China's Rich Get Even Richer

The poor might be less poor, but still not catching up to the rich

A quick follow-up to yesterday's blog post about Ted Hui Chi-fung's financial predicament -- suddenly -- on a Sunday -- HSBC unfroze his bank account and that of his family and the latest report is that they have moved their money elsewhere.

However, as many have pointed out on social media, the trust in the bank has broken, making them wonder how safe their money is.

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China announced late last month that it has eradicated extreme poverty, a goal President Xi Jinping had pledged in 2015, to complete this year.

832 counties are not in extreme poverty anymore

He made it in the nick of time on November 23, with the 832 counties that were identified as extremely poor are not in dire straits.

However, Caixin reports this does not mean these counties are completely poverty-free. 

"Because the policies are based on raising average incomes, the results often smooth over the circumstances of individual families or communities that continue to live in penury."

Meanwhile on the other end of the spectrum, China's rich have gotten much richer thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, according to lists compiled by Forbes and Hurun Report.

"The world has never seen wealth created at this speed before," said Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of Hurun Report that tracks China's richest.

Nongfu owner Zhong is US$52billion richer

Forbes reports China's 400 richest people now have a total wealth of US$2.11 trillion, a 64 percent surge from US$1.29 trillion last year.

By comparison, America's 400 richest are now worth US$3.2 trillion, only 8.2 percent more than a year ago, according to Forbes numbers.

How China's rich became many times more richer is thanks to IPOs and stock market jumps. Other factors are post-epidemic economic recovery, and fast-booming digital and technology industries. 

One company that profited from its IPO is Nongfu, the water bottle brand. When it went public in Hong Kong in September, founder Zhong Shanhan became US$52 billion richer, which made him the third richest in the country.

The pandemic resulted in a surge in sales in the e-commerce and healthcare industries. Wang Xing, founder of food delivery company Meituan, quadrupled his wealth to US$25 billion. 

Meanwhile Chongqing-based vaccine producer Zhifei saw the wealth of its chairman Jiang Rensheng almost triple, after Chinese regulators approved human trials of the company's Covid-19 vaccine.

Li of Winner Medical prospered during pandemic

And Li Jianquan, the head of Winner Medical that makes PPE and face masks, saw his wealth grow a staggering 11-fold to US$5.6 billion.

Not only those areas are doing well, but also the automotive industry, such as electric vehicles and autonomous driving companies.

Electric vehicle or EV startup Xpeng's IPO in New York this summer helped its founder He Xiaopeng grow his wealth by 80 percent to US$6.6 billion.

And China's biggest lithium battery producer CATL's head, Zeng Yuqun, tripled his wealth to US$17.6 billion this year.

So while Xi met his goal to lift 832 counties out of extreme poverty, that doesn't mean the wealth gap has narrowed significantly...

Review: Parasite

South Korean film Parasite has reverberated among critics and viewers

I finally saw the highly acclaimed Korean film Parasite by Bong Joon-ho with much trepidation. It was the first South Korean film to win a Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

It's not an easy film to watch and leaves you thinking about how this story is any different from how people in reality function: Are we all parasites in one way or another?

Director Bong Joon-ho winning the Palme d'Or for Parasite

The story starts off showing the Kim family in dire living conditions, in a sub-basement and trying to use the wifi from the upstairs occupants. They eke out a living folding cardboard pizza boxes, but even this simple task they can't do well and their pay is docked. How will they ever survive?

Luckily the adult son Ki-Woo (played by Choi Woo-shik) gets a recommendation from a friend to tutor the daughter of a rich and successful couple, Mr Park (Lee Sun-kyun) and his pretty wife Yeon-kyo (Cho Yeo-jeong).

Ki-Woo proves to be a good tutor and discovers the Parks' younger son needs an art tutor and recommends his sister (Park So-dam), but of course doesn't say they are related. Soon they con their way into getting the chauffeur job for their father (Song Kang-ho), but replacing the Parks' longtime housekeeper with the Kim matriarch Chang Hyde-jin) takes ingenious planning.

The Kims' ability to seamlessly slide into the Parks' lives and take advantage of this wealthy family shows not only the immense gap between the rich and the poor, but also how desperate people can be to get ahead.

The Kim family survives by folding cardboard pizza boxes

It is an amusing, but also pointed observation that turns to a shocking and sad ending. The reality is, becoming rich can only be a dream for most of us.

Bong explained to the New York Times that father Kim (Song) is a very famous actor in South Korea, while the son Choi is an up-and-coming actor. And so the scene where the son rehearses with the father about what to say to Mrs Park is amusing for South Koreans to watch -- like watching a young novice telling someone like Robert De Niro how to act.

But what also got a lot of buzz in South Korea about Parasite was how the wealth gap was portrayed in the movie. Remember in 2014, Air Korea CEO Cho Yang-ho's daughter Heather Cho Hyun-ah and vice president of the airline flew into a rage when nuts were not served to her on a plate on a flight from New York to Seoul.

