Is it time to go to Hong Kong?

On the second month of the protests/demonstrations in Hong Kong, we joked among friends that it might be a good time to go to HK as there were discounted plane fares and hotel rates. On the third month of the protests, I was receiving online offers from booking sites and directly even from five-star hotels for 50% discounts. Then from airlines really cheap Cebu-HK or Manila-HK roundtrip flights. Last week in a company board meeting, where we had three board directors from HK, one of them confirmed that tourists in HK are down 55% because of the demonstrations in the airport and in the MTR. Retail sales are 60% lower, that one of the major shopping malls advertised “sale” with discounts of up to 70%. Hotels and restaurants are also discounting rates and advertising great meals. I got an offer for “spicy hairy crab” in my email which looks delicious. There are also no long lines in HK Disneyland and other amusement parks, so one can finish all the rides and attractions in one day. So, is it time to go to HK as tourists, to shop and see the sights?

As of Sunday, October 6, 2019 the protesters/demonstrators have declared an interim HK government after a two-day location-shifting protest in reaction to the implementation of the facemask prohibition. The protests have become more riotous after two teenagers were shot and the police had to use more teargas, water cannons, and rubber bullets. The MTR was closed for a day but was partially back the following day. I am really very surprised at the tenacity and the staying power of these demonstrators, considering that these are young people aged 16 to 27 with very few older people. While it has definitely split Hong Kong society, the preponderance of young protesters is baffling and needs to be understood.

According to my friends in HK, their social life has shortened on weekdays as they try to be home by 7 p.m. and by 2 p.m. on weekends. The one time he left the office at 7 p.m. he could not get through and the police told him to just leave his car in the road. He didn’t get a no-parking ticket but he had to get his car at 1 a.m. Most social, sports, and cultural events have been cancelled including popular international promotions coming to HK.

Over and above the tourism and retail sales decline, HK’s loss of status as a financial center, which I had covered in an earlier column, is deepening. An international investment bank estimated that at least $4 billion in deposits have been moved to Singapore. While electronic banking has made fund transfers to anywhere in the world within minutes, negating possible currency prohibition and restrictions; there is still a need for domestic local currency deposits to stabilize exchange rates and maintain confidence in the local economy. The Central Bank of China had been on top of this situation, but this would now be a harder task with the political problems of HK.

There are some 450,000 foreign workers in HK, 360,000 of them Filipino and Indonesian domestic workers. They are now complaining about loss of social interaction with other Filipinos on weekends, job insecurity, loss of income, anxiety, and creeping sense of danger. These will be a problem not just to HK but also to the Philippines and Indonesia.

Like many Filipinos, I like traveling, sightseeing, and shopping, but the current situation in HK is a very serious matter. This is not really the time to go to HK for people who have no serious business or engagement to be there. Maybe it’s time to pray for the peaceful resolution of the situation without unnecessary loss of lives even if many livelihoods have already been adversely affected.