Editorial | Hard work needed to restore confidence in Hong Kong

The government must do more to reassure youth about the future, or risk seeing even more leave the city for good

Reading Time:2 minutes

People walking cross the Wan Chai waterfront with the Central District area as background. Photo: SCMP / Robert Ng

Published: 12:46am, 9 May 2021Updated: 9:05am, 9 May 2021

Confidence in Hong Kong’s future has been shaken by a series of political and economic crises, so much so that more people are wondering whether they would be better off living elsewhere. Some have indeed left via different channels. Such a trend does not bode well for the city’s development and warrants closer government attention.

If the latest survey of the city’s youth is any reference, nearly 60 per cent of respondents wanted to leave if possible, up from almost half three years ago. They were also more negative about the city’s future, giving an average score of only 2.95 out of 10, down from 4.37 in 2018, according to Chinese University’s Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific.

The desire to work and live in Greater Bay Area cities on the mainland – a new national drive for greater economic development – also received a lukewarm response, with only 6.5 per cent of respondents saying their willingness to work in Hong Kong and the bay area was the same.

The circumstances and reasons for emigration vary across individuals and families. The changing political and economic situation in the wake of the social unrest and the Covid-19 epidemic have perhaps expedited decisions. The problem was flagged in another survey last month by the Federation of Youth Groups, in which a quarter of the city’s university-educated under-35s said they were planning to leave within the next five years.

How many will eventually do so remains to be seen. But a controversial visa scheme offered by Britain has already attracted tens of thousands of applications over the past few months. Among those who have signed up and left are young couples with children.