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Letters

Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words.
As Hong Kong prepares for its first five-year planning cycle, long-term urban sustainability demands investing in mental capital. For Hong Kong to remain globally competitive without normalising burnout or chronic stress, mental health must be treated as core public infrastructure and a strategic economic enabler – not merely a medical service for diagnosed conditions.
The rationale is human and economic. High living costs, long working hours, high-stakes academic pressure and rapid technological shifts create significant mental strain.
This translates to an estimated HK$12.4 billion annual loss in workforce productivity due to poor mental health.
Hong Kong possesses distinct comparative advantages, including an established professional workforce, world-class university research, a sophisticated health system and capable NGOs. However, current resources remain fragmented and heavily concentrated downstream in clinical care.
In 2022-2023, the Hospital Authority spent HK$6.086 billion on clinical mental healthcare, while population-level promotion like “Shall We Talk” campaign received just HK$50 million.
Furthermore, the existing Advisory Committee on Mental Health lacks the mandate of a true system-level coordinating body, contrasting with cross-sector strategies adopted by Singapore and Australia, for example.
To redesign competition so excellence remains sustainable, Hong Kong should adopt a model akin to elite sports – balancing high performance with disciplined effort, recovery, evidence-based training and psychological support.
Hong Kong should position mental health as a strategic asset in master development planning, integrate mental health into economic planning and build integrated governance architecture with system-level accountability.
Mental health access and quality should be improved across the care continuum. Funding and evaluation systems should be outcome-based, instead of output-based. Determinants of stress in workplaces and schools and among the ageing population should be addressed. Supportive environments should be built across digital, social and physical spaces.
Citywide mental health data networks should be developed to facilitate real-time problem detection, strategic planning and the rapid translation of empirical research into frontline practice.
By transitioning from resource-intensive downstream treatment to proactive, preventive care, Hong Kong can protect its human capital, drive economic innovation and establish a premier benchmark for mentally healthy, high-performance cities across China and globally.
Dr Candice Powell, CEO, Mind HK
Hong Kong can and should be a humanitarian hub
The United Nations’ 2026 humanitarian plan calls for US$33 billion to aid 135 million of the world’s most vulnerable people. This remains largely underfunded, while traditional donors are scaling back their aid commitments.
With the coming five-year plan, Hong Kong could be positioned as a humanitarian hub, building long-term health resilience for the world’s most impoverished.
Our city already has a long-standing tradition of generosity with short-term aid. The Disaster Relief Fund, Hong Kong’s principal dedicated mechanism for overseas disaster relief, supports NGOs delivering food, drinking water, shelter and essential supplies. In recent years, it has aided affected communities in Turkey, Myanmar and Brazil.
Emergency relief is indispensable but cannot address issues like structural poverty, weak health systems and endemic diseases that leave communities vulnerable to repeated crises. Relief becomes far more effective when complemented by longer-term measures such as workforce training and health system strengthening.
The five-year plan could redefine Hong Kong’s role in humanitarian assistance. The city’s medical system, logistics networks, universities and NGOs, combined with the Greater Bay Area’s manufacturing and technological capabilities, could support practical international partnerships – from training health workers and strengthening laboratories to improving disease surveillance and emergency preparedness.
Investing in long-term development strengthens regional health systems that protect Hong Kong, while creating concrete research and training opportunities for our universities and medical professionals. Saving lives abroad would also enhance Hong Kong’s global standing and influence.
We must, of course, continue to address urgent domestic needs. But the Disaster Relief Fund shows how modest spending – roughly HK$10 per resident annually, over the past five years – can produce outsize humanitarian outcomes. Embedding long‑term recovery aid in the five‑year plan simply acknowledges that our city’s dependency on global trade comes with responsibilities beyond our borders.
We have the means, the expertise and the institutions to do tremendous good. All that remains is a clear mandate to put all these capabilities together.
Ivan Lam, Cheung Sha Wan


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Mental health

5-year plan must take mental health seriously for the economy’s sake

People fill the streets in Kwun Tong at lunchtime. In driving economic innovation, the protection of human capital, and mental health, is strategic. Photo: Dickson Lee


Why does Hong Kong need a 5-year plan – and will it crimp its free-market economy?

Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

Hong Kong is moving into uncharted territory by rolling out a five-year plan. Photo: Sam Tsang

 Macau is expected to release its third five-year plan this month. Photo: Eugene Lee

Lawmaker Rock Chen says long-term planning can ensure policy continuity. Photo: Jelly Tse

American free-market economist Milton Friedman once called Hong Kong his “favourite economy”. Photo: SCMP

Deng Xiaoping said that both planning and the market were tools for allocating resources. Photo: AFP

Economist Heiwai Tang says Hong Kong needs to be more resilient. Photo: Sun Yeung

How can retirees beat rising healthcare costs in Hong Kong?

illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Philip Kong was diagnosed with an enlarged prostate earlier this year and was set to pay HK$210,000 for surgery at the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Pamphlets advertising the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme. Photo: Nora Tam

Clement Chan has said that a decade ago, many Hongkongers would have been wary of mainland medical services due to media coverage of blunders. Photo: Sun Yeung

Hong Kong must add specialised services to tackle rising youth suicides, NGO says

Wo Chak-ming (left), chairman of the Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong, with executive director David Cheng at a press conference. Photo: Jonathan Wong

A teenager sits on a bench in Tuen Mun. The suicide rate in Hong Kong among those aged 15 to 24 was 11.7 per 100,000 in 2024. Photo: Sun Yeung

(From left) crisis counselor Cherry Wu, Shan, and Maggie Wai, head of the NGO’s suicide crisis intervention centre. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Opinion

Readers discuss why mental health ought to be positioned as a strategic asset, and how the city is well-placed to build health resilience for the world’s most impoverished


Readers discuss why mental health ought to be positioned as a strategic asset, and how the city is well-placed to build health resilience for the world’s most impoverished.
