Property heir says young people should stop going to the movies so they can afford housing

The chairman of the government Commission on Youth says that Hong Kong young people have to make sacrifices – like “stop going to the cinema” and stop “traveling to Japan” – in order to be able to afford housing in the future.

Lau Ming-wai, 35, is also the chairman and CEO of Chinese Estates Holdings Limited, of which 61 percent is owned by his billionaire father, reports Ming Pao. Having earned a doctoral law degree from King’s College, he is also a registered attorney in New York, according to the company’s website.

Lau made the comments during a video interview about the city’s young people and the housing issues they face with online news site goyeah.com.

Lau very helpfully advised youngsters to find a stable job and to evaluate their ability to save.

He added that sacrifices on spending have to be made in order to afford the down payment on a flat, and that a monthly saving of HKD3,000 would be a good start.

“If you’re earning HKD15,000 per month and you spend it all, are you willing to make some sacrifices like watching fewer movies or travelling to Japan less?”

“The property market has slowed down a bit lately, but if you are only saving HKD500 a month for a down payment, it will take some time”, he said.

Lau added that claims of an oligopoly on the property market are based on emotion and simplify a complicated issue. He said he believes individual investors also play a part in the housing shortage.

Unsurprisingly, his remarks quickly drew criticism. Local magazine 100most founder Lam Yat-hei likened Lau’s comments to “Yao Ming telling you that performing a slam dunk is easy, all you need is to jump”, reports Ming Pao.

Pro-democracy media platform Stand News decided to analyse Lau’s advice, using one of his company’s HKD4.87 million apartments as an example.

A down payment of HKD1.95 million would require one to save for 54 years at the rate Lau suggests, while a monthly payment of HKD11,021 thereafter would require another 30 years to pay off the property fully. 

It’s unclear how many movies you’d have to miss to be able to afford one of those apartments, but we suggest you start right away.