Singapore schools offer ‘safety and security’ for families leaving Hong Kong protests behind

At Singapore’s ISS, inquiries from Hong Kong parents have increased 60 per cent from previous years. And it’s not alone

Hong Kong’s ongoing unrest is one reason but parents are also attracted to Singapore’s bilingual system and highly rated universities

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Inquiries to Singaporean schools from Hong Kong families have increased in recent months. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:00pm, 14 Jan 2020Updated: 10:55am, 22 Jan 2020

When Singapore’s ISS International School held a community event last month, a concerned Hong Kong family approached the school’s admissions department. They wanted to discuss the growing network of Hong Kong-based parents considering sending their children to study in Singapore.

“They wanted to assist their colleagues and friends in Hong Kong to be able to admit their children should they feel … relocating out of Hong Kong to Singapore developed from a conversation into a reality,” said Paul Adamberry, director of marketing communications and admissions, adding that inquiries from Hong Kong parents have increased 60 per cent from previous years.

The international school is not alone. More than seven international schools and relocation consultants reported a steady surge in inquiries since anti-government protests broke out in Hong Kong last June.

Singapore’s schools are not the only sector reporting increased interest from Hong Kong: there has also been an increased interest from wealthy families who want to shift assets from Hong Kong to Singapore and asset managers looking to open offices in the city state, according to a Bloomberg report.

“We have not seen a sudden surge of interest of this nature from one particular city except during the global financial crisis,” said Tan Woon Hum, a lawyer who heads his firm’s specialised funds management practice in Singapore.