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South China Morning Post
01-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Spark Deep Dive: Hong Kong's student housing crisis
Deep Dive delves into hot issues in Hong Kong and mainland China. Our easy-to-read articles provide context to grasp what's happening, while our questions help you craft informed responses. Check sample answers at the end of the page. News: Hong Kong's non-local university students are desperate for housing Number of non-local students, mainly from mainland China, is expected to rise amid tensions with the US City has more than 100,000 full-time university students enrolled but only 40,600 hostel beds Mainland Chinese student Corner Zhang, 18, is searching for a place to stay for his second year of university in Hong Kong after his application for campus housing was rejected. He had a shared dormitory room for his first year at Baptist University in Kowloon Tong. However, the school has not assured him of accommodation for the new academic year, which begins in September. Like other universities in the city, it does not have enough student housing for everyone who applies. Baptist University only guarantees housing to locals for a year and non-locals in their first year of study. Students from mainland China make up most of the non-local students in Hong Kong. Their number is expected to rise amid tensions and tightened visa and immigration procedures in the United States since President Donald Trump began his second term in January. One option Zhang is considering is renting a flat with other students outside Kowloon Tong. The neighbourhood is one of the most expensive residential areas in the city. He paid around HK$2,700 (US$345) per month for his university room, and he expects his monthly rent to at least double. He will also have to pay more for transport and other living costs. 'I will have to work part-time doing food delivery,' he said. 'I just want to find a place to stay with a decent roommate who won't disturb my life or studies.' According to the Education Bureau, for the 2024-25 academic year, the city's eight publicly funded universities had 76,943 Hongkongers and 26,476 non-locals in full-time undergraduate and postgraduate research programmes. However, these universities only offered around 40,600 hostel places. Although dormitory places grew by 15 per cent over the past decade, universities could not keep up with the overall growth in enrolment, particularly the sharp rise in non-local students. Demand will likely continue to rise, as the cap on non-local enrolments for publicly funded institutions was doubled from 20 per cent to 40 per cent of local student places from the current academic year. The need for accommodation is especially strong at Hong Kong's self-financing universities, which rely on non-local students. The number of local students in full-time self-financing undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the current academic year fell 11 per cent to 37,260 from a decade ago. Meanwhile, the number of non-locals more than tripled to 49,734 from 11,476 in 2015-16, according to official data. Staff writers Question prompts 1. According to the information in the news, which of the following are true? (1) Zhang expects his monthly rent to double to HK$2,000 when he rents a flat. (2) Hong Kong's publicly-funded universities have around 40,600 hostel spots available. (3) The city's publicly funded universities had more than 26,000 non-locals enrolled in full-time undergraduate and postgraduate research programmes during the 2023-24 academic year. (4) The number of non-local students in Hong Kong has doubled over the last 10 years. A. (1), (2) only B. (2), (4) only C. (1), (4) only D. (2), (3) only 2. Using the news, list TWO issues that Zhang faces regarding housing. 3. What factors have contributed to the lack of student housing? Explain using the news and your own knowledge. Cartoon Question prompts 1. What is being shown in this cartoon? How does it relate to the information presented in the news? 2. How might local students deal with the issue of housing differently from non-local students? What resources might local students have that non-local students don't? Explain using the news and your own knowledge. Glossary publicly funded universities: universities that get financial support from the Hong Kong government. They often have lower tuition fees and focus on research and accessibility. Hong Kong's eight publicly funded universities are the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Polytechnic University, City University, Baptist University, Lingnan University, and the Education University of Hong Kong. hostel: a place that provides inexpensive housing for students, workers, or travellers. It often includes shared or dorm-style rooms. self-financing institutions: educational establishments that do not get direct government funding. Instead, they rely on tuition fees, donations, and other revenue sources. Hong Kong's self-financed institutions include, but are not limited to, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, and Shue Yan University. Students walk outside the Swire Building, a student residence at the University of Hong Kong. Photo: Elson Li Sample answers News 1. B 2. Zhang is from mainland China, and therefore, he has no family to stay with in Hong Kong. Like many other non-local students, his application for on-campus housing was rejected by his university. Therefore, he has to find lodging himself. Additionally, Zhang expects his monthly rent to double when he moves off-campus. Because of this rent increase, he said he will need to work part-time to make ends meet. 3. University students struggle to find housing partly because of the rise in non-local students. These non-locals do not have the luxury of living at home with their parents during university. They are forced to find housing because universities cannot provide accommodation for more than a semester or two. In addition to having too many non-local students, there are also too few dorms or on-campus housing options available. This forces students to find alternate lodging. According to the Education Bureau, there were more than 100,000 full-time students in the 2024-25 academic school year, competing for around 40,000 hostel spaces. This means there simply aren't enough spots to go around. Cartoon 1. This cartoon shows many hands reaching for a wall that should be filled with keys to student dorms. However, there is only one key left on the board, and all the hands are vying for the same key. This represents the student housing problem presented in the news, as there are too many students and too few on-campus dorms. 2. Local students usually have the option of living at home during university. For some, this may be inconvenient if they live far away from their school, resulting in a longer commute. Still, it means they know they will have a home, and they can save money. Non-local students usually do not have this option. Therefore, they are forced to spend the extra money on lodging, which is often only guaranteed for a year at most. After that, they must find their own accommodation, which can be a challenge.
