Yet another Talent Scheme

[ste]

It's been officially launched:

http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/QMAS.htm

[kombuchakid]

a different point of view

I wonder what would happen if the Government department that stamps passports was asked to decide what sort of newcomers would make the best contribution to Hong Kong’s long-term development. An absurd idea! In real life, such decisions are made by informed policymakers. They look around at the history of immigrant-driven communities like the USA, Canada, Australia and, indeed, the Big Lychee itself. They conclude that what you need are young, energetic, adventurous, bright, entrepreneurial and creative huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

Up to 1980, any hungry Mainlander with the audacity and wits to sneak across the heavily patrolled border and make it south of Boundary Street got an ID card – the rest were kicked back to China. Thus the Big Lychee secured the crème de la crème of semi-skilled labour to power its rise as an industrial centre. Today, the knowledge-based economy needs a different sort of work force, which is why most developed countries have some sort of points-based system to attract quotas of people likely to create wealth, jobs and tax revenues.

Hong Kong’s first post-1997 attempt at this missed the point entirely. Dubbed the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, the deal was – buy a luxury apartment and we’ll give you residency. It reflected Tung Chee-hwa’s deranged beliefs that Hong Kong was short of money and high property or asset prices were the cause of economic strength. The typical migrant was probably an octogenarian Indonesian Chinese looking for somewhere to park ill-gotten loot.

This is the Tung Scheme Mark 2. Instead of the already-rich, we are targeting the already-successful. But what Hong Kong needs is tomorrow’s winners. Line them up at the airport for a literacy test, check their teeth and let them in. Young people who are smart and ambitious rather than over-educated. Ready to take risks. A little bit desperate, perhaps. People who are single, in their 20s, not encumbered with family. People from dumps – Filipinos, Indians, Mainlanders – who want to get somewhere. People who can run rings around our home-grown dullards in spiky ginger hair who listen to Cantopop, stare at Hello Kitty mobile phones, read comic books and end up as real estate agents. But of course we can’t have that. It might upset them and our labour activists. Hong Kong – once a magnet for the tired, the poor, the homeless, the tempest-tost – is now the land of ‘various sectors’ petrified of having to compete with the world.


from Hemlock

[kostas]

I couldn't stop laughing when I was reading it yesterday

[KnowItAll]

Ah .. Hemlock has a way with words.

[Asian1]

Since I haven't won a Nobel Prize (yet), I chose the general test and scored a 95? Any idea what the min pass park is? As far as proficiency in language I can argue with anyone in Canto and talk fluently but cant write it. That is a booster and seems like a stretch is HK is to be a world city!

[ste]

The minimum score is reported here:

http://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/QMAS_16m.htm

For language proficiency, the proof or tests required are explained in points 41 to 44 of this document:

http://www.immd.gov.hk/pdforms/id(e)982.pdf

Also, in case you gave yourself points for work experience, the criteria for a senior role are explained in point 36 of the very same document.

Good luck!

[Asian1]

I think I'm OK with the senior and technical exptise as far as work experience but the level of detail they are asking for is kind of a joke. Organization charts and reference letters on company letter head for companies worked at years ago!

Do you know if 80 is the prevailing pass mark for apps already submitted or they just initially set it at 80 and will adjust based on apps they get? Just curious, how it was set at 80 if the program was rolled out only a few days ago.

[ste]

I don't think they got any applications as yet since they launched the program only a few days ago. No idea how they set the minimum score to 80....

I'm in the same position as you: I worked for 5 companies and lived in 3 countries, plus I am not a native English speaker... it's a nightmare to get all the papers to prove what they demand. And since I only scored 80-90 (not really sure, depending on how they consider my degree) I fear it would be a very painful exercise for nothing.

Anyway, best of luck, let me know how it goes.

Stefi

[bugs585]

I have a question for the scheme..
say like if we really can get visa from the scheme to stay in hk..
do we still have to apply for work visa once we get a job in hk?
thanks..

[Asian1]

in your case you need to provide TOEFL scores to prove your compentancy. My native language is English but I'm also bi-lingual (almost tri-lingual) except I dont write Canto nor Mandarin therefore would fail any written Chinese tests. I think what they are asking for is onerous but I also have no idea what type of people apply. Looks like they are looking for someone like Bill Gates or a Nobel Prize to apply but I dont think they will get any.