“I have every intention of staying in Hong Kong for a long-term basis. I love the city, it’s brilliant,” said Scott Hegarty, who comes from the UK and has been teaching English in this city for 5 years. In an exclusive interview with GDToday, the British teacher shared why he chooses Hong Kong.

For Hegarty, the very first reason he chose Hong Kong is very simple - “I find that the people here are quite welcoming, overall they're quite nice. I've been okay with the culture shock.” In his mind, Hong Kong’s international atmosphere does help make it pretty comfortable to live in for people of different nationalities.

During Hong Kong’s mass violent protests in 2019, Scott set up a chat group named “Green Space” on Telegram. It enables group members to discuss about different political and social issues. The main reason he created it was to get away from unproductive back and forth insults on most social media platforms. He wants to use the chat group to help people think more rationally and have a proper debate.

“I really didn't like the violence that stood out to me the most, which continues to shock me afterwards,” Hegarty believed that the violent protests have done great damage to Hong Kong society. After the national security law came out, most people in his group accept that necessary. “We can move on and make actual political progress.” Hegarty added.

When speaking about the relationship between the UK and Hong Kong, he mentioned that most of the British people do not know much about Hong Kong. However, there are a minority of people who want to relive the glory days of the empire. “Maybe some politicians,” he said.

Currently, Hegarty finds the education market in the Guangdong - Hong Kong - Macao Greater Bay Area is really healthy, which becomes a reason for him to stay in Hong Kong. “I think it's going to help a lot of people who really wants to get ahead in their careers,” he added.

Planning | Zhao Yang, Wing

Reporter | Keane, Hannah, Sherry (intern)

Video | Axin

Editor | Ou Xiaoming, Jerry