I’ve spent my entire life in Hong Kong. I grew up here and I feel I know the city well. Economically, Hong Kong is very strong in theworld. It is a successful city and a great place to live.

Sadly, however there are two issues that Hong Kong does not seem to be taking seriously: competition from nearby cities and environmental concerns. Improvements are badly needed in these areas. I believe that to maintain Hong Kong’s fame, these issues need to be solved by the government quickly.

Firstly, in terms of competition from other cities, the government needs to pay far more attention to the neighboring countries like Singapore. Hong Kong is currently the financial centre of Southeast Asia; however Singapore will soon surpass Hong Kong. In addition, China is becoming increasingly successful. There is a possibility that in the near future, Hong Kong will suffer economic loss and will no longer stand out as one of the strongest players in Southeast Asia.

Regarding this situation, my hopes are not that the other countries do not achieve success, but that Hong Kong continues to move forward to maintain number one in Southeast Asia. For instance, the government can create a favorable business environment in order to attract more businessmen to make investments in Hong Kong. In this way, the financial stability of Hong Kong will again be maintained.

Apart from the above issue, Hong Kong is very poor environmentally. There are landfill issues, and pollution from traffic and smog. There are other factors as well, but these are the biggest problems that Hong Kong faces right now. These factors are causing overseas investors to reconsider whether to move business and staff to Hong Kong. In some cases, removing business interests and staff from the territory to places such as Singapore. Why Singapore? Well, it is because Singapore is seen as being more environmentally friendly and as a result, has an advantage when it comes to attracting overseas companies and business.

Seeing this poor situation, the government should think over the environmental policies. For example, it may consider setting up the landfills in some isolated islands or it may encourage citizens to take more public transport instead of driving private cars. These are all possible solutions to alleviate the situation. To conclude, Hong Kong’s environment and its competition with nearby cities are two big issues that will hinder Hong Kong’s success in the future. Let us hope that with the rallying of Hong Kong’s citizens to deal with environmental concerns, these serious concerns can be solved.