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Hong Kong, City of Opportunities
"It is a city full of opportunities," said Morna Humphrey, a 40-year-old British businesswoman who came from Scotland 23 year ago. She said most of the British people who happened to be in Hong Kong are unwilling to leave just because of the numerous opportunities it offers.
Humphrey and her husband were sent to Hong Kong by the British government in 1978 on a two-year mission, but she said she found immediately after her arrival that the city is not only exciting and dynamic but also packed with opportunities for business. "We have never thought of returning home since then," she said.
Almost two years later after Humphrey and her husband, who is a specialist in architecture, decided to settle down in Hong Kong. They set up a consultant company on construction, the Bruce Humphrey Consultants Ltd., which has gained much strength and become one of the key companies in the sector.
"Although the natural environment in Scotland is good and the life there is comfortable, Hong Kong is more attractive to foreigners since the job opportunities here are as many as fruit hanging on trees," she said. "You can choose whatever you want and it is much easier for you to achieve your goal in Hong Kong than any other place elsewhere in the world."
Like Humphrey at least 20,000 Britons all happened to be in this city for quite a lot of reasons: some for tourism or visiting their families and relatives, others for international conferences and seminars, and still others just for a stop via Hong Kong on their journey to other Asian cities. But all of them decided to stay for a long period of time, finding Hong Kong the best place in the world for them to live and do business.
Among these British immigrants, there are big bosses of banks, outstanding experts in various sectors, and high-ranking officials and business executives in overseas and local companies. Being contributors to Hong Kong's social stability and economic prosperity, they have also been benefited a lot from this city, said Humphrey.
"As a matter of fact, in addition to the innumerable opportunities of making money and its most favorable business environment, Hong Kong is also a very good place for people to relax," she said, adding that despite its limited and densely- populated space, the city has dozens of vast country parks. "You can enjoy your comfortable countryside life or have a fun just a mile away from your office, and you never feel dull in this great city," she said.
Humphrey is also administrative secretary of the Hong Kong St. Andrew's Society (Scotland), one of Hong Kong's 20 and more associations for different British people coming from different parts of UK and with different social and cultural backgrounds. At weekends and holidays, over 600 members of the society gather frequently to have Scottish balls and parties, dancing the Scottish dances and eating Scottish food. "Everything is in such a traditional Scottish way so as to express our feelings of missing homeland," Humphrey said.
"So far, we don't plan to go back to UK," she said. "We have thought of going home sometime after our retirement, but we are always reluctant to leave because we have our business here," Humphrey said.
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