Hongkongers Making Exit Plans

People in Hong Kong are looking for ways to safeguard themselves and assets

As the anti-government protests drag on into the 19th week with no end in sight, many people in Hong Kong are quietly making contingency plans.

Some expatriate families have already left or will be leaving. There are anecdotes of children being pulled out of school and taken back to their home countries to continue their studies or their parents have been posted elsewhere.

Locals are scrambling to figure out their plan A, B, C, D and E. Last week my aunt told me she went to the bank and overheard many people wanting to set up overseas accounts to make it easier to transfer money overseas.

One of the easiest places to immigrate to is Portugal

The most popular bank right now is Citibank, where people want to be able to send their money to the United States for safekeeping. It is said Citibank is easier thank HSBC, which has greater scrutiny over its bank account holders after the bank was fined for laundering money in the US.

There are also fears or rumours the Hong Kong government could instruct the banks to restrict how much money can be withdrawn or transferred abroad, which is why everyone is rushing to transfer money now. Wonder how much capital flight is coming out of Hong Kong is these days.

Many are also looking for ways to immigrate elsewhere. Even before the protests began, a friend of my brother's told us he had already been looking into leaving, weighing his options of moving his family of five to Canada or the UK, weighing the options. Even then he was worried about the effects of the extradition bill. He probably never anticipated the prolonged mess we are in now.

I've heard that Portugal is financially the easiest place to immigrate to, as the most important requirement is to buy a flat, which can range from 300,000 euros (US$331,221) for a second-hand home, to 500,000 euros (US$552,036) for a new one.

When the deal is finalized, people can freely go back and forth between Hong Kong and Portugal, which means one could technically continue working in Hong Kong, until the residency paperwork is done in five years.

But what if Hong Kong falls apart in less than five years? What then? That's the gamble.

One needs to have enough money to not only buy a property overseas but also continue with the mortgage payments in Hong Kong or pay rent. So the more wealthier you are the more options you have. If anything, these protests have forced many people to stop frivolous spending and save money.

If you need more information about immigrating, every weekend there are seminars held in packed hotel ballrooms, where immigration experts and lawyers give advice to prospective clients on where to go, what the requirements are and how much it's going to cost.

People are very scared and depressed to see what is happening to Hong Kong, their home. They are disappointed that Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has done nothing to quell the protests that have become more and more violent, the police more shameless in their brutality towards the protesters and everyone caught in between, from innocent bystanders to shops and businesses.

Everyone wants a peaceful resolution to this mess, that started with the outrage over the proposal of an extradition bill. After some peaceful marches, these were ignored by Lam and so protesters escalated to violence.

And now they are targeting business that are related to China, from the MTR to Bank of China to Huawei to any restaurant related to Maxim's. The scenes of fires and physical destruction only bring more stress and hopelessness to Hongkongers.

People are wondering what will happen to the city they love. Will things ever get back to normal? Or is this the new normal? They are only thinking, and rightly so, of how to safeguard their families, themselves and their assets.

Why is Lam letting Hong Kong fall apart like this? Does she think she can rebuild it again? Or is she leaving it to the Chinese to do that?

Either way the optics are terrible.

Tomorrow she will give her highly anticipated policy address. No one is expecting miracles, but instead more protests in reaction to what will probably be a ho-hum speech. We all need hope, Carrie. Please give us a sign.