Hong Kong is a prestigious world-leading city. When I was young, I used to be proud that I was a Hongkonger. Yet, my views change as days pass by. Look at the skyscrapers that are obscured by the mist; see how people treat their families and the elderly; imagine how ‘comfortable’ it is living in a spot packed with six millions people. Is Hong Kong still that glamorous and advanced as it appears to be?
You can never taste the sweetness of air in Hong Kong. With the crowded flyovers and racing cars, the air is full of black and solid pollutants. You’d better clear your nostrils after hanging around in Mong Kok. Visitors from foreign countries say that they are frustrated by the air quality because the air is so hot and stuffy like glue. Also, taking in the polluted air every day poses danger to our health as it is likely to cause respiratory diseases, for instance, lung cancer. Hong Kong is indeed notorious of its polluted and overcrowded living environment.
Not only has the quality of life become worse in Hong Kong, the overall standards in many areas have dropped when it comes to respect of the elderly and the youngsters; capability of facing adversity. The elderly abuse is prevailing as it is not uncommon for the elderly aged around seventy to work for more than twelve hours to make their ends meet. Quite a number of them are abandoned by their children. Disappointingly, the government does very little to help the aged group who contributed so much at their working lives, yet now get nothing but neglect.
It is also very sad to see that Hog Kong is a materialistic city. People keep thinking of money, but they are not aware of what sort of new generation they are producing. The adults are totally occupied by their hectic working schedule and they are ‘clever’ enough to offer their children money rather than caring their real needs. The Hongkonger youngsters adopt a wasteful and extravagant lifestyle, for example, being tempted to buy some brand-name gadgets instead of those of good quality. Apart from it, they become more self-centered and not independent enough to face the adversity. The fragility of Hong Kong youngsters can be reflected by the news happening in the previous month, three of which are the teenage suicide just because of their poor academic result and the pressure from their social lives. This proves that our future generations are actually losing the bravery and perseverance, which were once the good qualities of Hongkongers. In spite of their affluent living background, they cannot experience the real happiness. What can we expect from people living in Hong Kong?
Somebody may say Hong Kong has possessed a stable society and fair legal system. People may also boast Hong Kong of its well-facilitated financial basis and the high quality of Hongkongers’ moral standard. But I don’t think these factors are enough to make Hong Kong a good place to live in. According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008, Hong Kong was ranked twelve, which was far lower than Singapore, Japan and North Korea. More shockingly, it was discovered that the main reason behind were the decline in the Honk Kong businessmen’s English standard and not-so-well-covered tax system. Therefore, it is revealed that Hong Kong is losing its edges and its status is threatened by other emerging regions in Asia. Hong Kong was developed earlier than these countries and all traces pointed that the room for HongKong development was narrower, which makes Hong Kong tougher to maintain its competitiveness. Then, who can guarantee that Hong Kong in future can be as good as the present situation?
If a friend asks me whether Hong Kong is a good place to live in, I will say there is no quality of life here. There air is poor; the welfare on the elderly is insufficient; the youngsters are not that competitive as their mothers and fathers. You can name it. To be more concise, Hong Kong is facing a gloomy future because it is not able to retain its local virtues. Once-wonderful-Hong Kong is now facing a steep decline, and it actually becomes a hell.