S'pore can count its blessings versus Hong Kong in property, identity

July 1, 2017 is the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China, and commentators have been busy evaluating the territory's progress ever since that fateful day in 1997. The usual comparisons to Singapore come up.

On the surface, there should be little cause for angst for residents of both cities. Both are well-developed financial hubs in Asia with high educational and healthcare standards. Infrastructure is excellent. Taxes are relatively low, both for corporates and for individuals. Median incomes are relatively high. Yet, there are political fault lines beneath both cosmopolitan cities. In Singapore, the government is battling slowing growth, and a big question is whether a new generation of Singaporeans will be able to fend for themselves and secure better jobs. In Hong Kong, the biggest issues are more to do with China's control over the territory, as well as its incredibly unaffordable housing.

While Singapore is an independent nation, Hong Kong is part of China and lives under the "One Country, Two Systems" principle that its capitalist way of life should be unchanged till 2047.