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Alex Lo

‘Nudging’ is the gentle way of pushing you towards making good choices; think of your nice parents. ‘Sludging’ is the opposite, designed to encourage you to make bad or at least suboptimal decisions; picture the car/insurance/mobile phone/real estate salesmen.
They are terms in pop psychology borrowed from behavioural and cognitive sciences.
Some governments such as that under former British prime minister David Cameron even set up a department of nudges, though it had a more respectable title. Whether it ended up nudging or sludging citizens remains a matter of dispute.
One amusing example of nudging is about a European international airport – I forget which one – that needed to cut budgets and slash the number of toilet cleaners. So they started putting tiny toy-like goalposts at the centre of urinals so male users naturally aimed better rather than splashing all over.
Here’s another example, from an American comedy. The girls in a high school take to kissing – pressing lipsticks on – the big mirror in a school toilet. That creates a lot more work for the janitor. Instead of posting a public warning, the cleaner openly mops the mirror with water taken from toilet bowls for everyone to see. That stops the kissing practice in no time.
There are, however, supposedly more sophisticated principles guiding a nudging policy when being launched, say getting workers to join a pension fund. It should be transparent and never misleading. Other choices, even those considered suboptimal, should still be available. You can easily opt out of any option you choose, at least within a reasonable time frame. And it should encourage behaviour that benefits you.
Now imagine they are all turned into their opposites, and you have sludging in all its glory.
Here’s a common example of sludging. Companies like to make you wait forever with so many automated phone-answering options to make sure you never get to talk to a real person. Many of us end up giving up on goods and services or compensation we were originally promised. Admittedly, that’s more of a problem in North America than Hong Kong.
It’s also an example closest to what the Canadian and British governments are doing to Hong Kong migrants hoping to apply for permanent residency. After making a big show of welcoming Hong Kong people facing alleged persecution under the national security law, these governments are having second thoughts. Many Hongkongers arrive with less money and fewer assets than officials originally anticipated. They also face poorer job prospects. Well, theirs are especially bad but the current job markets in both countries are considered the worst in many years.
After the British government published in May a white paper advising for the doubling of the qualifying period for migrants to 10 years, Hong Kong people using the BN(O) scheme to enter the country still don’t know whether they can keep their original five years requirement. That could be a big problem, especially for families with children entering university and will have to pay the full foreign student fees; or for that matter, BN(O) families earning a pittance doing menial work. Even if they financially survive the settlement period, it’s not clear they would qualify under more stringent requirements now being considered.
How about some clarity or transparency? Not from this Labour government.
Meanwhile, Canada is significantly reducing its annual immigration targets, though it’s unclear how that will affect those from Hong Kong.
There is now a long backlog for processing permanent residency for Hongkongers who enter under the so-called “lifeboat” scheme, which is divided into Stream A, for recent university graduates, and Stream B, for people with work experience. Most of those who apply early this summer will not be processed until after 2027. Why not hire more immigration officers? Well, that would be like companies hiring real humans to answer angry customers’ calls.
They want fewer immigrants, including those from Hong Kong, but it’s hard to say it out loud.


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People walk outside the Tower of London as the Tower Bridge stands on the river Thames. Photo: AP

Hongkongers on BN(O) visas rethink options over UK migration policy uncertainty

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About 5.4 million of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million people are eligible for the visa scheme. Photo: Fung Chang

163,400 Hongkongers arrive in the UK under BN(O) visa since 2021

The Embankment in London is a popular for sightseers in the British capital. Photo: AFP

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government is proposing to tighten immigration rules. Photo: AFP

How will UK’s hardening stance on migration affect Hongkongers on BN(O) visas?

The UK has not clarified whether Hong Kong’s BN(O) passport holders who have migrated or plan to move to the Britain under a bespoke scheme will be affected by new migration curbs. Photo: EPA-EFE

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has unveiled proposals to cut net immigration to the country. Photo: EPA-EFE

Hong Kong police take away 2 relatives of Canada-based activist for questioning

Two relatives of activist Joseph Tay (pictured) have been taken away for questioning. Photo: Handout

Hong Kong police have placed HK$1 million bounties on six activists accused of violating the national security law. Photo: Jelly Tse

Opinion

BN(O)ers and ‘streamers’ are no longer welcome. Too bad that the respective governments just will not or cannot say that out loud


BN(O)ers and ‘streamers’ are no longer welcome. Too bad that the respective governments just will not or cannot say that out loud.


Canada

British National (Overseas) passport

My Take

Britain

Hong Kong

China

David Cameron

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Column

How to ‘sludge’ HK migrants into leaving the UK and Canada

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}BN(O)ers and ‘streamers’ are no longer welcome. Too bad that the respective governments just will not or cannot say that out loud

BN(O)ers and ‘streamers’ are no longer welcome. Too bad that the respective governments just will not or cannot say that out loud