Moving to Hong Kong

[Romiha]

Hi everyone,
My husband has had an offer to teach in. Hong Kong.
He'd. Be happy to move, I'm a bit hesitant.
We have a 3 year old. Daughter and I'm. Currently 33 weeks pregnant, so we'd be moving with a toddler and a. Newborn.

Anyone out there who is currently in Hong Kong and who can give me. Some. Insights

I'm a bit. Worried about the political situation

Also, kindergartens in HK only. Ever seem. To. Be 3 hours a day

Whats the pollution like?

What areas are family friendly? We've been looking at an area called Sai Kung in the New territories - anyone living there right now?

I'd be grateful for any. Help/advice

Thank you so much!!!!

I think you’d have to look in to the viability of getting work as the amount you’ll have is tight tbh. Also, does your home country (is it Germany?) tax your income earned overseas like eg USA because that would be very difficult I’d imagine.

No, Germany won't tax.
we thought we could. Live off that money...

I’m not familiar with the property rental prices in the Clementi area, so can’t really say what kind of place you can get for the price. I’d start with that if it was me, decide what your preference is eg I guess you’d want two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and see what those look like in your price bracket, and if they look like the kind of place you could make work for you or, if not, how much more money you’d have to use from your budget to upgrade. EG the apartment on ECP we had I wouldn’t have wanted to have brought up two very young children in as not big enough, but for us it was perfect as we spent the vast majority of time out and about. Have a mooch through property guru and see what’s what. Btw if nursery is free, will you still have to pay school fees once your DC is of school age, or is that subsidised too?

Oh and, you about car ownership in Singapore right? I’m not even sure new residents can get a licence to drive that easily (might have changed since I was there), but even if you can, car ownership is ridiculously expensive. Would you be ok using public transport and/or taxis, all of which are cheap and efficient btw, with two very young children?

Honestly? Go to Singapore. Only downsides are

• it's hot year round whereas HK has defined seasons
• HK's got better countryside in terms of hiking/beaches but the flip side is that hiking is really not v child friendly- Singapore has WAY better parks than HK and the fun police aren't there trying to stop you doing anything bar walking along slowly. I would trade HK's beaches for Singapore's parks any day of the week.
• Alcohol is more expensive and the nightlife a bit tamer but meh- I could live with that.

Singapore's a great place to be and has handled the COVID situation extremely well.

I think life on $10,500/month would be pretty tight. Rents are going up at the moment as a lot of citizens who were living / studying overseas are coming home. Clementi is in the west so a little cheaper - you could probably get a condo apartment for about $5,500/month. If you were able to get a job (and you would need to earn at least $4,300/month to get an employment pass to allow you to work), then life would be more comfortable.

Would your children get free school places at your husband's employing school?

New residents can get a drivers licence - you will just need to convert your German licence.

You'll not get housing for 2.5k for a family if 4. Maybe 3.5k in clementi or Queenstown area. If schooling is covered you can live on that but itll be a bit tight as cost of living is quite high. Remember school places are a taxable benefit as is the housing allowance so he will pay tax on all of that.
If you want a helper you need to factor in at least another 1k but if you're not working you might not need it. A couple if months ago I would have said you should search for part time work, but theyve very recently changed the rules to make it a lot harder for expat spouses to work so it would be tricky.

Singapore is nice but 10.5k will not give you a lavish lifestyle. People live on a lot less though.

Say you spent 3.5-4k on rent that leaves you with 6.5-7k left per month. Without a helper or a car, and without the desire for a lavish lifestyle it would be fine.
Our expenses are roughly:
3.7k - rent on a 3 bed condo
1.2k - helper salary plus gov levy
300 - bills
1.4k - groceries / lunchboxes
200 - travel cards/taxis
800-1k - weekend activities/eating out

A lot of people spend a lot more than we do though!

One more thing, you should query that housing allowance. I dont know any school that gives so little for a family.

Don't assume you will be able to work here; Letters of Consent (that allow people on a Dependent's Pass to work) are being cancelled from May. If you are over 40, the criteria for achieving an Employment Pass in your own right are very high. There is talk of special visas in some sectors but this is not for certain. I would ensure you can live on DH's salary alone.

Important point from Limpshade minimum 9k if you're over 40, and it's a sliding scale from 4.5k up if you're younger than that. My friend was rejected a conversion to EP age 37 they said she needed to earn 8k. My DH works on a letter of consent which expires July- part of the reason we are heading home this summer for good.

