Letters | Why Hong Kong parents support grown-up kids: it’s a matter of tradition

It is tradition for Hong Kong’s older generations to help the next financially, but skyrocketing property prices are making that harder

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Having a home of their own is at the top of the agenda for most traditional Chinese. This may not be so for most Westerners. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 7:30am, 13 May 2019Updated: 7:30am, 13 May 2019

I refer to the letter from Jerry Ng, “Hong Kong parents should learn from the West” (May 9). I agree with the writer that if parents left their working kids to their own devices, they might want to work harder – with greater motivation to climb up the career and wealth ladder.

However, for the vast majority of the working class, no word can better describe their lives than “stressful”. Even to sustain the minimum basic necessities is no easy task. Moreover, having a property of their own, without having to share with others and line up for basics like bathroom use, is naturally at the top of the agenda for most traditional Chinese. Hong Kong is a modern city, but its traditional roots run deep.

I would say the cost of property is the culprit behind the deterioration of the quality of life for Hongkongers, young and elderly alike. Most elderly people would prefer to trade their quality of life for a better, steadier livelihood for their children. If they can ensure that, they would not feel bad just getting by in their retirement years, or even to be on welfare.

Westerners are different, in my view. For one thing, most do not feel a strong need to own property. Even if they did, owning a home is far less expensive in the West. Hong Kong has just topped the table as world’s most expensive housing market for the ninth straight year, with a family needing to save all its earnings for 21 years to afford a home.

After all, tradition makes the mentality of Chinese parents different from that of their Western counterparts. So they consider paying for their children’s weddings and homes to be money well-spent.