Chinese immigrants to Hong Kong, the selected people

Chinese immigrants to Hong Kong in the past were selected people -- selected by nature. They had special qualities that could benefit a society.

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The 1949 Chinese immigrants changed Hong Kong

When the Communist Party took over China in 1949, a large number of people moved to Hong Kong and Taiwan. Among them were entrepreneurs and scholars. They established banks, factories and other businesses in Hong Kong. Before these immigrants arrived, Hong Kong was nothing more than a fishing port. It was not until the late 1960’s, when these immigrants have settled (many of them originally considered Hong Kong as a temporary place to stay), that Hong Kong’s economy started to take off. It is fair to say that Hong Kong would not have developed without the Chinese immigrants in 1949.

The swimmers in 1960's

In the 60's, many people swam to Hong Kong from Mainland China. Many of those people did very well later in life. Some of them exhibit high intelligence, entrepreneurship and social responsibility. One good example is 劉夢熊, a respectable, intelligent man, a successful entrepreneur and one who advocates social responsibility in China.


Special qualities of the swimmers

Those who swam to Hong Kong and arrived had special qualities:

1. They were physically and mentally strong.
2. They were willing to take risks.
3. They demonstrated ability to adapt to new challenges.
4. They were probably good in human relationship -- in those days, there was no social benefit. Many of them had to borrow money from friends and relatives; to succeed, one must be good in interpersonal skills. Besides, they had to build up relationship with new people.

Natural selection is good for a society
Through natural selection, immigration is probably a good thing for a society. This is true as long as they are not attracted by the society’s social benefits, which the society has the means to control. This is especially true for those who risk a lot to make the move.


Possible generalization
The analysis may apply to other societies. The USA has benefited from many successful immigrants. Generalization of the above observation goes beyond the scope of this article.


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