Vox Pop: how do you think about the mainland kids born in Hong Kong
In order to make their children become permeant Hong Kong residents to share the welfare and enjoy the benefit of the developed society, more and more mainland expectant mothers choose to give birth to their babies in Hong Kong.
According to Southern Metropolis Daily, nearly 20,000 mainland women give birth in Hong Kong in 2005 and over 31,000 babies were born in Hong Kong by their mainland mothers in 2008.
Though Hong Kong government signed many rules and regulations to restrict the number of mainland pre-gent women to give birth in Hong Kong in the past few years, this situation is still hard to control.
Most media and local residents in Hong Kong opposed the mainlanders have their babies born in Hong Kong for years. However, this attitudes seems been changed under the financial slowdown in Hong Kong according to a recent interview in Hong Kong.
5 interviewees out of 6 thought it is acceptable because it is helpful to Hong Kong’s economy.
” It’s a good thing. Mainland women come to our hospital to give birth made my job more stable,” A 49-year-old elevator operator of Hong Kong Baptist hospital said. “They have money and we can provide best service to them, that a good thing.”
Ivy, a nurse of HKBH said:”It is good. Because less and less Hong Kong people choose to have baby at this time.”
Ben, a construction worker, said:”It’s ok if you have money. Mainland people come to Hong Kong can boost Hong Kong economy.”
Povy, assistant branch manager of a cord blood saving company, said:”It good for Hong Kong economy, I think it is good.”
An old lady who is shopping at 7-11 said:”If you have money, it’s ok.” “It has two sides of course. The mainland people come to Hong Kong boost our economy but also enlarge the population number at the same time,” she added. “It is too expensive to rise a child in Hong Kong, many couples could afford it, so they don’t want to have babies now. The mainland people come, they can pay for the hospital for their baby. That’s fine.”
However, Queena, a 21-year-old university student, doesn’t agree with them. “It’s unfair,” she said. “We can enjoy a good social and welfare system because we pay taxes to the government. But the mainland people didn’t pay taxes and haven’t make contributions to Hong Kong.”
“Besides, it also make imbalance of sex ratio in Hong Kong too,” she added. “Many Hong Kong men married mainland women and let their babies born in Hong Kong, it leads Hong Kong women couldn’t find husband.”