The Park family holds a lavish birthday party for their child

The "nut rage" incident also echoes another one that was more tragic that year -- the Sewol ferry disaster in which 304 people drowned, of which 250 were students on a field trip. The ship was owned by the Yoo family, which investigators later found had siphoned off millions of dollars while encouraging its managers to cut corners and flout safety rules.

While Parasite does not directly refer to these incidents, they came to mind afterwards while analyzing the film, in that it mirrors reality, though with a macabre twist.

Another way to emphasize the rich-poor gap is through the excellent cinematography by Hong Kyung-pyo. Notice the Kim family is always together in the frame to emphasize not only their cramped conditions, but they are a close-knit group, while the Park family members are hardly together in the same shot, their home on the hill so large and spacious.

Bong (in grey suit) with the cast of Parasite at Cannes

Parasite is a film that makes observations about how money affects human nature, and is this the kind of world we want to live in?

Parasite (2019)
Directed by Bong Joon-ho
Screenplay by Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won

Fact of the Day: Almost US$1 Million Parking Spot

The Center in Hong Kong's Central district has a really expensive parking spot

Hong Kong can proudly say that even though its economy is tanking because of five months of anti-government protests, the city is still having record-breaking property transactions.

The latest is the world's most expensive parking spot in Central for US$969,000, or US$7,205 per square foot for a space that measures 134.5 square feet.

The price of the parking spot is US$7,205 per square foot

Yep a parking spot. It's located in a prime area, an office building called The Center, a building that also has the record of being the most costliest commercial building ever sold at US$15.5 billion last year.

The price of the parking spot, HK$7.6 million, is more than three times Hong Kong's median home price, which itself had topped the global rankings for nine consecutive years, according to CBRE.

Keep in mind that about one in five people in Hong Kong live below the poverty line, and so this property transaction underscores the immense wealth gap in the city.

"Good times or bad times, there are still ultra-rich people paying whatever needed to get what they like," explains James Mak, Midland Commercial's district sales director.

Many live in spaces smaller than a parking spot in Hong Kong

There are only 402 parking spots in The Center for 1.2 million square feet of office space, and the average price for these spots is HK$6 million.

Guess whoever bought that HK$7.6 million parking spot really, really needed it...

Obsessed with "Xiangchun Freedom"

If you can afford to eat this vegetable, it's as expensive as a lobster

What can you eat to show your peers you've made it financially?

In China it was cherries, but now it's a vegetable called xiangchun 香椿, the young red leaves of the Chinese mahogany tree that are the in thing to munch on. The basil-tasting leaves have become so prized that in places like Beijing it costs 80 yuan to 100 yuan (US$12 to US$30) for a catty or 500 grams.

People have taken to social media to complain about the price of the vegetable that could cost as much as a lobster, 10 abalone or 39 crayfish.

Xiangchun leaves are from the Chinese mahogany tree

"You can buy this [vegetable] to show off your wealth," one person on Weibo commented.

Another said: "There's plenty of xiangchun trees at my grandmother's house. I feel like I've just found the path to riches."

The first spring leaves of the tree are traditionally used in Chinese cooking, especially in the north, where it is stirfried with eggs or tofu, or used as filling for dumplings.

Xiangchun per catty costs more than pork in Beijing, where it is priced at 8 yuan to 10 yuan. In places like Qingdao in Shandong province, Xiaogan in Hubei province and Xian in Shaanxi province, the vegetable costs 40 yuan per 500 grams.

However, if you can afford to buy and eat xiangchun, then you are considered to have "xiangchun freedom", similar to people who can afford to buy imported cherries to give as gifts. Before the Spring Festival this year, imported cherries were selling for 60 yuan per catty in Beijing.

Economist Yao Zhiyong is with the School of Management at Fudan University and says the wide use of the terms "xiangchun freedom" and "cherry freedom" showed a decline in real spending power.

Xiangchun are stirfried with egg or tofu, or in dumplings

"Many items have become more expensive, but people's salaries haven't gone up accordingly," Yao says. "In the meantime there are other expenses -- education, housing, healthcare -- that can't be ignored. That's why people are bemoaning their lack of 'cherry freedom' or 'xiangchun freedom'."

The Chinese have this cruel obsession of constantly comparing themselves to other people, either to psychologically feel like they have a leg up on their peers or to bemoan the reality that they are never going to win the rat race.

It's as if this competition is the only way they know how to relate to others which is unhealthy and scary. But the ironic thing is that people are willing to pay top dollar for a seasonal vegetable, and I'm all for a greener lifestyle!

Problems of the Uber Rich

Mount Nicholson has the most expensive addresses in all of Asia

Yesterday's blog post was about the gob-smacking number of properties one person in Hong Kong owns. Today's is about the buying power of the 1 percent.

In November 2017, one person shelled out HK$1.16 billion (US$149 million) for two units on The Peak in one day. One cost HK$560 million for a 2,424 sq ft four-bedroom unit on the 12th floor of Mount Nicholson, which makes it out to be HK$132,000 per square foot, making it the most expensive real estate in Asia.

