We’re staying put: Why Aussies aren’t moving from Hong Kong amid violent protests
Beijing has threatened heavy-handed action as protests continue to rock Hong Kong. But despite the chaos, Aussie expats are staying put. Here’s why.
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There is a palpable tension in the steamy air of Hong Kong’s humid streets.
Life may have returned to normal after violent clashes between police and protesters at the airport earlier this week, but an impending sense of climax is creeping through the Southeast Asian metropolis.
A showdown is coming.
The People’s Liberation Army has gathered paramilitary vehicles and troops at the border city of Shenzen.
Mainland China authorities have brushed off the brutal display of force as just a coincidence that the army are holding exercises so close to Hong Kong, but the message of intimidation is clear.
MORE: Photos show China’s plan for Hong Kong invasion
For Australian expats living and working in Hong Kong it seems the strain of the past 10 weeks of defiance and violence has not taken a toll.
“There has not been a single member who has said ‘that’s it, I’m out of here’,” Australian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong chief executive Jacinta Reddan, 54, said.
The organisation has 1400 Australian members - the biggest Australian business chamber in Asia - and while some sectors such as hotel, retail and hospitality have experienced a downturn, none have called it quits.
“We have seen Hong Kong survive through turmoil before and come out the other side.”
However, some chamber members expressed concern over the impact of the violent clashes on Hong Kong’s reputation.
MORE: How Hong Kong protests will hurt Australia
Ten weeks of almost daily anti-government protests have taken a toll on Hong Kong’s economy that was already feeling the fall out of the US and China trade war.
“One of the big things about Hong Kong is that it is the trusted place to do business in Asia, particularly as a gateway to China. None of us want to see this erosion of confidence and trust in Hong Kong,” Ms Reddan said.
“It’s not something that we ever see on the streets of Hong Kong so it’s unsettling to say the very least, and alarming, because it’s so unfamiliar.”
Originally from Warrnambool, Victoria, Ms Reddan first moved to Hong Kong as a former Herald Sun journalist on her way to London and has now been there for 14 years along with her two teenage daughters.
“This is my home. I spent most of my adult life here,” she said.
“Many of us are heavily emotionally invested. People have built successful businesses here. We love Hong Kong.
“It’s more than just a business transaction, it’s more than just the bottom line impact, it’s how this affecting our staff, our neighbours, our kids, our families.”
Scottie Callaghan, 44, and his wife Jemima, 38, homeschool their three kids aged 6, 8 and 10 on the idyllic Lantau island in the province’s southwest.
The couple from Sydney’s Avalon are yet to discuss what it would take to pull their young family out of Hong Kong, which they have called home for the past seven years.
As the owner and managing director of Fineprint - two popular Australian coffee shops in Hong Kong - Callaghan said he would leave if it got to the point that he lost his business or their safety was compromised.
“The protests themselves don’t impact our business,” he said.
“What will impact us is if the PLA intervene, if it gets to the point that mainland China drives their tanks into Hong Kong and the expats jump on planes and get out of here.
“The protesters are not going to give up - for them it’s do or die.
“And mainland China will not comprise or do dialogue. They are the boss.
“You do wonder what is going to happen to Hong Kong economically and politically.”
The demonstrations against China’s extradition bill have increased in violence. Protesters have started throwing molotov cocktails and this week physically blocked international travellers from getting flights. Police officers have twice pulled their guns but not fired at crowds.
Bendigo’s Darren Kerby, 58, and his fiancee Sharon Hill, 56, we’re caught in the midst of the police and protester violence at Hong Kong’s airport on Tuesday night.
The couple took shelter between the Cathay Pacific check in desk and then had to crawl to safety down a baggage shoot.
“It was a classic,” Mr Kerby, a business coach, said.
The couple had been in Hong Kong to buy a wedding ring on their way home from a holiday in the Philippines.
“There’s a great story to the ring now,” he said.
To galvanise support for the fight to retain freedoms, some brazen Hong Kong cafes and shops are loudly playing the Les Miserables anthem Do You Hear the People Sing?
