Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The living condition in Canada is first class. The air is fresh. Only it's difficult
to make a living… I had no choice but to come back to make a living. At first
I was quite happy when I emigrated, because my kids were young, they needed
me to take care of them. After they had grown up, they no longer needed me,
I felt bored. Furthermore there had only been expenses and no income for so
many years. So I considered coming back to make some money. I wish to go
back after retirement, but it is contradictory. When I expire, I prefer to be
buried in Hong Kong. But I still wish to live there after retirement, because I
like the lifestyle there. But I prefer dying in Hong Kong, not there.
Conclusion
In this chapter we have followed millionaire migrants and their children on
the return flight from Vancouver to Hong Kong. The movement began early,
even before the peak year of emigration from Hong Kong in 1994 when
44,000 residents of the colony appeared on Canadian landing cards.
Returnees represent a significant loss of human capital from Canada, com-
prising young and usually bilingual college graduates, and middle-aged busi-
nessmen and their families. Young adults are beginning their business and
professional careers cashing in cultural capital gained in Canada for finan-
cial capital in East Asia. Older households are on the same economic mis-
sion, but typically they are replenishing family resources that have been
depleted in economic under-achievement in Canada. The existence of family,
friends and even alumni of the same university also provide a stock of social
capital that may provide expedited entry into the Hong Kong workforce.
Census analysis has confirmed that in 2001 returnees were out-performing
Hong Kong immigrants who remained in Canada by a wide margin.
But we have seen that to label these movers as returnees is premature.
A number are already planning ahead for their next move back to Canada
on the occasion of a significant personal or family status passage. For young
adults, marriage and the arrival of children will raise the same transnational
urge as their parents confronted concerning the desire to launch their chil-
dren into a western education. Some are already thinking about retirement,
but for middle-aged returnees this is a more immediate eventuality and a
number view it as a moment to transition out of Asia and to take the flight
back to Canada.
There are parallels in this repeated coming and going with domestic
migration in and out of major cities. Metropolitan areas such as Sydney,
New York or London all have labour markets that attract young adults from
within their own national borders who are plunged into the long hours of
establishing a professional or business career. With marriage, re-location
typically occurs to the suburbs or a smaller city or town, and with later
family downsizing and retirement renewed migration may occur to another
