My good friend and his family are relocating to Singapore.
Our young children who have been best pals for years will miss their playmateship.
My good friend works for a Multi-national Corporation (MNC), which is moving to the Lion City.
The company has chosen to set up its regional headquarters there becaue it has been offered tax advantages.
Hong Kong seems to view such initiatives with a couldn't care less"attitude.
My friend told me that his employer had approached the relevant Hong Kong departments several times over the past years, seeking similar advantages here, but always got a negative response.
Some might argue that you cannot have preferential treatment in one of the freest economy in the world.But the truth is that our city is losing its once-enormous competitive advantage against a determined competitor.
We can continue to do nothing, which was the stand taken by officials regarding my friend's company. But inaction will lead to higher unemployment rates.
We will have to absorb the economic and social costs of those redundancies.
If more multinationals leave Hong Kong, I think the prospect of my children in the city I love is poorer.
#Appeared on SCMP on August 2, 2010
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