South China Morning Post
22-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Study in Hong Kong but live outside? How students are grappling with hostel crunch
Mainland Chinese student Corner Zhang, 18, is searching for a place to stay for his second year at a university in Hong Kong after his application for campus housing was rejected. Advertisement He had a shared dormitory room for his first year, but publicly funded Baptist University in Kowloon Tong has not assured him of accommodation for the new academic year, which begins in September. Like other universities in the city, it does not have enough student housing for everyone who applies. Baptist University only guarantees housing to locals for a year and to non-locals in their first year of study. 'Half the non-local students I know are in the same situation,' Zhang said. While the number of local students in full-time undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the current academic year dropped by around 0.5 per cent to 115,298 from a decade ago, the number of non-locals more than doubled to 76,325 from 27,187 in 2015-16, according to official data. Henry Li says he will consider renting a flat on the mainland if it becomes a struggle to find an affordable living space near Baptist University. Photo: May Tse The shortage of student housing has become a pressing problem even as city leader John Lee Ka-chiu pledged in his policy blueprint last year to make Hong Kong a global post-secondary education hub and attract more overseas students through scholarships and other incentives.
South China Morning Post
06-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Weaker Hong Kong dollar to boost tourism and lower cost of services: economists
Recent weakness in the Hong Kong dollar against some regional currencies has made the city more appealing to inbound tourists while lowering the costs of services, economists and industry leaders have said. Advertisement The Hong Kong dollar is pegged in a narrow range to the US dollar, which has weakened significantly in recent months. The US dollar index, or DXY, a measure of the currency against a basket of six others, dropped by 4 per cent in the first quarter. The local currency has appreciated strongly against the US dollar in the past four days, prompting the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city's de facto central bank, to intervene several times since Saturday to keep it within the range. 'A weaker Hong Kong dollar will help to boost tourism and bring more economic benefits to the city than anything else,' Billy Mak Sui-choi, associate professor at Baptist University's department of accountancy, economics and finance, said on Tuesday. He said the local currency peg to the weaker US dollar would lead to the Hong Kong dollar's depreciation against other currencies, resulting in cheaper prices for exports from the city and local professional services. Advertisement 'This will help boost tourism, creating a stronger incentive for tourists to come to Hong Kong and global investors to seek our professional services such as accounting and legal services,' he added. Mak noted that the inflow of overseas capital would stimulate more economic activity in Hong Kong as banks would have a tendency to reduce interest rates driven by greater liquidity flows.
South China Morning Post
06-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Weaker Hong Kong dollar to boost tourism and lower import costs, economists say
Recent weakness in the Hong Kong dollar against some currencies in the region has made the city more appealing to inbound tourists while lowering imported costs, according to economists and industry leaders. Advertisement The Hong Kong dollar, pegged to the US dollar, weakened against a basket of currencies as reflected in the US dollar DXY Index, dropping 4 per cent in the first quarter. The drop in the local currency occurred even though it appreciated strongly against the US dollar in the past four days, prompting the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to intervene for the third time since Saturday. 'A weaker Hong Kong dollar will help boost tourism and bring more economic benefits to the city than anything else,' said Billy Mak Sui-choi, associate professor at Baptist University's department of accountancy, economics and finance. He explained that the local currency peg to a weakening US dollar would lead to the Hong Kong dollar's depreciation against other currencies, resulting in cheaper prices for local professional services. Advertisement 'This will help boost tourism, creating a stronger incentive for tourists to come to Hong Kong and global investors to seek our professional services such as accounting and legal services.' Mak pointed out that the inflow of overseas capital would stimulate more economic activity in Hong Kong as banks would have a tendency to reduce interest rates driven by greater liquidity flows.
RTHK
24-04-2025
- Business
- RTHK
Six HK universities make list of Asia's top 50
Six HK universities make list of Asia's top 50 Baptist University is the latest Hong Kong institution to make it into the top 50 Asian campuses. File photo: RTHK The six universities in Hong Kong have made it into the top 50 in the latest rankings of Asian tertiary institutions by Britain's Times Higher Education magazine for the first time since 2017. The city's two oldest universities were both in the top 10, with the University of Hong Kong maintaining its sixth place and the Chinese University moving up to ninth. According to the magazine's Asia University Rankings 2025 published on Thursday, the latest Hong Kong entrant is Baptist University, which jumped from 63rd to 50th place. The University of Science and Technology kept its 12th placing while Polytechnic University rose to 18th. City University, which saw its ranking drop slightly to 16th, said in a statement that it "continues to excel in various evaluation indicators". Beijing's Tsinghua University continues to top the rankings for the seventh consecutive year while Peking University retained its second place. Two Singapore universities followed closely behind, while the University of Tokyo held steady at fifth. The magazine ranked the universities based on their research, teaching, knowledge transfer and international outlook.
