Hard times? Not in Hong Kong

So embarrassed is the Hong Kong government by its enormous budget surplus (yes, surplus) that it is handing out HK$6,000 (that’s about £480 or US$770) to everyone aged 18 or over who has Permanent Resident status, whatever their nationality. So that includes me, a Brit. living in Hong Kong. You don’t have to be living in Hong Kong now, or come back here, to collect. I know numerous old Hong Kong hands of several nationalities, including one ex-Reuters correspondent (now with AFP), living far away who qualify. To get Permanent Resident status you have to have lived in Hong Kong for seven years continuously, although in my case the authorities were agreeably flexible about what constitutes “continuously”. ■