The same buyer also bought 4,579 sq ft unit on the same floor for HK$600 million, or HK$131,000 per square foot, making it the second most expensive property in the region.

How does one have US$149 million to spend on two homes? The 99 percent of us will never be able to make that amount in our lifetimes. We can't even fathom the number it's so huge.

But can the uber rich continue to buy luxury homes?

But it looks like those heady days of easily dropping hundreds of millions of dollars are over.

The media are reporting prospective buyers who have put down deposits with the intention of purchasing flats are failing to complete the deals, and as a result are giving up deposits worth tens of millions of dollars.

In one recent case, a buyer forfeited his or her HK$36.09 million (US$4.6 million) deposit after walking away from the a deal to purchase a luxury house on The Peak for HK$721.88 million.                                            

Again -- most of us can't even imagine what it's like to have HK$36 million, let alone giving up that much money.

Regardless, for the real estate market, buyers refusing to complete property transactions is a bad sign.

"It is definitely not good news for the market," said JLL executive director Joseph Tsang. "There are stories about buyers walking away from their purchases every day, but this one is more eye catching."

He is also concerned about the rising number of homes being repossessed by banks and the growing number of companies filing for bankruptcy. "This is a reflection of the worsening economy, although it is still too early to say whether it would trigger a wave of defaults."

That sadly has a trickle down effect on the rest of us ordinary folk, which means Hong Kong's economy is far from stable for 2019. Not all is well with the uber rich...

                            

The Real Side of Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan's memoir is very honest

I have yet to read Jackie Chan's explosive memoir, Never Grow Up, but I don't want to.

He sounds like an absolute pig.

Part of it stems from not growing up with his family -- his father emigrated to Australia where he worked as a cook for the American Embassy. Chan wasn't a good student and so his parents took him out of the school system, and at the age of six sent to the China Drama Academy where he boarded and trained for 10 years in martial arts and acrobatics.

He reveals how much of a b***** he was to women

There the students had to train 18 hours a day from 5am, doing stretching, acrobatics, weapons training, acting and martial arts. In a 2008 interview, Chan recalled, "It was really arduous, we hardly had enough to eat, enough clothes to keep warm, training was extremely tiring, and Master could cane us anytime!"

As a result Chan didn't have much experience socializing with others, and in Never Grow Up he reveals his various relationships with women including prostitutes, but he treated them terribly. The best known story is how he cheated on his wife, Taiwanese actress Joan Lin by fooling around with beauty queen Elaine Ng Yi-lei and it resulted in the birth of his daughter Etta Ng.

She recently declared she is lesbian and married her Canadian girlfriend last week. Both biological parents did not congratulate her, nor does Chan mention her in his book.

He also recounts going on a date with singer Teresa Teng at a French restaurant. She daintily held a spoon while she ate her soup, while he picked up the bowl and slurped it down...

Chan with his Taiwanese wife actress Joan Lin

Aside from not being gentlemanly, Chan wasn't much of a good father in the beginning. One time he and Lin were having an argument and he picked up his toddler son Jaycee with one hand and threw him across the room, landing on the sofa. Chan recalls Lin being "terrified".

She said: "He's just a child. Why did you do that?" He apologized and said it would never happen again.

This lack of education may explain Chan's insecurities and his pursuit of wealth and fame. In the book he boasts about how much cash he carried around and always paid for his entourage's meals. He would also walk into stores and buy expensive watches to show off his wealth.

It's the usual story of nouveau riche people, and Chan let his wealth get to his head.

He writes that as a stuntman, "We all knew that if something went wrong we wouldn't live to see the sun rise the next day. We had a short term mentality which means recklessly spending our money."

He had an affair with Elaine Ng who gave birth to Etta (left)

In another part of the book Chan writes about being drunk all the time and crashed his Porsche in the morning and his Mercedes-Benz later that evening.

It's interesting the multimillionaire 64-year-old is being so frank about everything -- why did he do that or he was following someone's advice to come clean? It's a lot of information for the public to take in, a lot of it undesirable.

Chan lost his integrity several years ago when he began spouting pro-Beijing views that left a sour taste.

In 2009 during a panel discussion at the Boao Forum for Asia, Chan question whether or not freedom was a good thing. "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want."

A few years later in 2012 he also criticized Hong Kong people for protesting too much.

Who is going to buy his book? Not people in Hong Kong that's for sure!

Ultra Wealthy Snap Up Flats

An average of 17 buyers fought over one flat -- a shoe box in the sky

There are still lots of people in Hong Kong who have gobs of money to spend.

This past weekend Nan Fung Development sold 460 units out of 487 at its LP6 Project in Lohas Park. A total of 8,145 people registered for the sale, which meant an average of 17 buyers fighting over one unit.

Of course the ones with the fattest wallets won.

Ultra-wealthy buyers snapped up multiple flats

The square footage ranged from 307 sq ft for one bedroom to 971 sq ft for three bedrooms, and prices were listed from HK$4.492 million to HK$13.241 million (US$572,252 to US$1.69 million).

But demand raised prices further.

