- Elaine Chong and Patrick Clahane
- UK Insight
image source,Yowin
The couple told the BBC it was in their daughter’s best interests to leave Hong Kong. Now Hailey has settled down happily at a local primary school, where 11 Hong Kong children from other towns are also enrolled.
Thousands of Hong Kongers have emigrated to the UK in the past year. Many say they moved to the UK to escape the pressures of Hong Kong’s rule by China, while others say they were attracted by the slower pace of life in the UK. The BBC spoke to some newcomers to Hong Kong regarding their new life in the UK.
Yowin Mo and Eddie Wong and their nine-year-old daughter Hayley moved from a high-rise apartment in Hong Kong to a two-bedroom flat in Crewe, northwest England. At first, they didn’t know anyone in town and had never been to the UK before moving. So far they have a good impression of Britain. “Most Britons are polite and easygoing,” Ms Mok said.
Leaving family, friends and work was not an easy decision for the family of three: “My dad was crying and he didn’t want to leave,” recalls Hailey. Hailey was also unsure regarding moving, but a pet puppy helped her adjust to her new life.
In Hong Kong, Ms. Mo’s marketing work at that time was very demanding and the working hours were long. Mr. Wang is a photojournalist. Now they have given up their busy lives in a bustling international city and moved to a small town with lower housing prices and good schools.
“We don’t expect to be rich, we only expect to have a simple life here and our daughter can grow up happily,” Ms Mok said.
Yowin Mo and Eddie Wong with their nine-year-old daughter Hayley.
The couple told the BBC it was in their daughter’s best interests to leave Hong Kong. Now Hailey has settled down happily at a local primary school, where 11 Hong Kong children from other towns are also enrolled.
Ms. Mok also explained that the pressure on children to go to school in Hong Kong was much greater. There were almost no playgrounds in Hong Kong schools for students to run around, and Haili had to do homework every day in Hong Kong until 7 o’clock in the evening.
But the mother’s biggest worry was that she thought she would be “brainwashed” by keeping her daughter in Hong Kong. Ms Mok believes Hong Kong’s education system has changed dramatically, as schoolchildren are now taking courses officially approved by China. She is also concerned that the school will phase out Cantonese and Hailey will be taught Mandarin Chinese. “That’s one of the reasons why I don’t want to stay in Hong Kong.”
The Hong Kong government firmly denies the claim of “brainwashing” and says its education system has been cultivating Hong Kong’s talents from generation to generation. The government also said students were taught Cantonese, Mandarin Chinese and English.
Another concern for Ms Mo is censorship. She doesn’t think her daughter will see “real news” on Hong Kong TV. “Maybe it’s just fake news, you know? In Hong Kong, she may not be able to say anything she wants to say.”
On a tall bookshelf, out of Hailey’s reach, Ms. Mo also keeps a photobook called Defiance, which documents the 2019 protests in Hong Kong. The book contains several photos of violent clashes between protesters and police in Hong Kong.
The mother said she expected that when Hailey was a little older, the pictures in the book would help them explain to her daughter why they felt they had to leave.
“When 2 million people are on the streets and the government is still ignoring these voices, you find that the city has no hope,” Ms. Mo stressed. “Whenever it comes to this issue, I cry.”
image source,Getty Images
File photo of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019.
There are far more people than this family of three who want to change their lives.
According to statistics from the British government, 140,000 Hong Kong people have applied to live in the UK under the new visa route. In 2020, Beijing imposed a controversial Hong Kong National Security Law in Hong Kong, which Britain said was an erosion of freedoms and rights.
The new visa route allows millions of Hong Kongers to come to the UK legally. Before Hong Kong was handed over to China in 1997, some Hong Kongers applied for a status called “British Overseas Citizens” (BNO). The UK now allows BNO visa holders to apply to live, work and study in the UK. Family members on BNO visas can also come to live in the UK. After 5 years, visa holders can apply for permanent residence in the UK.
Now, the north of England is a popular place for Hong Kong people. Many newcomer families settled in Crewe, Stoke and Warrington.
Relevant enterprises have also sprung up to provide immigration services for these immigrants. A recruitment firm has hired 2 Cantonese-speaking staff to develop a new workforce.
“We’re seeing great job opportunities for Hong Kong people here,” Charlotte Shaw, from KPI recruitment firm Stoke, told the BBC.
She said recruiters hoped that the Hong Kong workforce might help Britain deal with labor shortages caused by the pandemic and Brexit. “What we’ve found is that a lot of people from Eastern Europe have decided to leave the UK and have gone back to Eastern Europe,” she said.
Ms Xiao said the company had received thousands of messages from Hong Kong migrants trying to find work.
About 70% of Hong Kongers moving to the UK have a university degree or higher. More than half have held professional or senior management positions in Hong Kong. So far, recruiters have helped Hong Kongers take up positions in call centres, food processing and office administration.
Both Ms. Mok and Mr. Wang understand that they may not be able to earn the wages they were in Hong Kong at that time in the UK, but they still have a cash buffer to sell their Hong Kong house. Ms Mo said she worked as a cashier or receptionist, while the husband, who was taking English lessons, wanted to be a delivery driver.
