5th February 2023 – (Reading) In recent years, many Hong Kong citizens have migrated overseas to U.K. and Canada. Among the preferred countries, the U.K. appeared to be the most popular choice. As the number of Hong Kong residents migrating to the U.K. continues to increase, there are more and more migrants who shared their experience on social media from time to time.
A woman with a Facebook name “Lost in Reading” from Hong Kong who migrated to Reading in Southern England recently lamented on Facebook that after migrating to U.K., she lives a “miserable life worse off than being a slave” and advised Hong Kong people who plan to migrate to think clearly. However, some netizens sensed irony and sarcasm in the post as she actually commended the wonderful life in the U.K. The post sparked heated discussions among netizens due to the “hard” life of the woman.
The woman first complained that her daily life was “difficult” after settling down in Reading, United Kingdom. She has to live in a 90-year-old house and it took a long time for her to renovate. As the house is massive, she often misplaces household items. She also said that her family home in Hong Kong was tiny and now she has to manage the garden at home from time to time after migrating to there. The 2,000-square-foot garden needs to be maintained all the time resulting her to work as a ‘slave’. She added that she has to take care of her cherry trees and apple trees on a regular basis and the fruits often fall to the ground if she doesn’t attend to them frequently.
Fortunately, her neighbours have not complained. They are very friendly and often chat with her and she finds it difficult to remember the names of her neighbours since there are too many of them. They often give her food and gifts to her and she even received chocolates from them. As a result, she has issues thinking of gifts in return. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, good neighbourliness hardly exists as most city dwellers do not exchange gifts with each other during festive season. They are so intertwined with their private lives and work routines that they treat neighbours as strangers.
The woman also added that driving is crucial when living in a foreign country as U.K. is not as convenient as Hong Kong. She ‘complained’ that the parking space in her garden is too large. In order to fill up the parking space, she even planned to add two more cars, but her son still has not got a driving licence.
In addition, when driving out by car, other motorists are very courteous and they often give way which resulted in her feeling useless after many years of driving skills in Hong Kong. Locally, most motorists especially taxi drivers are impatient and they do not give way during busy traffic.
She also said that the ingredients in local supermarkets are very fresh. Since she has two ovens and a dishwasher in her home, so she has no excuse not to cook every day. In addition, since there is too much space in the home, so she has to find excuse to invite the whole family to eat together regularly. She could also afford to keep 2 Christmas trees, one bought from the year before and one bought during last Christmas during Black Friday sale from IKEA due to the larger space at home.
In short, she was trying to tell netizens that life in U.K. is much more relaxed and she has to work ‘harder’ due to the bigger space. Many responded by saying that since the ‘life is so difficult’, they also want to try it out.
