Health, Education and Wellbeing in Hong Kong: British Legacy and New Challenges since the Handover to China

For over half a century of British rule (1842-1997), Hong Kong was run by a colonial and business elite who focused on economic development and political stability through a laissez-faire policy, except during the Second World War Japanese occupation and the last years of colonial rule when democracy was being gradually introduced. After the Handover which took place on the 1st of July 1997, the government of Hong Kong had to adapt to an unprecedented geopolitical context which combined an economic, legal and social structure inherited from its colonial past and a Chinese institutional framework, known as “one country, two systems” within which the liberal economy and political autonomy of Hong Kong would coexist with the interventionism of the communist regime in Beijing. This article will focus on policy inputs especially in health and education, in the context of the historical transfer of the territory of Hong Kong from a British colony to a Special Administrative Region of the Chinese People’s Republic and will integrate the analysis of these inputs into the wider framework of the assessment of wellbeing issues in Hong Kong. These are indeed two key sectors concerning the wellbeing of the population. Besides they are major sources of concern for families in Hong Kong due to pressures from demography and structural changes in the labour market, integration with the mainland (pushing for adaptation of programs and use of standard Chinese) as well as cultural factors. The Chinese have always valued good health and perceived education as particularly important for upward social mobility and economic success. This article will first examine the areas of health and education in turn in the context of British colonial rule, and move on to explore the most recent developments in those areas since the Handover. It will then assess how specific factors (geography, history, politics) may have influenced policy and finally, it will conclude on the main challenges in terms of public policies which lay ahead to measure wellbeing in these fields.