School

After reading my calculations yesterday, you may come to the same conclusion of certain Mr. Tsang and suggest that an average couple should buy a flat in some less privileged areas. If the unit price is down by 50% (i.e. HK$2000 per square foot), they could afford an apartment twice as big.

It sounds great - until the parents have to find a suitable school for their children.

For those who are not familiar with the system, primary schools in Hong Kong are allocated by two major criteria:

• where the parents graduated from
• where does the family live

I don't think I need to elaborate on the variation of school quality in our city. It follows that the chance of receiving a reasonable education does not depend on the capability of the child, but who the parents are and whether the family could afford an expensive place to live.

It doesn't take long for the society to segregate into two layers: the cream (alas, or the scum) and the sediment.

PS. Even if a few exceptionally gifted children from average families do get through and entered some prestigious schools, have you consider the time to be spent in the traffic for these kids ?