|
News | Web Resources | Yellow Pages | Free Advertising | Chat
Bangladesh |
Immigration |
E-cards |
Horoscope |
Matrimonial |
|
Change Your Life! |
Many want to be in but few are the ones Hong Kong seeks |
|
News
|
|
|
December 31, 2000
HONG KONG-- (UNB/AP) - Chen Qiu-ling wanted to live in Hong Kong with her parents. And the former store clerk chose to kill herself here rather than be deported back to mainland China. Her ashes will stay forever in the affluent territory looked to by many mainlanders as a haven for seeking a better life. Like thousands of Chinese, the 28-year-old Chen found the door shut tight when she tried to migrate from her native Fujian Province, bringing little by way of professional qualifications. But while the poor are kept out, Hong Kong's government is trying to lure a chosen few - well-educated Chinese with skills in demand. It is promising high pay, luxurious accommodation and the right to stay indefinitely. Poor Chinese without the educational advantages criticize the "talent scheme" as unfair. "Hong Kong only retains those with talents and money, and kicks away those who have nothing," said Fu Jia-hui, a 25-year-old illegal migrant whose parents are permanent Hong Kong residents. Yet, in a development that likely would surprise all the Chinese fighting to get in, the year-old campaign is falling far short of its goals for attracting qualified workers. Only 81 Chinese are participating in the program so far. That is well shy of the preliminary estimate of up to 2,000 in the first year, said Lai Chun-ting, principal immigration officer at the Immigration Department. Ren Zeng-yuan, 57, a senior computer engineering researcher from Ningxia, an arid northwestern part of China, is one of those attracted by the program. He now works as a digital video disc engineer at Everbright Chung Cheong DVD Company Ltd. in Hong Kong. It costs George Lam, managing director of Everbright Chung Cheong, 30,000 Hong Kong dollars (nearly dlrs 3,900) a month for each migrant - far more than it would cost to hire similar workers on the mainland. But Lam says it's easier and faster to recruit talented people and bring them to Hong Kong, where he wants to keep his business. Under the program, Ren can stay as long as he likes, as can his wife and daughter. But his feelings about that prospect underline an unexpected problem. "I like Hong Kong, but I don't plan to stay here forever," he said. Many Chinese professionals prefer life on the mainland, where they live well and also get more spacious housing than is available in cramped Hong Kong. Hong Kong has grown to a crowded metropolis of nearly 7 million people through waves of immigration from mainland China, and most residents have close family ties to the mainland. But the welcome for mainlanders has been inconsistent as Hong Kong struggles to reinvent its economy, replacing traditional manufacturing industries with service and high-tech businesses, areas where it faces tough competition from Singapore and Taiwan. The government wants to attract mainland Chinese skilled in information technology and other high-tech businesses, but it worries about the problems of too much immigration to this densely populated former British colony. It already lets in 55,000 to 60,000 people yearly for family reasons. Nearly half the people who have come under the "talent scheme" work in information or multimedia fields. A fourth are in engineering and environmental protection. The rest work in finance, law, medicine and biotechnology. Monthly salaries range from 20,001 Hong Kong dollars (U.S. dlrs 2,560) to 280,000 Hong Kong dollars (nearly dlrs 36,000). The government's program has run into other problems. Many employers say too much red tape - intended to prevent abuse by other immigrants - makes hiring talented mainlanders troublesome and they find it easier to hire professionals from other countries. Thousands of foreigners come and go every year - but Hong Kong officials say they have to be more careful with Chinese from right next door to prevent overcrowding by people wanting to stay permanently. Some companies say the cost of bringing in Chinese professionals is too high. "We find it's much easier and cheaper to set up our own plant in mainland China," said Bassanio Chow, marketing manager for Kenfil Hong Kong Ltd., an Internet company that also has offices in Malaysia and the United States. "The payroll for five information technology developers in mainland China is equivalent to one in Hong Kong," Chow said. "The overhead cost will be too much for us if we bring them here."
On the Net: Hong Kong Immigration Department: http://www.info.gov.hk/immd/english/welcome/index.htm
|