Report by : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA
Under the threat of Hong Kong National Security Law, foreign expatriates have left Hong Kong for Singapore. Those who have not done so are considering relocation to Singapore.
In recent months, foreigners and their families working in Hong Kong have accelerated their pace of leaving Hong Kong. The person in charge of administrative recruitment said that the Hong Kong version of the National Security Law recently implemented by the Chinese Communist government in Hong Kong has made it more difficult for them to persuade Western job seekers to move to Hong Kong to work because people are unwilling to move to a turbulent city.
Some international schools in Hong Kong also expect to experience a decline in enrollment in the upcoming school year, because fewer families have moved to Hong Kong compared to families who have left.
The Milliken family went to Canada for vacation at the beginning of this year and then decided not to return to their home where they had lived for six years.
She said, "I am a lawyer who has been educated in constitutional power. I do not agree with the provisions of the National Security Law."
She believes that "life in Hong Kong will become very different."
From January to June this year, the number of professional work visas issued by Hong Kong's immigration department decreased by more than 60% to 7,717, while the number of visas for the same period in 2019 was 19,756, which may also be due to the pandemic.
Even before Hong Kong's recent turmoil, some Western banks and companies have already deployed some global executives to Singapore.
A Deutsche Bank AG spokesperson said that Deutsche Bank’s new Asia-Pacific chief executive was recently transferred from Frankfurt to Singapore. Credit Suisse Group AG and UBS Group AG currently have senior managers in Asia based in Singapore.
John, a 49-year-old Canadian citizen, moved to Hong Kong from New York in 2016 to work in a Hong Kong investment company.
John said that he plans to move to Singapore or North America with his wife and 1-year-old son before September. The violent clashes between Hong Kong protesters and the police in 2019, some of which occurred near their apartment, prompted him to make this decision.
He said, "Petrol bombs, tear gas, violence, this environment is not suitable for raising children."
He said that the "National Security Law" promulgated this summer was the last straw to break him. He worried that this law would hinder analysts' research and increase the Chinese Communist government's review of Hong Kong's locally managed funds.
He said that the Hong Kong National Security Law has attracted a lot of attention in the financial world. The terms used in it, such as subversion, secession and terrorism, have very broad meanings and can refer to many things. "If people start to worry about what they have written, what has been said will be very unfavorable for Hong Kong."
Jon Pratt has worked for several multinational banks in Hong Kong for nearly 15 years.
He said that when communicating with mainland Chinese customers, he must speak carefully. "The idea of speaking freely in Hong Kong is likely to change, and this change will come soon."
Bei, who has been engaged in financial recruitment for 19 years, said, "It is clear that after the introduction of the Security Law, foreign professionals are reconsidering the possibility of living in Hong Kong for a long time."
She said some customers even left Hong Kong before their company made such a decision.
In a July survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, more than half of the 183 members who responded were considering leaving the city because of the new national security law.
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