Monday 31 July 2017

Hong Kong is Booming, While Singapore is Withering

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2094139/hong-kong-economy-smashes-forecasts-first-quarter-2017-grow



If you have recently visited Hong Kong, you will find that in the CBD, around 30 - 40% of people speak Mandarin, not Cantonese. This was not the case say four years back. Five star hotels like Four Seasons are filled with PRC tourists and business people. Expensive restaurants like Joel Robuchon are patronised 90% by PRC. Expensive fashion boutiques are filled with tourists.

In contrast, Singapore's shopping malls are empty in the central. Singapore's economy grew at a measly 2% per year the last three years whereas Hong Kong's grew by 4%.

100 billionaires are produced in China every year. They are also the youngest ever billionaires, on average in the late 30s and early 40s. Often once rich, they endeavour to send their families overseas, kids to the best overseas universities. It also means that they will set up businesses in Hong Kong. There is a lot of money awaiting talent to manage. Family offices are set up in Hong Kong, run by Hong Kongers. They decide what percentage to allocate to each region.

Singapore probably receives 10% of the funds that Hong Kong receives. Our finance professionals are jobless as western MNCs consolidate and move to cheaper locations. In the 80s and 90s, Singapore saw high net worth individuals from Southeast Asia flocking to Singapore. Its economy boomed. This wave has slowed to a trickle. Hong Kong is seeing the same inflow from China, but 10x more than Singapore ever saw in the 80s and 90s.

The next decade belongs to Hong Kong. Singaporeans who are highly trained professionals should consider uprooting themselves to live in Hong Kong / China. It is a chance of a lifetime to tap on this wealth. One should situate at the source of the river Ganges, which is in the Himalayas. By the time it flows to south India, water is muddied and undrinkable. 

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