Before 1997, many Hong Kong people were uncertain what it would be after the city's handover to the motherland and a large batch of them moved to the overseas, forming an emigration tide. Ten years past, many were drawn back by the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong.

Following her parent's will, Renee Chu migrated to Australia in 1990 when she was still a middle school student. She came back with her family after the handover and now works as an assistant computer officer in the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Renee's parents decided to go overseas in 1989, also moving together were her two siblings. "At that time, they concerned about Hong Kong's future and wanted to allow us to receive better education abroad," she told Xinhua in a recent interview.

After graduating from university, Renee went back in 2000 to Hong Kong where she believed will offer her better job opportunities, and after all these years she has settled down her career here.

Hong Kong was hit by economic downturn and outbreak of SARS after 1997, but that did not stopped the Chu's family from coming back. "There are always good and bad times for a place," said Renee.

Without involving herself much in current affairs, Renee still pays attention to Hong Kong's development. Her confidence was further strengthened when seeing the policies taken place by the Central Government of China in support of Hong Kong's economy.

Life in Australia is stable and quiet, but it cannot compare with Hong Kong's vivid and energetic environment. The older generation always yearn for the lifestyle of their own culture.

"My parents fly back to Australia now and then after coming back," Renee said, "but the period they stay there becomes shorter, and now they spend more time in Hong Kong and the mainland.”

Among those emigrants, some showed their confidence in Hong Kong by coming back long before 1997 came. Native-born Victor Yeh, who migrated to Canada in the 1980s together with his parents and younger sister, was one of them.

Victor ran a restaurant owned by his family at the beginning and then found a job himself in the retail industry. Although discrimination did not really happen to him, Victor said in some occasions immigrants there were inevitably treated as second-class citizens, for example, "when you look for a job, employers often entertain native-born people first."

"Canada is an ideal place for leisure life but not career development," said Victor who went back to Hong Kong in 1993 and started to work in his brother's trading company.

After the handover, Victor has got more and more business dealing with the mainland and there he gradually set up his interpersonal network. His company also sees the mainland as a suitable production base for architectural materials and invested about 8 million HK dollars (about US$3 million) in three factories there.

When asked if he ever thought of going back to Canada due to the setbacks Hong Kong experienced after the handover, Victor answered "never" in a definite tone.

"The mainland is rich in talented people and natural resources, giving businessman like us great confidence and opportunity," Victor explained.

Victor also said that his parents and sister are now all in Hong Kong simply because they are happy with the place.

(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2007)