My good friend and his family are relocating to Singapore. Our young children who have been best pals for years would surely miss each other playmateship.
My good friend's employer, a Multi-National Corporation (MNC) , is shutting down its Hong Kong operation and moving it to Singapore.
The reason is that Singapore is enticing the MNCs with preferential tax advantage to set up regional headquarter in the Lion City.
My city under the watchful eye of the Lion Rock however has been lukewarm and takes a "couldn't be careless" approach.
According to my friend, his company had apparently approached the relevant Hong Kong authority several times in the past years for comparable treatment.
The response had been negative. There was no attempt to offer anything to reduce or narrow down the attractiveness of the relocation business case.
It maybe true that preferential treatment in a supposedly one of the freest economy in the world is a misnomer.
The truth is our city is losing its once enormous competitive advantage against a determined competitor. Our income per capital is now less than that of Singapore. It won't be long that the gap will be widened.
We can choose to do nothing like what happened to my friend's company's relocation. The inaction, as I learn, would cause lay-off to over hundred of local employees. We soon will have to absorb the economic and social cost of these redundancies. Hundred maybe a small number for our government to show concern but the adverse spill over effect to our economy is greater.
If the same happens (which has been happening for some years) to more MNCs relocating their operation away from Hong Kong, I think the prospect of my children is dimmer at the foot of our beloved Lion Rock.
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