For years, Hong Kong has been calling herself Asia’s world city, with enviably prosperous economy, breathtaking view of towering skyscrapers, as well as colourful lives. However, can we just put an equal sign between a metropolis and a good place to live in? According to a survey conducted in 2008, our city only ranked the seventieth among the world’s top cities offering the best quality of life. This shows that the territory may not be as pleasant as what the tourists coming to Hong Kong think of.
First, the worsening air quality is always posing a grave threat to Hong Kong people. As the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors of the United Kingdom mentioned in 2008, Hong Kong was the most energy-consuming city in the globe. Thanks to the non-stop coal-burning power stations and the busy traffic, no matter how brilliant the Oriental Pearl is, it can never escape from being tarnished and faded by the thick clouds of smog enveloping the harbour. Therefore, in no way can a city with air that triggers breathing problems be a good place to live in.
Besides, despite the current global economic downtown, the prices of goods and services in the city are still too high for the citizens to afford. If you are moving to Hong Kong, don’t forget to say goodbye to your big houses and gardens, as the rent and prices for flats are so expensive that it is difficult for the general public to afford to own their homes. In fact, the Economists Intelligence Unit also found living in the SAR expensive, since it put the city in the eleventh place in its survey concerning the charges of various products or services in the previous February. With large proportion of salary spent on basic expense for life, it is quite impossible for the Hongkongers to conclude that our city is a good place to live in.
What’s worse, the life of a Hongkonger is simply too busy. If you take a look at the fast walking speed of people in Central, I am sure that you will understand how busy the financial powerhouse is. Living in such a bustling place, it is undoubtedly hard for a person to get relaxed, and stress can easily accumulate as a result. It seems that the New Economics Foundation would agree with me as well, as the organization put the former colony in the eighty-eighth among the happiest nations or regions in the world.
Some people may argue that Hong Kong is well-developed economically, making her a good place to live in. However, as we take a close look at the situation, it is not difficult to discover that most benefits from the economic development is solely enjoyed by the minority of capitalists, since surveys show that the gap between the rich and the poor is one of the widest in the world. Thus, being a Hongkonger does not mean having good life.
Although Hong Kong may not be a satisfactory living place at the moment, what we must do as citizens is to cooperate with each other, so to turn the shoppers’ paradise into a residents’ paradise as well!