Younger people in Hong Kong less happy than peers in Singapore even before extradition bill crisis, survey shows
- Worrying results show a city dissatisfied with areas including social and political aspects, housing, and health care
- Poll was conducted earlier this year, with researchers pointing out that local score will be even gloomier amid the current extradition bill fiasco
Young people in Hong Kong were less happy than their peers in Singapore even before the extradition bill crisis cast a pall over the city, university researchers said on Tuesday as they released results from a survey.
The Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences at City University surveyed more than 2,300 people aged 40 or below in Hong Kong and Singapore in the first half of the year. Local respondents scored 6.8 points out of 10 on a “happiness index” – lower than the 7.48 recorded in the Lion City.
Hong Kong’s figure was also down 0.14 points compared to a similar study conducted in 2015.
Professor Dennis Wong Sing-wing from the department noted the city’s happiness index had long been “not so high”, usually between 6.5 and 7.
But he predicted the figure could have dropped further if the study was done in early July as protests against the now-shelved extradition bill escalated.
