Lawrence Liu Meng Fah. Photo: Handout

Will Hong Kong join Singapore, Malaysia in ditching foreign judges after British law lords’ exit?

Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal building. Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Robert Reed, president of Britain’s Supreme Court, resigned from Hong Kong’s apex court last month. Photo: AFP

Andrew Li Kwok-nang, former chief justice of Hong Kong, pictured in 2017. Photo: Nora Tam

Workers’ Party chief Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, left, leaving court in Singapore with his legal counsel after being sued for libel in 1998. Photo: Reuters

An aerial view of Grand Cayman island in the Caribbean. To this day, British overseas territories such as the Cayman Islands maintain appeals to the Privy Council. Photo: Shutterstock

Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal building in Central. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Are Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong expats still living the dream? Burnout, stress and loneliness rife since Covid-19, survey finds

A woman looks at a closed public beach in Singapore in April 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: Reuters

A Singapore food court in April, amid an easing of Covid-19 restrictions. Photo: Bloomberg

This Week in Asia

Opinion


Hong Kong’s transition to a new chapter is an opportunity to make the city a better home for all who have stayed, not just a few
Hopefully, that will go some way in rebuilding its reputation as a world city



Hong Kong’s transition to a new chapter is an opportunity to make the city a better home for all who have stayed.


Hong Kong expats

Singapore

Racism and other prejudice

Foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong

Human rights

Diversity and inclusion

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)
