Reverse Brain Drain in Hong Kong ?
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International scientific migrations Reverse Brain Drain in Hong Kong? Wenhui Zhong Two important historic events have provided passionate reference points both for the Hong Kong residents who are immigrating and for whose who are returning from abroad. One was the Tiananmen Incident in June 1989, which ended with the bloody crushing of the student democracy movement. The other is the looming hand over of Hong Kong’s sovereignty from Britain to China on July 1, 1997. The professional class in Hong Kong -engineers, scientists, academics, lawyers, doctors, accountants and managers- have been under tremendous pressure to re-evaluate their loyalty to Hong Kong. Many have in fact voted on this matter with their feet. For those who have left Hong Kong in search of a better environment for career and family, adjusting to a new culture and coping with prolonged economic stagnation in the West has posed great challenges. By contrast, they saw that the economy in Hong Kong kept booming in spite of the political dark clouds hanging over the last days of this prosperous British colony. Thus the resulting reverse brain drain. From the late 1980s, immigration to countries such as Canada, the United States and Australia became commonplace. And it was the professional class that benefited most from the generous immigration policies of these countries that wanted to attract skilled and wealthy people to boost their economy. But into the mid-1990s, another trend was making itself increasingly apparent. Many of the Hong Kong immigrants, who had by now acquired a foreign passport as a kind of political insurance policy, were flocking back to Hong Kong for what they now saw as better career opportunities. They reasoned that should the situation in Hong Kong worsen to such an extent that they had to leave, they could always return to their adopted countries. As Hong Kong thrives on its well-developed commercial resources and infrastructure, which in turn are skillfully managed by highly professional and cosmopolitan people, stabilizing the phenomenon of brain drain vs. reverse brain drain seems to be a logical priority for the present and future Hong Kong governments. However, there has been little research that provides a basic insight into the composition, mentality and dynamics of this important segment of the Hong Kong population. This paper is an attempt to understand the Hong Kong returnees : their views on the future of Hong Kong, their career aspirations, their sense of belonging and their role in merging cultures east and west. Much of the data are based on my intensive interviews in December 1994 with Hong Kong professionals. These are supplemented by my continuing observation of Hong Kong affairs in the course of my radio production for the BBC World Service, which covers China and the Chinese people. The 1997 Factor In anticipation of the hand over of sovereignty back to China on July 1, 1997, many Hong Kong residents have considered immigration plans for themselves and their children. According to estimates by the Hong Kong government, there are about 450,000 foreign pas- 1 International scientific migrations Reverse brain drain in Hong Kong? sport holders among the 6.3 million people in Hong Kong. But other sources, such as newspa- per surveys, easily double that number to about 900,000. And these do not yet include holders of the British National (Overseas) passports offered by the UK to about three million Hong Kong residents as travel documents (but with no right of abode in the UK). The jittery menta- lity in Hong Kong was illustrated by the deadline of March 31, 1996 for submitting applica- tions for the BNO passports. For a long time, many believed that the BNO passport was worth little because it did not allow the holder to live in the UK. Thus they waited until the last two days of the deadline and then scrambled to get one. After all, having one more passport still gave you that much more sense of security, however limited it might be. But for those who have already solved the immigration problem -or some would even say, having served the immigration sentence (i.e., having met the residence requirements for acqui- ring a foreign passport), their major concerns are whether or not the 1997 hand over will be a deterrent to their future prosperity, should they decide to return to Hong Kong. I met in Hong Kong people from a cross-section of professions who had made the decision to return. They seemed cautiously optimistic about 1997. One reassuring element for returnees working in Hong Kong is that most companies they work for are multi-national conglomerates. As Dennis Chiu of the Star TV network said, because the company had many operations in different parts of the Asia Pacific region, he felt he would have many opportunities to thrive in the company. And Hong Kong was not the only place he saw for career development. Returnee lecturers in the seven universities told me that their cautious optimism rested on the belief that as long as they stayed away from politics they would be left alone. Though they expect some changes in high level positions, such as that of university president, they believed their expertise in teaching and academic research would be valued by the new government as important assets to keep Hong Kong competitive. Perhaps Fai Au Yeung of the J P Morgan Securities Asia Ltd. reflects the mentality of many returnees when he gave this reasoning for his plan for 1997. “ I think 1997 is a factor, but it’s not a big factor. If I didn’t have a British passport, I wouldn’t have stayed here. I would have joined thousands of others in finding ways to get a passport or to get some insurance, so to speak. But will I plan to stay in Hong Kong for long ? I really don’t know. But one thing I know for sure. And that is : I wouldn’t buy a house here even if I had the money, because I still have some concerns for the future...I don’t care where I live. What mat- ters to me is my job and career prospects. But of course, when you live in Hong Kong where you are among many friends, so much the better. I am still not planning to stay here for long. But who knows, perhaps after twenty years, I might still find myself here. ” Reasons for the Reverse Brain Drain The single most often cited reason for returning to Hong Kong after a period of immigrant life in the West is for a better job prospect. To start with, most of the people I spoke with had been selec- ted as immigrants under the “ points system ” by countries such as Canada, Australia and the USA, whereby candidates had to score enough points in areas such as job skills, language, and suitability to live in a foreign place. In other words, they are in a class of professional and skilled human resources that a modern, developed society values. In turn, this desirability by the indus- trialized world gives them the mobility to up-root from one place and settle down in another. 2 International scientific migrations Reverse brain drain in Hong Kong? Most immigrants left Hong Kong, during the late 1980s, a time that coincided with the econo- mic recession in most Western countries. It was therefore not surprising that most Hong Kong immigrants found it hard to get jobs suited to their experience and qualifications. And many had to switch to completely different jobs, accepting whatever was available. They said that this was the price they paid for their family and for the future of their children. Esther Chow in the new City University of Hong Kong was such an example. She qualified for immigration to Canada in 1987 but did not leave Hong Kong until 1989, because giving up her job as an executive officer at a health centre was too dear a price to pay. After settling down in Toronto, she was in fact lucky enough to find a similar job, counselling Chinese immigrants. Her husband worked in real estate. Both seemed to fit into the Canadian society quite well as both had spent years studying for degrees from a Canadian university. But as soon as they ful- filled the requirement for a Canadian passport, they returned to Hong Kong for better career prospects, reasoning that in Canada, they could see where their careers would lead in the next 10 years or even to retirement. But in Hong Kong, the potential for change and the pace of development would offer them huge opportunities. And it was this kind of excitement and work ethic in Hong Kong immigrants that seemed to make them feel uncomfortable about missing out on the economic change taking place there. Another reason often cited for returning to Hong Kong was related to the family. Even those who have lived in the West for a long time and feel well adjusted to the way of life there, had to consider how they should care for their elderly parents. Some have made arrangements for their parents to live with them but find that the elderly members of the family would rather live in Hong Kong in the familiar linguistic and cultural milieu. The strong sense of filial piety and family responsibility dictated that someone from the family, preferably the oldest daughter, should not be too far away. That sometimes meant they could live together in Hong Kong, which solved the expense and problem of finding another accommodation.