"A handful of buyers wanted to buy four flats for more than HK$28 million each," said Louis Chan, Asia-Pacific vice-chairman and chief executive of the residential division at Centaline Property Agency. "Investors can lease one-bedroom flats at Lohas Park for more than HK$9,000 a month, at a return of about 3 percent."

Wait a second -- more than one buyer wanted to buy four flats, which meant they each paid HK$28 million?

Where did that money come from? I'm obviously not earning enough to play this high-stakes game.

A showroom flat giving a sophisticated atmosphere

Property agents reported a mainland Chinese buyer paid HK$35 million for three of the three-bedroom units, and a single-bedroom studio for investment, and on top of that paid HK$10.5 million in stamp duty, so his total bill was HK$45.5 million.

No wonder Hong Kong tops New York in terms of the number of ultra-wealthy people at just over 10,000 compared to 8,865 in the Big Apple.

The definition of ultra-wealthy -- individuals who are worth at least US$30 million.

The rest of us feel ultra poor...

Fact of the Day: A Really Pricey Spot

Ultima has some expensive flats as well as parking spots that break the bank

Hong Kong can boast having the most expensive parking spot in the world.

One was recently sold for a staggering HK$6 million (US$760,000) in Ultima, a luxury residential complex in Ho Man Tin, Kowloon. In case your calculating, that's HK$44,444 per square foot.

The couple who sold the 16.4 feet by 8.2 feet spot made them a whopping HK$2.6 million profit, reselling the space only nine months after they bought it.

The parking spot is in a building where a four bedroom, 1,911 square foot flat costs a heart-stopping HK$98 million.

"The development is in a luxury residential area. The residents have a lot of cash and simply do not care about a few million dollars when a flat there costs about HK$100 million," said Sandia Lau, a director of Centaline Property Agency. "Their convenience is more important."

No kidding!

Except the rest of us plebeians have no idea what it's like to be so uber rich that HK$6 million is chump change...

Picture of the Day: Festive Lights and Lanterns

Kennedy Town is all the more festive with these lights and lanterns

It's the 11th day of the Lunar New Year... just a few more days until the traditional 15 days of celebrations are over, though it's been back to business for us ages ago.

Belcher Bay Park in Kennedy Town has gotten into a festive mood with traditional lanterns strung around the walking/running path, and near one of the entrances is this grand light display with a dog of course, sitting on top of a golden ingot and holding one up too.

Beside him are the Chinese characters 花開富贵 or hua kai fu gui, which literally means "flowers blossom, riches and honour". Pretty grand, huh?

Along with the dog are red fish-shaped lanterns that are homonyms for wealth. Can't go wrong with that.

Last night it was really nice walking through the park with these lanterns lit up to create a warm atmosphere. Too bad it'll only be around for a few more days...

Picture of the Day: Incomprehensible Propaganda

What a strange propaganda message to put at the train station...

At the Guangzhou train station where the taxi queue is, the billboard is covered with propaganda.

This one made my mainland colleagues laugh because they didn't know how to translate it for me.

But the first line talks about how it is good to be able to take care of your basic necessities like food, shelter and clothing.

That's a far cry from the late Deng Xiaoping's motto of, "To get rich is glorious". President Xi Jinping is aiming to alleviate poverty by 2020 which is a very tight deadline. But he seems determined to make it happen.

The second line of this poster talks about China going to war and winning the battle with socialistic characteristics.

Groan...

How the two lines are related we may never know...

Picture of the Day: Hello Kitty Bling

Care for a Hello Kitty-themed necklace from Mikimoto? Only HK$2 million

Today I was out for a story and was at Elements mall at Kowloon City when I passed by the Mikimoto boutique and when I saw this necklace I couldn't help but laugh.

The 12-strand pearl necklace features the face of Hello Kitty, with her distinctive eyes, nose and bow on her left ear.

I couldn't make out what's on the left side of the necklace -- perhaps a cat that just went splat on the screen door?

But I did a bit of research and discovered this collaboration between Mikimoto and Hello Kitty was back in 2014, and the necklace I just described has a whopping HK$2 million price tag.

There's also a choker featuring the famous feline around the neck of the wearer.

How chic.

Who would be a Hello Kitty freak and have enough dough to buy these jewellery pieces?

Or is this a serious miscalculation on the part of Mikimoto that this would be a sure winner?

Superficial Economic Progress

This picture in Times Square was taken last year but still applies today

A local newspaper asked Hong Kong documentary filmmaker Ruby Yang her thoughts on the last 20 years since the handover in 1997.

She said it was superficial progress, that it was all focused on the economy and asked, what about people's livelihoods?

Yang really hit the nail on the head -- superficial progress. The government doesn't like to admit there are serious problems, in particular with the economy. However, the wealth gap between the rich and poor has gotten even worse, with the Gini Co-efficient at a record 0.539, up from 0.537 in 2011.

This means the city's wealthiest make 44 times more than the poorest. Interestingly Hong Kong is behind New York as the second-most unequal city in terms of income.

