k_hongkong
This bpost lists some some advantages of Sgp over HK
— adv: public housing
— adv: language .. Most HK workplaces seldom speak English or Mandarin. Singapore public schools have emphasized English more than mother tongue
— adv: MNC and biz environment .. Singapore has been successful in attracting MNCs, since its founding.
My friend V.Wong told me internet giants avoid HK because lack of data privacy protection. As to financial industry, Wong said MNCs worry about having their assets locked up in HK due to capital control policies from central government. I concluded that 一国两制 is losing credibility.
PWM industry .. Singapore attracts many overseas customers, but HK may appear to be less reliable due to China’s capital control.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/22/singapore-is-now-the-worlds-freest-economy-displacing-hong-kong.html — New regulatory barriers to entry, increasing cost of business, and limits on employing foreign labor dented Hong Kong’s ranking, the report stated. These repressions, combined with the government’s efforts to control the private sector, inevitably led to diminished economic freedom. Hong Kong’s prosperity will likely suffer as a result
— adv: talent pool compared to SG .. LKY said competition among cities is a competition for a scared resource — talent. I think that competition is more important than capital.
I feel the talent pool in HK or in SG is insufficient (same as Finland, New Zealand,,,). For decades, international talent, esp. those without kids, from Europe, India, Korea/Japan, SEAsia etc tend to favor HK over Sg, but now Sg is gaining mind share even among the younger expatriots, partly because of English, housing, government stance on non-Chinese immigrants (HK favors mainland Chinese among immigrants.)
I guess many of these foreign talents can hope for PR in Sg but not keen about HK immigration, which is designed to favor Chinese applicants.
Brain drain .. My friend V.Wong said 300,000 elite hongkoners emmigrated during covid and most would not return. He confirmed my “elite” assumption. He said most in his personal circle have left HK if they could. I said there must some elite Hongkoners who stick around. Wong said yes if they have kids, or have a large family.
I said that Singapore attracts not only Caucacians, but also East Asian and Indian talents.
— adv: calibre of gov leaders (无能). Wong confirmed that the top students in his uni went overseas or become entrepreneus and only the lowest students went to public sector. See more comments below
— My HK friend said “HK is a sad story”… Here’s my response
Since independence, SG has always had a proven team of leaders (not just the prime minister). LKY is not perfect but nevertheless the gold standard (so I won’t discuss him further). His team set the ground rules (too many to enumerate) for future leaders.
Every national leadership of a small country or city-state (HK, SG, Taiwan, NewZealand, Isreal..) must “find their way” through this unprecedented crisis — 摸着石头过河. Until the end of 2021, HK looked like a qualified success story in terms of death toll etc. I didn’t think it was a sad story.
I think HK will bounce back. It has strengths and strategic advantages. My father pointed out decades ago that HK would be eventually eclipsed by Shanghai, because the central government probably needs to have multiple gateways in multiple locations. 长三角 is a bigger economic heavyweight than 珠三角 GreaterBayArea. Overall, not a sad story, even though my dad used the phrase “inevitable decline of HK”.
I feel 50 years from now (my lifespan) when we look back, the more permanent “damage” to HK’s international reputation, attractiveness, competitiveness … is not covid, but 2020 national security law and other political transformations.
I don’t read Chinese-language news about Hongkong. I think they tend to be biased in favor of XJP and China. In contrast, I think international journalists are _slightly_ less biased[1]. In recent years, however, they seldom have anything positive to say about HK. (More importantly, you also couldn’t name any note-worthy improvement in HK over the recent years. )
[1] I agree that news about HK is biased (to the same extent as China’s state news coverage) when produced by Brithsh/Australian/American/Canadian news agencies. However, majority of native English-speaking writers are not affiiliated with these news agencies. Furthermore, many of the English-language news about HK are not written by American or British writers, but some mainland Chinese, even if living overseas, seem to assume only American/British writers could publish in English. Beyong HK news, I read lots of English publications written by Indians, Europeans, Africans, Filipinos (among other SEAsians), and overseas Chinese (including Singaporeans, Malaysians) writers.
You described hongkong government leaders as 无能. I found the analysis very relevant: https://www.scmp.com/comment/
It is clear that an immense talent deficit has contributed to the government’s shambolic performance. Hong Kong’s best and brightest go into business, finance, law, and medicine, not public service…
That may be more a feature than a bug. Our not-very-bright-bureaucrat-as-leader class are too unsophisticated to invoke the stylish token measures… We are left with a tiny public sector, low taxation, and light-touch regulation. That means the government mishandles complex challenges like Covid-19, but in normal times our low state capacity curtails public-sector overreach, thereby safeguarding free markets and increasing long-term prosperity.
In short, Hong Kong probably achieves a long-term net benefit by virtue of the mediocre leadership that precipitated this crisis.