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Letters

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Hong Kong’s falling birth rate brings to mind a tune from decades ago: “Two is enough, two is enough, girl or boy, two is enough.” At the time, the Family Planning Association campaign made perfect sense. The city was crowded, resources were tight and limiting population growth was a rational goal. It succeeded.
Today, Hong Kong faces the inverse problem. Birth rates are among the lowest in the world, and attention has shifted to reversing the trend or offsetting it through immigration.
Having lived in Japan for decades, I have seen what follows when births decline over time. The outcome is not sudden decay. Cities remain orderly, efficient, even busy. But something more subtle begins to change.
In a commuter town where I once lived, playgrounds were gradually replaced by parking spaces. Schools merged, the streets stayed clean, the houses well-kept – but the faces grew older, without being replaced at the same pace. Weekdays and weekends began to feel indistinguishable. The town had not emptied. It had simply stopped renewing itself.
Hong Kong is not there yet. Its density and continued inflow of people will keep it active. Immigration can sustain numbers and support the workforce. But it cannot fully replace the quieter process by which a city renews itself through families and new generations.
Some of this is already perceptible – in concerns over the erosion of Cantonese, or the fading of long-standing community associations. These are not dramatic shifts. They unfold gradually, and are often recognised only in hindsight.
A city can remain full without remaining young. It can remain active, but only for a time.
The question Hong Kong now faces is not simply how to raise its birth rate, but whether it can recognise the deeper consequences of demographic decline – and act – before they become irreversible.
Marco Lobo, Mid-Levels
Double standards in the US-Iran war
“We got him,” US President Donald Trump triumphantly declared after the rescue of a missing pilot from a downed F-15E in Iran, framing the operation as a testament to how the country will “never leave an American warfighter behind”.
Yet this profound reverence for a single American life stands in stark contrast to Washington’s chilly indifference towards Iranians, with at least 1,900 killed, 20,000 wounded and 3 million displaced in this war.
More than 100 US-based international law experts, from schools including Harvard, Yale and Stanford, have condemned the war as a clear violation of the UN Charter, warning that some US actions risk qualifying as war crimes.
The strike on a girls’ primary school in Minab in southern Iran on the first day of the war, which claimed 175 lives, most of them children, is a resounding example. Pentagon investigators found that the strike, among the deadliest civilian casualty incidents for the US military in decades, was based on outdated intelligence.
The hypocrisy deepens when one scrutinises the administration’s rhetoric. Trump openly boasted that the US may conduct strikes on Iran “just for fun”. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth once dismissed rules of engagement – which exist to protect civilians – as “stupid”.
Perhaps to manage the fallout, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly directed American diplomats worldwide to partner with the Pentagon’s psychological operations unit, while recruiting local influencers to help in “telling America’s story”.
That attempt to shore up Uncle Sam’s rapidly eroding global standing came as Gallup’s latest poll showed global approval of China’s leadership surpassing that of the United States. This gap, the widest in China’s favour in almost 20 years, emerged from surveys conducted last year – before the Iran war began.
Tibby Chen, Beijing


The story begins …

Hong Kong’s new chapter

Hong Kong population

The clock is ticking on reversing Hong Kong’s birth decline

A family walks along the harbour on March 15, past a giant inflatable sleeping cat in the Art Park in the West Kowloon Cultural District. Photo: Sam Tsang

Hong Kong’s low birth rate calls for swift, thoughtful school restructuring

A view of Fresh Fish Traders’ School at Tai Kok Tsui, one of the schools at risk of closure. Photo: Jelly Tse

Hong Kong’s under-enrolled primary schools can be overhauled more painlessly

A school day at Five Districts Business Welfare Association School in Cheung Sha Wan on March 18. The Education Bureau announced that for the 2026/27 academic year, 15 primary schools failed to meet their intake targets. Photo: Jelly Tse


Policy support is needed to create Asia-specific mental health safety nets

People walk across a bridge, with Kai Ching Estate and Choi Hung Estate in the background, in 2025. A public health approach ought to be taken to mental health crisis intervention by integrating police with academia and NGOs. Photo: Jelly Tse


Opinion

Hong Kong Opinion

Readers discuss the subtle changes afoot when cities age, and double standards in the US-Iran war


Readers discuss the subtle changes afoot when cities age, and double standards in the US-Iran war.


Hong Kong society

Ageing society

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Readers discuss the subtle changes afoot when cities age, and double standards in the US-Iran war

Readers discuss the subtle changes afoot when cities age, and double standards in the US-Iran war