So while we have people who are uber rich and at the other end of the scale people barely scraping a living, the economy is faltering, but the government doesn't seem to notice.

Around dinnertime today I went to Sogo department store in Causeway Bay to buy a few things and was shocked to see how empty it was. The place is usually packed with shoppers and you'd have to elbow your way through the crowds.

But tonight there were none.

A friend had made this observation to me a few days earlier and I was very surprised, but this time I saw it for myself.

Granted the mad summer sales ended a few weeks earlier, but individual brands still had discounts though they weren't enough to entice people to buy.

People cannot afford to shop in Hong Kong -- heck they can't afford to spend much money except for basic expenses. People may be looking, but not many are actually getting their wallets out.

The only place that was busy was the basement grocery store, but while there were customers there buying food, the cashier line was empty.

There were mainlanders in the department store, some were buying -- saw one woman with her suitcase open on the floor and she was literally filling it up with her purchases like a jigsaw puzzle, while others were conducting a Sunday afternoon window shopping exercise with the emphasis on exercise.

Meanwhile most locals were empty handed.

As my friend said to me, this economy is unsustainable with housing prices through the roof and people priced out of the market.

So yes, Ruby Yang is right -- we are experiencing superficial progress -- to the benefit of whom?

Fact of the Day: Number of China's Rich X9

The wealth gap in China is getting even bigger with even more wealthy people

A private survey has found the number of rich people in China has risen nearly nine times in a decade.

Those with at least 10 million yuan of investable assets hit 1.6 million in 2016, up from 180,000 in 2006, according to the 2017 China Private Wealth Report by Bain Consulting and China Merchants Bank.

The overall value of the private wealth market rose to 165 trillion yuan last year, growing 21 percent annually from 2014-2016. It's expected to reach 188 trillion yuan this year.

The rich spend a lot of money on luxury and invest abroad

There are about 120,000 "high net worth individuals" who had at least 100 million yuan worth of investable assets, up from fewer than 10,000 people in 2006.

The percentage of rich people with overseas investment rose to 56 percent this year, up from 19 percent in 2011.

The top four destinations for investment were Hong Kong, the United States, Australia and Canada, though Hong Kong's popularity fell 18 percent and the US fell 3 percent from 2015-2017.

Respondents said their top reasons for investing overseas was to diversify risks, capture market opportunities and migrate.

The wealthy are concentrated in major cities and coastal areas, but the survey found 22 provinces have at least 20,000 high net worth individuals.

One thing wealthy Chinese can't buy is class...

One can't help but wonder if this wealth amassed in a short period of time is due to loose credit from banks and they've taken advantage of this to invest in real estate and other appreciative assets.

The other possibility is investing early in property and it has significantly appreciated within a decade.

Either way it's a staggering number of nouveau riche in China who are looking for places to spend their money. They are definitely looking overseas for greater security and better living environment.

Anyone who has the access to some kind of wealth are trying to get it out of the country through investing in insurance products or real estate.

But the one thing they can't buy is sophistication and manners.

A Migrant Worker's Story

Migrant worker Fan Yusu chronicled her life in a 7,000 character essay

Fan Yusu has had a hard life as a migrant worker and single mother in Beijing.

She left her village in Hubei province and did odd jobs in the Chinese capital as a domestic helper, and went home in a rented 80 square foot flat without running water and raising two daughters.

The 44-year-old penned her experiences in an autobiographical essay entitled, I am Fan Yusu and posted it on a social media literary site on Monday last week.

Within 24 hours, the essay was shared more than 100,000 times and had more than 20,000 comments.

The 7,000 character essay chronicles her experiences over the last 30 years, detailing how a rural woman's life was shaped by massive social and economic change. Her story also raises the issues of the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the urban-rural divide, and the violent seizure of farmland to make way for development.

Fan is originally from Xiangyang, a village in Hubei, and began working as a teacher in the village school when she was 12.

When she grew older, she tired of village life and decided to move to Beijing. There she married and had two daughters, but her husband was often drunk and beat her. She couldn't take it anymore and went back to her village, but her brothers would not accept her, because "a married daughter is no longer a member of her parents' family".

So she returned to Beijing, and leaving her daughters in the care of a nursery, she worked as a nanny in a wealthy home.

The tycoon owner had bought the property for his mistress and had borne him two illegitimate children, and Fan looked after a three-month-old girl.

"The mistress lived like a concubine in an imperial court," Fan wrote. "She must please her master without dignity; and lower herself to beg for food."

Fan also wrote about her pain of leaving her own children: "I often had to wake up at midnight to look after the baby girl... and at those moments I couldn't help but miss my own daughters. I often cried. Luckily it was usually midnight and nobody noticed."

She also wrote of her 81-year-old mother, who went to the local government to protest against the seizure of land without sufficient compensation. Her arm was dislocated in the scuffle with officials, but she felt fortunate because younger protesters suffered worse injuries.

In an interview with Beijing Youth Daily, Fan said she was not a writer, and made a living by "working as a coolie". But she said she had a story to tell.