Others are turning their social media handles black in solidarity with the black-clad pro-democracy protesters.
A furious Beijing has dubbed the anti-government protests “terrorism”.
In the Hong Kong airport, multiple packs of up to 30 police in a group patrol the building, some with riot helmets and battons attached to their belts. All are armed with guns. Their numbers have been further bolstered by private airport security teams.
For Australian expats Philip, 40, and Florence, 35, Lau and their 3-year-old son Harvey, the protests have been a minor inconvenience.
Originally from Doncaster in Melbourne, they have lived in Hong Kong for 10 years and said they accepted the protests, so long as they did not affect their daily lives.
They flew to Bangkok on Thursday on a pre-booked holiday but were glad to get out of their neighbourhood where protests were planned today and tomorrow.
“Fighting for freedom is a passion for the kids, for the young people,” Mr Lau, 40, who works in banking, said.
“It’s getting very complicated now. To an extent, we disagree with both sides.
“But compared to countries like Thailand or Indonesia where they have protests, this is child’s play.”
For semi-retired couple Colin, 65, and Judi, 64, Morris of Brunswick Heads in New South Wales, their layover in Hong Kong on the way to Paris on Thursday was immune to the violence.
“We were blissfully unaware until our friends started messaging asking if we were OK,” Ms Morris said.
Perth couple Emma and Duncan Burgess were not so lucky.
Their holiday was stalled for three days as their flight to Paris was cancelled twice among the 979 flight cancellations at Hong Kong’s airport this week.
“We had a four-day tour around France that was all paid for that costs us $3000-$4000 that we’ve completely missed out on,” Ms Burgess, an accountant from Baldivis, said.
“Our biggest worry is coming back in a few weeks, we have to stop through Hong Kong again.”
But while she said the protesters “took it too far” this week, she was sympathetic to their plight.
“At the end of the day they’re doing the right thing to stick up for themselves,” she said.
Hong Kong barista, Ason, 26, who would not give his surname for fear of police retribution, said he protested every chance he could.
“I’m used to tear gas now,” he said.
He said the roll out of 5G, new identification cards and an increase in public CCTV was increasing China’s mass surveillance on Hong Kong and forcing it to be like the far-west province of Xinjiang, where reeducation camps hold thousands of Uyghurs and Muslim minorities.
“I’m scared about the future of Hong Kong,” Ason said.
“If I have a child, they won’t have the freedom I had.
“There could be restrictions, not just on speech but on buying things.
“It’s a horrible thing as a human.”
For Australian business owner Ivy Wong Stephens, the terrifying cat and mouse conflict between police and protesters has been a double edged sword.
Formerly from Canberra, she has been in Hong Kong for 18 years and is the founder and chief customer success officer of Meatmarket.hk _ an online retailer that delivers fresh Australian meat, mainly from NSW, to Hong Kong homes.
“In terms of impact for my business we’ve actually benefited slightly because we’re a home delivery service. People don’t want to go out,” she said. “It sounds terrible but it is benefiting us a little.”
However, she has had the pressure of ensuring the safety of her drivers, many who have been harmed by tear gas on the roads, and her staff who she has warned not to wear black and to work from home some days.
Ms Wong Stephens fears the tensions in Hong Kong will only end in one way - more violence.
“I think it’s going to end with China coming in. And if that day does come, I will seriously reconsider being here,” she said.
“We didn’t sign up to live in the kind of environment. It essentially becomes martial law.
“There will be a next level of violence and destruction that goes with that and I don’t think China is someone you want to mess around with.”
She said she feared someone was going to die in the protest.
“If the protesters continue going the way they’re going, I’m scared for those people that there is going to be death and destruction and that is the worst thing that could happen to Hong Kong,” she said.
“Walking around the streets feeling unsafe is not what I signed up for.
“One of the reasons why I live in Hong Kong and most people live in Hong Kong is that it’s really safe.
“I worry about the violence, I worry about how the whole vibe will change. That ease of business, that ease of life, that ease of just being able to be normal _ it will all change.”
Originally published as We’re staying put: Why Aussies aren’t moving from Hong Kong amid violent protests
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