Recruiters offered the couple a 10-hour job at a meat factory. “It’s going to be a robot-like job,” Ms Mok said.
Ms. Mo has taken a trial class at a local shop in Crewe, learning how to use the cash register while stacking goods on the shelves.
Meanwhile, in Warrington, Hong Kong native Matthew Tse set up a real estate company to help fellow countrymen buy houses in the UK. He told the BBC that his Cantonese property team had 20 to 30 new clients a day, with each client bringing in an average of £700,000 in assets to the UK. He also said a bidding war had broken out. The asking price is sometimes £30,000 to £40,000 above the asking price.
A potential Hong Kong buyer named Charlie is selling her apartment in Hong Kong for around £650,000 and has been looking at the Warrington property remotely, which is priced at around £220,000.
“I’ve never been to Warrington before,” she admitted. “But I have a few friends there. I’m sure most houses in England will be big enough for my kids to run around.”
Hong Kongers have been buying properties in places like Warrington.
Hong Kong people are increasingly interested in moving to the UK, and some Youtuber videos from Hong Kong people in the UK have exploded. They make films regarding the new life in the UK, each with thousands of views, reviews of new housing developments in the UK and a guide on how to eat a full English breakfast.
For example, Heidi Simpson, a Hong Kong native who lives in Nottingham, has become a full-time YouTuber since moving to the UK last year with her fiancé Chris Simpson. Heidi told reporters: “Hong Kong people want to see real life in the UK… like videos of how to rent a house, or how to use a self-checkout machine”.
image source,Heidi Simpson
Hong Konger Heidi One of the YouTube videos focuses on introducing the University of Leeds in the UK.
Her films, which are non-political, are still targeted by supporters in Beijing. She said a video was recently uploaded regarding how difficult it is to make an appointment with a general practitioner (GP) in the UK, which was partly quoted by a pro-Beijing YouTube channel, as Hong Kong people cannot get medical care in the UK even if they have money evidence of. She felt her film was being used as political propaganda to warn Hong Kongers not to immigrate to the UK.
“I’m shocked. I’m unhappy. But I don’t know what to do,” Heidi told the BBC, who will continue to make the film, but fears her film will be monitored and she won’t talk regarding her family still in Hong Kong.
The YouTube channel, which cited Heidi, has not responded to the BBC’s request for comment.
In addition, many people who participated in the protests and demonstrations in Hong Kong have been exiled to the United Kingdom.
Nathan Law is one of the most visible pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. Now in political exile in the UK, he told the BBC that he would face jail if he returned to Hong Kong. But even in the UK, he is still the target of Beijing’s big propaganda and cyberattacks.
“You’re dealing with the largest authoritarian regime in the world, and their tentacles can stretch into every corner of British society…and they can mobilize the necessary resources to hurt you in many ways,” he said.
Since arriving here, one of the most serious threats he has faced personally came from a Chinese internet information service, where a user offered a £10,000 reward for details of his UK residency.
Therefore, he said he is now very cautious in public places: “I rarely talk to my neighbors, and I rarely go to bars, because you never know if your whereregardings will fall into the wrong hands.”
But he refuses to let that stop his political work: “I need to be brave enough to continue. If I give up Hong Kong democracy work, then this is a victory for the Chinese Communist Party.”
However, the BBC has found evidence that occasionally tensions from Hong Kong have surfaced in the UK. Some people in the UK and Hong Kong told us that they would still be abused by some supporters of Beijing or Hong Kong government even in person.
Alan (not his real name) said he was attacked by a group of Chinese men one night last fall following he had shouted pro-Hong Kong slogans at them.
image source,Alan
Allen (pseudonym) said he was attacked by a group of Chinese men last year because he had shouted pro-Hong Kong slogans at them.
“There were regarding 10 people chasing me and one of them pushed me to the ground,” he said.
Allen was kicked in the head and ribs. Allen showed reporters a photo of his face, covered in blood. British police later arrested two people in connection with the incident, but the case has since been dropped.
“I’m angry and scared because this is in the UK, not in China. How can I bear this pain?” he said. “This is a country known for its democracy and the rule of law.”
In Liverpool, Christie decided to start teaching martial arts self-defense classes following hearing regarding similar violent incidents involving Hong Kong people and supporters of the Chinese Communist Party. She showed the trainees how to use martial arts to defend once morest violent attacks. “We need to equip Hong Kong people with some basic skills to protect themselves when faced with this situation,” she told the BBC.
In Liverpool, Christie decided to start teaching martial arts self-defense classes following hearing regarding the violence once morest Hong Kong people in the UK.
But for others, British life remains peaceful.
Ms. Mo has taken a trial class at a local store in Crewe, learning how to use the cash register while stacking goods on the shelves. “As long as it supports my basics, that’s enough for me,” she said.
image source,KaFu Wedding Photography UK
Chris and Heidi for their wedding photo shoot near Big Ben in London.
Heidi and Chris are preparing for their wedding. The location of the wedding photo was chosen in the “most British” scene – in front of the background of the British Houses of Parliament.
She was saddened that her family in Hong Kong might not come to the UK for the wedding, but still planned to stay in the UK. “We cannot see the future of Hong Kong,” she said.