"If by living one means eating, simple people like me can survive by eating sweet potatoes," she wrote. "But what is the meaning of living without thinking of one's soul? You've got to have a dream. Like the traveller who sees light far ahead, you feel happy."

Fan was brave to even upload her story online and now everyone has a good idea of what she has gone through in her first-person account. We need to hear about more of these stories to have a better understanding of not only what migrant workers are going through, but every other person in China -- to have a more comprehensive picture of the people who live in the country, and learn about their struggles and dreams.

Closing Loopholes Too Late?

A potential buyer checks out the models for Harbour Glory in the showroom

The Leung Chun-ying administration thought it was clever when it announced Tuesday evening that first-time home buyers could not purchase multiple flats without paying the 15 percent stamp duty.

Starting midnight on Wednesday morning, it has changed to one flat per person, but now buyers are skirting the issue by having entire families show up and buying a flat in each of their names.

On Wednesday, a family bought three flats at Harbour Glory, Cheung Kong's latest project in North Point. The three units together totaled HK$170 million (US$21.8 million), and to avoid paying the 15 percent stamp duty, the purchases were put under three individual names.

"It's not illegal, but it's creative," said Sammy Po, chief executive of Midland Realty's residential department. "Whenever there's a new policy, buyers and sellers always come up with a new way to minimize the impact."

A show flat demonstrating one of the bedrooms

His firm brokered two groups of customers each buying two units of three-bedroom apartments at Harbour Glory.

One group was a father and son, they had never bought HK flats before, and each bought 1,062 sq-ft flats at Harbour Glory for a total of HK$60 million, after a 34 percent discount from the developer.

"As the two flats were bought in two separate contracts, and neither of them owned properties under their names, they are not subject to the 15 percent stamp duty," said Po. Each buyer had to pay 4.25 percent duty, or HK$1.27 million.

The Hong Kong government had hoped that this latest measure would curb the number of flats being sold, which some critics said was too little too late.

Secretary for Transport and Housing Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung said the introduction of the 15 percent stamp duty was an attempt to curb the rise of housing prices, but they soon realized some buyers took advantage of buying multiple flats under one purchase.

He claimed the government was aware of the issue all along, but needed time to gather more data and monitor the situation.

Harbour Glory is Cheung Kong's project in North Point

"We have adopted the most cautious approach to handling [the issue]. We did not leave the loopholes unattended," Cheung added.

The percentage of such cases increased to 4.7 percent between December last year and March this year, up from 3.4 percent in 2013 and 2014.

Just last month alone there were 184 cases of multiple flats bought under one transaction, involving a total of 435 flats.

"Before November, such trends were not something to be concerned about," Cheung said.

But pan-democrat lawmaker James To Kun-sun, who first warned of the need for cooling measures back in 2013, said the latest measures were "too late".

It's funny how the Hong Kong government doesn't question where people get gobs of cash to buy multiple flats, and thinks it needs to monitor the situation for a while? Meanwhile the prices of flats continue to rise, effectively making the government's measures seem half-hearted, at worse a joke.

This is an indication of how government officials have no idea how the average Hong Kong person lives, or don't have the ordinary resident's best interests at heart.

How is chief executive-elect Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor going to deal with the issue? Judging from her toilet paper buying fiasco, one thinks she also has her head up in the clouds...

Trying to Survive in Hong Kong

There's a lot of foot traffic on the streets, but who's spending?

As if we need more proof it's getting more expensive for people to live in Hong Kong when their salaries aren't keeping up with inflation -- a latest study says households are in nearly twice as much debt as they used to be 10 years ago.

The Legislative Council research division released its latest survey that found grassroots families are earning less than what they spend every month, and that the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) that employees and employers contribute to monthly is not enough to retire on.

in 2005, the average debt carried by each household consisting of mortgages, credit card advances and personal loans was HK$349,100. That amount has almost doubled to HK$646,100 last year.

Overall the outstanding balance of household loans was HK$1,594 billion, 70 percent of which are mortgages, more than twice the amount a decade ago.

Try buying a matchbox and paying it off before retirement

While people try to save for emergencies like unemployment and illness, the report says, "in the face of slowing economic growth, slackening social mobility, continued inflation and escalating property cost in Hong Kong, many lower- to middle-income families may not be able to do so".

According to the latest data from the Census and Statistics Department, the report estimated the average household expenditure in 2015 was HK$27,600 per  month, a 46 percent rise from a decade ago.

Lower-income households aren't able to save as much these days; those with incomes of HK$11,000 to HK$16,000 a month could barely cover basic expenses, having to fork out another HK$400 from their savings.

This contrasts with those making HK$61,000 to HK$85,000 who are able to save HK$23,700 a month.

Housing makes up the biggest monthly expenditure at 36 percent. Flat prices and rentals have surged by 223 percent and 100 percent respectively between 2005 and 2015, forcing many to resort to taking out bigger mortgages.

Retired couples spent between HK$6,600 to HK$38,300 per month, while their MPF only averaged HK$144,000, which covers only less than two years of spending in some cases. Relatives would have to chip in around HK$4,500 a month just to keep up.