Us too @Ploughingthrough! I am the same age as your friend and was quoted a similar number. I work in a sector where special visas may be applicable but we're not staying to find out; we would need two incomes to make living here affordable going forward.

Ditto Limpshade. Well we can live on one but value being able to save the other. I think there will be a reasonable exodus over this in the next year or two

With your skills if you are going to be an expat teachers wife I would train as a school counsellor and try and find jobs as a package deal. (Obviously once the kids are old enough)

Hi! I lived in HK for 10 years on and off, but haven’t been back since I left at the the end of 2017. I absolutely loved it, but would now be a bit concerned by the political/protest situations. Although that’s mostly because I would find it upsetting rather than having any personal safety concerns. Atm I’d be even more put of by the very draconian Covid response, but that won’t last for ever. Like pps have said, Singapore has taken a more pragmatic approach that has worked well.

I lived in Sai Kung for my last four-ish years in HK and found it fabulous. I had my son there and thought it a wonderful place to have a baby with lots of opportunities to meet other young families, arrange play dates, pool days, beach days etc. Lots of neighbourhood kids went to Renaissance, so I don’t think it’s too arduous a journey. We lived at the ‘bottom end’ of SK at the bottom of Hiram’s Highway which was convenient for the MTR (a quick minibus ride to Hang Hau) and convenient for SK Town.

I’d probably recommend you look at the other end of Sai Kung, starting from Sha Kok Mei (right by town) and going towards Ma On Shan. It would be even more convenient for your husband’s work.

I love Wong Chuk Wan right at the bottom of Sai Sha road. Great views of the sea, quick to SK Town and one direct road to Ma on Shan. Pretty much any village along Sai Sha Road will have other expats and will be convenient for both Ma on Shan and SK.

Ma On Shan itself has a lot of newish flats and your typical HK malls. It also has a pretty waterfront area. Some of the villages close to Wu Kai Sha area of Ma on Shan are within walking distance to the MTR (two stops to Heng On which I think is the closest station to Renaissance), so you have the option of village houses as well as flats. I have had plenty of play dates around there. It’s an easy bus ride from SK. It’s also a slightly cheaper/better value for money area to rent in.

I also think there will be job opportunities for you when the time is ready. With a dependent visa, you will be able to pick up part time work if you choose. There are plenty of counselling services in HK and a demand for counselling in various languages.

Good luck with your decision.

Oh out of the two right now I’d def go to Singapore. I have a few friends who’ve lived there and generally liked it, I’ve visited and they had a good quality of living.
In the past I’d have said HK but not with the current political situation

Only caveat with Singapore is the heat/humidity all year round. At least HK does have seasons. Singapore is great for weekends away in Thailand/Malaysia etc in non-covid times.

I hadn't realised the changing situation with letter of consent work permits in Singapore. Just to clarify, in HK you can automatically work on a dependent's visa with no restrictions on amount. I worked on a dependent's visa for years before I got PR as my job title meant it would have been difficult for the company to get a work visa for me. Even so, HK is an expensive city - most teachers I know in international schools are a "2 wage" family (quite often 2 teachers) or are single/childfree in which case they're on a v good salary. As others have said, the demand for English speaking therapy/ psychology services is definitely there so you'd have opportunities to work if you wanted to- the suggestion of school counsellor is a good one.

Hong Kong is definitely a nice place to live, if you don't concern about the political situation.

No more protest now as the government has banned all protest and the police just caught everyone tried to protect.

Sai Kung is nice place, away from the city. But be aware that, people tends to escape from the city centre and go to Sai Kung during weekends, it causes very heavy traffic demand and jams seriously. So you probably can't enjoy a quiet weekends if live in Sai Kung.

I lived in Hong Kong for more than 40 years, let me know if you want to know more about Hong Kong. Happy to share with you.

I was born in Hong Kong and grown up here, and considering to leave with my family very soon.
I think political environment, education and living space/pressure is a very critical point in Hong Kong.

I guess you will send your kids to international schools after pre-K, Hong Kong educational bureau is trying to introduce the national security class for compulsory (what we think is “brain washing class”) i am not sure international schools in Hong Kong will follow or not.

As your husband’s work location in Ma On Shan, living in Sai Kung is a good place for family, but may not be good for commute because of traffic issue (rural area, no railway, only minibus and buses to city). Sha Tin or Taipo (easy access to city, have railway, lot of buses and minibus) may be better, but the rent in Hong Kong is really unrealistic, usually cost over HKD$20000 per month for a small 2 rooms apartment

Hi op, what did you decide to do?!