Hong Kong Cost of Living
Information for tourists and potential residents as to what various items and activities cost here in Hong Kong
Pollution, Rent and Salaries in Hong Kong
In Sunday’s South China Morning Post I was not surprised to read that Western expatriates were asking for a premium to move to Hong Kong. This was particularly true if they were already based in Singapore.
Two reasons were given: pollution and high rents. Now that the SARS crisis has faded into a distant memory and the 1997 property price collapse is ancient history; rents, especially at the top end, are rising faster than a North Korean rocket. That is not even taking commercial and retail shop rents into account which are also moving up very fast.
Date: June 25th, 2006 |
1 comment
Hong Kong Versus Singapore - Getting Around and Getting Along
Fourth in a continuing series.
There are just a few other comparisons between the two places that need to be made. One is the ease with which people can move around the city. Singapore has wide streets that make walking a pleasure. Hong Kong’s streets, on the other hand, are usually narrow and overcrowded. Strolling is difficult in the built up areas. It also seems as if the sidewalks and streets are constantly being torn up.
Tree Lined Lane in Singapore’s Chinatown
Date: June 8th, 2006 |
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Opportunities in Hong Kong
I recently received a comment from Andrew in the Philippines about opportunities in Hong Kong.
Here’s his comment:
I’m 22 male from the Philippines and just graduated college. I would like to move to hong kong. I’m an actor and model but also have a business degree from a top university here. I have chinese-spanish features so it may do good for my career if i move there. However i do not know how to speak cantonese yet. i could also take the other road and be an office person since i have a business degree.Anyways the cost of living is so high there but there must be something that’s worth it. So what is it? =) Is it the women, the nightlife, the job satisfaction? Is there a demand for male models and serious actors there? i have never tried to go mainstream here in the philippines as it is so.. well degrading for an actor in my country. Do you have any advice for someone starting out fresh in hong kong? thanks!
This is my response:
Date: May 15th, 2006 |
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Hong Kong, Home of Millionaires
It was just announced that there are 274,000 Millionaires in Hong Kong. Now there is always the problem of defining what a millionaire is. In Vietnam if you buy US$63.00 worth of local currency, the Dong, you will be a millionaire. In Hong Kong they defined it as having HK$1,000,000 (US$128,200) of liquid assets. The average is HK$4,000,000 (US$512,800). I assume they didn’t include real estate, because, if they did, just about anyone who owned a piece of property bigger than a parking space would be a millionaire.
Date: February 24th, 2006 |
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Flexible Pricing in Hong Kong
One of the local Beauty Shop chains, Modern Beauty Salon Holdings, was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday. After opening it fell 20% before a small recovery to -10%. Evidently the company’s listing information was inaccurate in the area of customer complaints. They said 200+ complaints for the last year and the actual was 300+. They also said that a fair piece of their profit would come from unclaimed pre-sold services. This was interesting to investors because undelivered pre-sold services were the cause of many of the complaints.
In Hong Kong it’s “Caveat Emptor” and there are many examples of how the system works.
Date: February 10th, 2006 |
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Hong Kong Versus Singapore - Summary
This is the last entry in the series.
Up to now it’s pretty much been a tie between the two cities. I haven’t said anything about economics because I’ve been retired for a few years. However, Hong Kong does appear to have an edge for businesses, especially manufacturing because of it being so near China. I know of a number of companies that have moved to Singapore because it is cheaper to do business and to live in Singapore than in Hong Kong. I’ve never followed up, though, to see if it’s true.
One area in which Singapore has a clear advantage is air pollution. The South China Morning Post, just today, quoted a study done by three Hong Kong Universities and a local think-tank that pegged the direct cost of pollution in Hong Kong at HK$2 Billion (US$260 Million) and 1600 lives a year. They estimate HK$19 Billion in indirect costs. To quote the late U.S. Senator Everett Dirkson, “A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you’re talking real money.”
Pollution over Victoria Harbor
Date: June 9th, 2006 |
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Budget Tours That Cost too Much.
Evidently tourism authorities are worried that budget tour operators are ruining Hong Kong’s reputation as a desirable destination.
The prices of many tours, especially from the mainland, are less than the actual cost to the tour operator. So how does the tour operator make any money: by insuring that visitors spend a good part of their holiday time shopping in establishments that pay the operator a commission. Some of these commissions run as high as 50%, which indicates the buyers of such products are not getting a decent value.
In the past, there have been stories of customers not being allowed to leave the shop until they bought something. I believe that practice has disappeared and been replaced with an itinerary that takes people to shop after shop after shop until they buy something.
Date: May 15th, 2006 |
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Does an Expat Package Indicate Racism?
Calling a law that requires employers to justify what they are offering to overseas employees an “anti-racism” law has me confused. Anything that benefits one race over another is by definition racist. The proposed law would not allow an employer to offer generous benefits such as housing, education, etc. unless they can prove that such expertise is not available locally. It is obviously aimed at U.S. and European and perhaps Japanese, companies that want to bring in their own people and have traditionally offered them certain benefits to make the overseas posting attractive.
It appears to me that the assumption behind …
Date: May 11th, 2006 |
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Crazy Hour in Hong Kong
This week’s (Feb. 17, 2006) HK Magazine had an article titled “How To Stretch Your Miserably Small Budget.” You can download it from their site and read the article yourself.
One of the places that isn’t mentioned, unfortunately, has the best Happy Hour on Hong Kong Island, in my opinion. I’m talking about Carnegie’s, G/F Spa Building, 53-55 Lockhart Rd., Wanchai. They call it “Crazy Hour” and it runs from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM and all bar drinks and beers are HK$19 or less than US$2.50. This compared to regular prices of HK$45.00 …
Date: February 22nd, 2006 |
2 comments
A Different Perspective On the Cost of Living in Hong Kong.
This is my week to realize how easy it is to make certain assumptions that, if not wrong, need at least to be balanced by other viewpoints. I received the following comments from Hamlet Lin which put a different perspective on some of my previous comments about the cost of living in Hong Kong.
Our brief exchange follows.
Date: February 9th, 2006 |
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