Seniors don't have enough money to be self-sufficient

We're hoping the government is paying attention to this study -- this is why Hong Kong people are frustrated and unhappy. Employers are getting away with not paying their employees what they are worth with the excuse that the economy is bad, but then it's harder to afford even basic necessities to get through the month.

This study shows that one has to have bought a flat and paid off the mortgage before they have retired. But in many cases, because the price of flats keep going up, people may be in their late 30s or 40s before they can afford one, and they may or may not have paid it off within 25 to 30 years.

And there is also the issue of how big a flat they can afford... who wants to live in a matchbox flat of 152 square feet for over 20 years as they try to pay off the mortgage?

The income gap is getting worse and worse here even though the economy is slowing down, things aren't "cheap". We are all still beholden to landlords who seem to live on another planet when it comes to charging rent.

But the government isn't going to impose rent controls anytime soon so we are still going to have to pay more for every service or item we buy because of greedy landlords.

People can't even aspire to bigger and better things because they are just trying to keep their head above water.

How does this give people here any hope that things are going to get better? A good chunk of them are just barely surviving...

Housing Worlds Apart

The luxury development Mount Nicholson on The Peak

Last Friday, the Hong Kong government made a surprise move when it raised the stamp duty on real estate for non first-time buyers to 15 percent in a bid to curb property prices.

But it seems buyers have found a way to circumvent the tax -- by putting their multiple flat purchases into one agreement.

It happened on Sunday when one man, considered a first-time buyer, purchased four flats at Met Bliss project in Ma On Shan for a total sum of HK$19.93 million.

Because all four units were put under one agreement, he was able to avoid paying HK$1.6 million in levies.

And then today two adjoining luxury flats on The Peak were sold for a whopping HK$912 million, or HK$104,803 per square foot, making it the most expensive price for a flat in Asia.

The deal is for two flats at Mount Nicholson for a total area of 8,702 square feet and includes three parking spaces.

Entrepreneur Sandy Wong rents out capsules in Hong Kong

The selling price beats out the previous record set in 2015 by 39 Conduit Road in Mid-Levels for HK$103,762 per sq ft.

"Rich families are most concerned about the prestigious location and quality of the project, not the stamp duty," says Thomas Lam, head of valuation and consultancy at Knight Frank.

"Investors buying small to medium-sized units will be hit hardest by the latest property tax, but not the richest [investors]," says Lam.

Of course. Stamp duty to them is part of the cost of buying the property in the first place.

But these people are living on another planet compared to the rest of us, some of who are perpetually saving because real estate prices keep going up and salaries are not keeping up with inflation.

Or perhaps you should give up dreams of trying to buy a flat and live the minimalist life in a capsule?

An enterprising man from Guangzhou has rented out flats where each person can rent a capsule space of only 2 metres long and 1.1 metres high, about 25 sq ft.

A government brownfield site in Wang Chau, Yuen Long

The monthly rent ranges from HK$2,800 to HK$4,500 depending on the location. All the occupants have to share the bathroom, kitchen and common area.

Sandy Wong says he has received a lot of inquiries, and many of the renters live far from their workplace, or maybe their home is being renovated, or they've had marital problems and need a space to live in temporarily.

These "space capsule" homes are inspired by the Japanese capsule hotels, but those were for salaried men who missed the last train and just need a cheap and clean place to sleep in for the night. These are for renting monthly.

Is it me, or is the Hong Kong housing market completely out of hand now?

And yet the government doesn't want to do anything to disturb the rural strongmen who are occupying government land in the Wang Chau that could house some 13,000 people...

Not Too Sentimental

Li Ka-shing is Hong Kong's wealthiest man with a global outlook

As a skillful tycoon, worth US$31.3 billion this year according to Forbes, Li Ka-shing has learned not to be sentimental about his investments.

Up until a few years ago Hong Kong people were enamoured with the richest man in town, whose rags-to-riches story has been well documented, making plastic flowers and eventually investing in real estate. His empire now includes property development, telecommunications, ports, supermarkets, utilities, retail, oil and even venture capitalist investments in vegetarian meat.

But in the last few years he became the token tycoon we all love to hate. He -- oh sorry his companies -- have made people feel cheated with unscrupulous practices particularly when it comes to selling flats, and with only two main supermarket chains in Hong Kong, one of which is his, prices aren't very competitive, leaving the consumer not much choice but to shell out.

Victor Li says the company is keen to look at deals

His control over the city's economy is a testament to his ability to beat the system, and also the government's inability or unwillingness to rein in his and other tycoons' power. This wealth inequality was one of the sparks of the Umbrella Movement in 2014, though nothing was resolved on that front, and we were resigned to continuing to give a good chunk of our paychecks to Li everyday.

He has decided to focus more on global property investments, which seems prudent from a global, tycoon point of view to spread risk. But that also means he is unsentimental about the city where he started his fortunes.

