[Poll] Stay or Leave Hong Kong

[Beanieskis]

Thankfully, my husband and I are in the position where we can afford kids' education in HK. I did caveat the start of my post by saying you need to earn over a certain threshold here - and clearly that threshold is higher with a family.

With a family we still have to make a living, and the real alternative for us would be London. But London loses for all the reasons I listed above.

We live in Discovery Bay and we love it, I can't think of a better place to raise a family whilst still being able to give them the opportunities working in a financial centre enables, and such accessibility to the great outdoors.

[civil_servant]

I think this is the key point. For many people, (including us)- when your children are a bit older the downsides of living in a small city state like Hong Kong become far more apparent.

What are the downsides?

I have yet to come across any.

[civil_servant]

Original Post Deleted

Yeah yeah, we all know. Teenagers will love the fact that their parents left Hong Kong for small town UK.

[TheBrit]

What are the downsides?

The pollution is shit. Housing is shit. Musuems, arts and sports aren't a patch on London or New York. There are far less activities and new places to visit than living in a bigger country. Here we ski in the winter and scuba dive in the summer - all within an hours public transport. I personally think the lack of civility to others, money-worship and overt racism towards FDH's set terrible examples to children, but are widely ingrained in local culture.

There are plenty of upsides to living in Hong Kong but pretending there are no downsides is something only you could come up with.

[Elegiaque]

I think there is a huge "grass is greener" issue going on.

Firstly, if you have a huge amount of money and can afford not to work, or have a business that you can run from anywhere, then sure there are probably better places to live that have cheaper housing and less pollution.

However, if your career means you need to work in a major global financial centre, and you earn over the income threshold that makes you better off in HK, I really don't think there's a better place to be. Which other global financial centre would allow you to; pay very low tax and therefore save and invest a lot (assuming you're sensible and don't overpay on rent); live 10-30 mins from your office, and yet also be able to be outside hiking up a mountain, visiting great beaches or on the sea in under an hour;

I just want to point out a slight problem with that statement there.

It's true, if you're going to have a job that requires you to be in one of the major global financial cities, then, yes, Hong Kong is maybe one of the nicer places to go and no matter what it is good for a period of time. One of my main points was that I feel as an expat there is little else one can do, though, and when someone is ready to move on from that kind of job commitment, then it's equally time to move on from Hong Kong (unless you are either so well off or bought at the right time and own your own flat and don't need to pay a mortgage on it).

I really enjoy the unique juxtaposition of nature and city in Hong Kong, but after a few years, it's not as romantic as you paint it. There are only a certain number of hills we can go up on our doorstep -- granted that is amazing -- and we've done them dozens of times. Sometimes we think of going somewhere else for a change, like Plover Cove Country Park, and the commute there is actually around 1.5-2 hours one way. The beaches are enjoyable, but some seasons there is all kind of waste there you wouldn't want to go in it (and damn you HK government for not taking action on this!), and even getting to the closest ones we cringe to think about whether or not we might get stuck unable to get back due to queues (and in any case, we might be stuck standing on a bumping bus ride with carsick people).

As far as I'm concerned, the public transportation (MTR, buses) are just as crammed as the other major cities, albeit with famously cold AC. It's not my cup of tea -- I'd rather be able to commute by bicycle, getting exercise on the way. And let's not forget how dreadful Hong Kong people are at walking on pavements or idling Alphards to enhance the air quality for pedestrians.

[Elegiaque]

Yeah yeah, we all know. Teenagers will love the fact that their parents left Hong Kong for small town UK.

Definitely seen adults who grew up like this have good job opportunities because they are perfectly bilingual in British English and Cantonese/Mandarin, an advantage they have over me (in both senses ). But sure, they probably don't love their parents for it at the time.

[shri]

Yeah yeah, we all know. Teenagers will love the fact that their parents left Hong Kong for small town UK.

Yes. Every single expat who has left town with a teen in tow has gone to a small town in the UK and left them milking the cows while they go to the Ye Olde Pub...

F'wittery at its best.

[Mat]

Re Kids.Schools (international) are amazing here though (if you have the means). Very little bulliying, amazing facilties, great results etc (am talking at least the likes of German Swiss, FIS etc) - so it's hard to find better back home.The one thing for me that would make me move out is the mentality of many people here (lack of in my view, civility. and lack of, in my view, kindness in general towards minorities. I do not want my kid to grow up and think it's ok to berate a helper or maker her sleep in a cup board. of course we don't and we make sure he gets it but still at some point it might be enough to pack and go.On the other hand, I would never rank Singapore over HK. Singapore is fine but after a few years, if you are bored in HK, man you will be bored in Singapore big big time. Work wise I only see a few places:NYCLondonParisTokyoSydneyor in a different field and for a short term posting (2/3 years):ShanghaiHCMCBKKat least for the next few years

[East_coast]

What are the downsides?

I have yet to come across any.

It is expensive compared to your home country.

[Mat]

I will put it simply (I think but I might be wrong) and over generalize but:- you are single w decent job: HK is good- you are single in Finance/High end paid job: HK is fucking awesome- you are a couple no kids w good jobs; HK is great- you are a couple with kids and lot of $: HK is awesome- you are a couple with kids and decent income: HK is okayish but you do feel it could be better elsewhere- You are a couple with kids and making no so much: HK is really hard- You are not white: HK is okay as long as you are ABC, BBC, CBC, harder if you are indian, Pakistani, Thai, Vietnamese etc- You are with disabilities; HK is awful compare to a developed country- You are broke: HK is tough.