The publication's polling of real estate advisors finds that Hong Kong residents are becoming more interested in the idea of moving to Singapore, although actual action has not matched the level of inquiries.

Hong Kong residents are increasingly interested in buying Singapore property. The political crisis over Hong Kong’s extradition bill – now suspended – has fuelled some of the enquiries, according to the South China Morning Post.

The newspaper said it had polled a number of real estate firms, showing that enquiries about Singapore from residents in its principal regional rival have risen by about 30 to 40 per cent in the past two months.

The protests that have made front-page news internationally in recent weeks have highlighted a difficult issue for Hong Kong, a former British colony which was transferred back to China in 1997. Under the handover agreement made in the 1980s, Hong Kong was granted a level of legal and administrative autonomy from Beijing. Protesters in Hong Kong fear that the mainland is increasingly encroaching on its status.

So far, the SCMP said, enquiries about moving to Singapore from Kong haven’t yet produced much actual action on the ground.

WealthBriefingAsia has noted in recent years that there is, on the face of it, a seeming contradiction between the strength of the Chinese economy – as it is presented in official data and press reports – and the pattern of HNW Chinese individuals applying for foreign passports and residency programmes, sometimes dubbed “golden visas”.

A recent report by the Chinese University of Hong Kong showed that the quality of life for Hong Kong residents fell in 2018, with unrest adding to the problems.

According to the “CUHK Hong Kong Quality of Life Index”, the overall score in 2017 was 105.09, a decrease of 0.21 points from the score in 2016 (105.30). The result indicated that the quality of life in Hong Kong has slightly declined in the past year. The Economic sub-index has decreased to its second-lowest on record; the Social sub-index and the Culture and Leisure sub-index have increased to the highest on record.