Cheung Kong Property Holdings made its latest statement to the stock exchange on Wednesday and Li said:

As it is presently challenging to identify property investments with reasonable returns in the current cyclical stage of the property market, the Group will also pursue global investments to extend our reach to new business areas.

Li invests in vegetarian meats, and here fries an alternative egg

The following day, Li's son Victor who is deputy chairman, was asked by financial analysts if the company was considering selling commercial properties.

"I always look at deals, it's my job to look at deals, both purchases and sales. "There is no deal that we must have, there is no property we must own, other than this building -- we do need an office ourselves," he said, referring to the Cheung Kong Centre where CK Property has its headquarters.

Well OK. Maybe Li has a soft spot for his headquarters, but other than that, let's make a deal...

Rockefeller's Beautiful Mansion

The front facade of Kykuit, with a classic Italian style of architecture

We marked the 240th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence yesterday by taking the train to Tarrytown to visit the Rockefeller mansion called Kykuit.

You can't go to the home on your own -- you must join and tour and it's quite strict, emphasizing that you can't take children under five years of age; the guides and staff get nervous when they see babies. Oh and don't bring big bags too -- a knapsack could be considered too big to bring on the grounds.

Our guide was mainland Chinese with the name tag DD Huang, a woman in a red sleeveless dress with tightly curled long hair. Unfortunately for us, her English was not fluent and so many of us on our tour had trouble understanding what she said. Her proficiency in the language also made her warnings sound particularly stern and unapologetic which to some seemed rude or condescending at times.

The back of the home with an extensive garden around it

Nevertheless, this is what we understood from the tour:

John D Rockefeller was the eldest son of six children, but his childhood was difficult. His father was a con man and kept a mistress, having two daughters with her.

Rockefeller was taught by his mother to work hard and he was academically good in school. At 16 he went to business school learning bookkeeping and this skill and talent would serve him well later on in life.

He and his brother William made their money in oil refining, co-founding Standard Oil together and buying up the competition to practically become a monopoly.

William had built a house in the Hudson Valley and suggested John D take a look. He was entranced by the view looking over the Hudson River and bought the land in 1893.

In 1906, John D Rockefeller together with his son Junior, planned and oversaw the construction of Kykuit, which in Dutch means "look out" or "overlook". They moved in two years later.

A swan gracing a pond that leads up to the tea room

Today visiting the house it is a mix of East and West, as John D Rockfeller Sr decorated it, followed by his son Junior and grandson Nelson, who became a senator.

There are a lot of Chinese antiques in the home, as Junior made some trips to China and bought many things, from the pair of stone lions that greet visitors at the front door, to Tang and Qing Dynasty ceramics, even carpets and upholstery have Chinese themes.

In the living room there is a headless Bodhisattva statue, a graceful body, that must have been a serene looking person.

We saw many rooms in the house, except the bedrooms, but the drawing room, the office, dining room, and music room -- that used to have a pipe organ installed in there and was subsequently replaced with a large colourful painting by Joan Miro.

There's also a lot of modern art in the home, particularly in the large garden that includes a swimming pool. There are many sculptures placed around the greenery that contrast with the classical Italian style of the home. Unfortunately we didn't take the garden tour that includes seeing all these pieces.

Modern art pieces contrast with the traditional-looking home

However, we did go into the basement where we saw several tapestries designed by Picasso specifically for Nelson Rockefeller, who had bought a number of his paintings. But because Picasso was a Communist, it wasn't politically correct for them to meet directly.

Nevertheless, Picasso agreed to allow his paintings to be modified into tapestries as long as they were not the same size or colours as the originals. Apparently some 18 of them were completed by a French weaver before Picasso passed away.

There's a mini museum in the home, filled with works by not only the Spanish artist, but also Georges Braque, Toulouse-Lautrec, Andy Warhol and Alexander Calder.

We also saw the changing room complete with a shower that was a precursor to today's modern jets, with a series of pipes that would have spewed water at the body in the middle, as well as the stables complete with a number of carriages and garage with a fleet of antique cars, as well as the home's own gas pump.

It's a pity we weren't allowed to photograph anything inside the house, but outside... another of these strict rules we had to follow.

A view of the Hudson River that Rockefeller fell in love with

But we preferred the view outside as well as the lush greenery. There was also a nine-hole golf course there too -- we spied some Rockefeller descendants whizzing around in golf carts -- their own private space. It turns out several of the Rockefeller families live on some parts of the estate today.

Rockefeller is also well known for his philanthropy, donating to medical research, higher education and the church.

It's hard to imagine someone today could amass as much wealth as the Rockefellers, though people like Li Ka-shing, Cheng Yu-tung, and Stanley Ho Hung-sun come close.

However the trio don't even come close when it comes to being a visionary in philanthropy and creating foundations, and donating land to benefit Hong Kong much, save for universities giving them naming rights to new buildings. Yawn.

We may never see anyone with the same moral stature as John D Rockefeller Senior. While he may be accused of conniving business practices, he did a lot of good not only for New York but for the various communities in the city and around the world in acts of charity that continue today.