Got off the phone with a friend, who decided to move to the UK using the BNO Visa option recently.
This is the first person I know in person who is taking up this pathway for a new life. I have known this couple for a very long time. They are the most chilled and calmest people I know. They are not political at all. They are just hard-working parents wanting to provide for their kid. So, I was naturally surprised by their decision.
During the conversation, the main tipping factor was similar to all the other YouTube videos that I have watched in the recent months. They decided to move, because they wanted to have a better environment for their kid to grow up in. They have long been sceptical about the education system in Hongkong. The Beijing Duck (forced feeding) Education style that had been running in Hongkong since I was a kid was always at the back of their mind (they went through it like I did, being of the same age). But the push factor, was that they wanted their kid to have independent thinking growing up, without the risk of saying something wrong, and suffering repercussions because of it. They also wanted their kid to be able to exercise free will and make informed decisions instead of becoming an ideological tool.
It must have been a hard decision. Giving up all you have in one place, and moving to another place to start anew. I made that decision twenty years ago, and I certainly understand how they feel. All I could offer is a lot of research for them, and provide some of my experience in the past.
Things have changed a lot over the last twenty years. Surely, if Sydney, locating at the ass of the world had changed so much, so would have the UK.
I still remember when I first got off my first business flight in my life I got from point upgrade at the gate, and stepped outside the customs and into the arrival hall of the Sydney International Airport. I was excited and scared at the same time. I came back here, but I know little about here.
I researched before the big move, but researches can only take you that far.
I still remember I got the number of the University college, they provided tips on how much I should be paying for the cab ride so I wouldn’t be ripped off. Still, when the cab driver noticed that I knew he was not playing fair (he thought I was clueless fresh off the flight with all the luggage to the University), he well still, not played fair. When I questioned the route he chose, he eventually dropped me off on the main road outside the University gate and refused to go in. I had no choice but dragged my luggage across the campus to get to the college, where I finally felt more settled for the first time in months.
My decision of staying in the University college was one the best choices I made, because I had the next 2.5 years to explore and understand Sydney. This familiar yet unfamiliar city that I am calling home now.
The first feeling of comfort was when my high school friend dropped off the boxes of belongings that I sent to him in advance that evening at my college. I would not have imagined how much comfort you get with a familiar face and a familiar voice.
I felt quite lucky. Through him, I reconnected with some ex-classmates (whom I got along with) and also at the college I made a number of new friends who were sharing the same excitement-anxiety combo with me. My settling in was a lot smoother than probably a lot of other Hongkong people are experiencing in UK right now.
In one of the videos, an ex-executive in Hongkong was saying, no matter how much you researched before arriving, you still make mistakes. Mistakes you thought you could have avoided, but because of carelessness and insecurity, you still fell into them.
I heard some people said, ‘don’t migrate to the UK for your kids, but for yourself, or you will regret it’. I personally do not agree with this saying. Although I am single without kids, when you have kids, your kids should, and will always be your priority. Otherwise, why having kids at all? So, when you decide to migrate for the kids, you are migrating for yourself too, because, consciously or sub-consciously, your kid is your life, if not an extension of your life. Migrating for your kids is not a sacrifice, it is a decision for yourself too, so you can seek a life that suits you and your family better.
Life will never be the same when you migrate to another country. It always helps, as in my case, when you have familiar faces to support you and to help you. It is a big decision for me as a single guy, it will be an even bigger decision for families with kids, and I admire their courage. Especially when the kids might not be even aware of the reason of the move. But what I discussed with my friend today was that, it doesn’t matter what other people think of you. What they thought of your decision does not make you less as a person especially as a person who seeks a life most suitable for yourself and your family. People will always have views, your own view about who you are, who you want to be, what you want for your family and yourself are the most important. Other people’s views and opinions are just gusts of wind on a walkway, and soon will be irrelevant.
With more and more people moving from Hongkong to UK, I already saw that they are slowly rebuilding themselves over the last year, and some of them are actively reaching out to help others who are following their footsteps. If any people, I felt that Hongkong people will settle in well and integrate into the British society with more ease. Their Hongkonghood spirit will allow them to help each other out, and become a strong contributing force to the British society in the future.
To move or not to move, especially under the current world order, will always be a huge question. But if you chose to move, you need to know that you are not alone on this journey. Help will always be there for those who seek for it.
Add oil everyone!
