20-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- South China Morning Post
Younger Hongkongers are taking it slow and steady? Good
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One afternoon in Mong Kok, I watched a mother place a milk tea beside her daughter, who sat quietly with her laptop closed. No lecture, no judgment – just quiet understanding. That small gesture stayed with me. As someone who works in vision coaching with Hong Kong youth, I see this same quiet recalibration in many of my sessions: young people choosing to pause.
This shift isn't about laziness. It's a sign of reflection. After years of racing towards grades, titles and expectations, many are asking better questions. One young client said, 'If I keep sprinting like this for 10 more years, what kind of person will I be?' That isn't apathy – it's awareness.
There's even a name for it: 'cozymaxxing', a trend where young people build comfort and recovery into their daily lives. I've seen clients replace all-nighters with slow walks, side hustles with sleep. They're not rejecting ambition, they're reshaping it.
In a recent Randstad study, 45 per cent of Hong Kong millennials reported that they have
'quiet quit' due to job dissatisfaction, with around one in three having skipped work for the same reason. The system many grew up trusting, it seems, no longer guarantees a life worth living.
Think of the Peak Tram. It doesn't race. It climbs steadily, at its own pace, and always gets there. That's the kind of ambition I am seeing more of: slower, more intentional, grounded in long-term well-being.
