Analyzing Hong Kong's Ageing Population: An Ethical Perspective

This essay analyzes the ethical dimensions of Hong Kong's strategy to address its ageing population by allowing young immigrants, viewed through the lenses of Utilitarianism and Kantianism. The essay highlights the benefits, such as resolving critical labor shortages and enriching cultural diversity, while also acknowledging potential drawbacks like disadvantaging native youths. Utilitarianism justifies the decision by emphasizing the greater good for the majority, including both Hong Kong and the immigrants. Kantianism supports the approach by prioritizing the ultimate goal of resolving labor issues and fostering a multicultural society, even if the means are debated. The essay concludes that the decision, despite potential criticisms, is ethically justifiable based on its long-term benefits and alignment with ethical theories.

Running head: AGEING POPULATION AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Ageing population and Ethical considerations
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1AGEING POPULATION AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
The population of the world is increasing at an alarming rate and is expected to reach
8 billion within the next few years (Davies and James 2016). However, one of the major
problems that the world is facing currently is the problem of ageing population since it is seen
that a significant amount of the population of the world is ageing (Nagarajan, Teixeira and
Silva 2016). This is clearly visible when the case of the nations like China, Hong Kong and
others are taken into consideration (Bloom et al. 2015). As a matter of fact, the percentage of
ageing population of the nation of Hong Kong, that is, the percentage of people who are over
the age of 65 years, is 16% and is expected to reach over 26.4% by the year 2036 (Gov.hk
2018). This is a cause of concern for the nation and the nation in order to resolve this issue
has decided to allow the young immigrants from the adjoining region to enter into the nation.
The liberals of the nation have agreed to the use of this option whereas the conservatives are
against the use of this policy. The scope of the essay is to analyze the effectiveness of this
approach of the national government of Hong Kong from the perspective of the ethical
theories of Utilitarianism and Kantianism. The influx of the immigrants will help the nation
to solve its critical labor issue and would also make the nation a multi-cultural one. This
essay will discuss about the various ethical factors which justify this decision of the national
government of Hong Kong.
The option which the nation of Hong Kong is considering for the resolution of the
ageing population issues which it is facing currently is likely to provide various kinds of
benefits to the nation. For example, Hong Kong is one of the emerging business markets of
the world and the nation at the same time boosts of some of the largest organizations of the
world like Advanced Card Systems Holdings, Bank of China, Cable TV Hong Kong, CITIC
Bank International, Commercial Radio Hong Kong, Crocodile Garments, Hong Kong
Airlines and others (Gov.hk 2018). However, because of the ageing of the population the
nation is unable to get the desired number of employees and thus there is a “critical labor

2AGEING POPULATION AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
shortage”. This critical labor shortage is hindering the organizations to perform as per their
maximum potential and thereby limiting the national growth. In order to meet the labor
demands of these organizations the nation requires a significant number of individuals.
Furthermore, it is also seen that because of the ageing population of the nation who are
retiring every year the number of blue collar employees has also diminished in a substantial
manner (Smith 2015). Thus, it can be said that allowing the entry of the immigrants is likely
to help the nation to resolve this particular problem. Moreover, the influx of the immigrants is
also likely to enrich the culture of the nation and make it a multi-cultural one, which currently
boosts of Chinese people (Chand and Tung 2014). These in short are the two major benefits
that the nation is likely to derive from the effective usage of the plan that they have devised.
The decision of the nation to allow the entry of the immigrants can be justified on the
basis of the ethical theory of Utilitarianism. As per Barrow (2015) the theory of
Utilitarianism states that the human beings should indulge in the kind of actions or activities
which are likely to provide the maximum amount of benefits to the majority of the people.
The decision of the nation of Hong Kong to allow the entry of the immigrants into their
nation is likely to prove beneficial to both the nation under discussion here and also the
immigrants as well. For example, the nation under discussion here will get the opportunity to
resolve its critical labor issue and also will have a chance to make it a multicultural one. The
immigrants are also likely to find a safe abode wherein they can not only fulfill the basic
requirements of their life and also they would get the opportunity to fulfill the psychosocial
needs of theirs (Newman and Newman 2017). At the same time, this is likely to help the
immigrants to find jobs and also to overcome the horrors and also the tortures of their
motherland as well (Newman and Newman 2017). Thus, it can be said that the decision of the
nation of Hong Kong by providing mutual benefits to the majority of the individuals involved
in the process is a justified one. It is true that to some extent this decision would place the

3AGEING POPULATION AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
youths of the nation at a great disadvantage however at the same time it needs to be said that
the effective usage of this particular method is likely to help the nation in a significant
manner in the longer run.
The decision of the nation when viewed through the lens of the ethical theory of
Kantianism is likely to reveal insightful details. According to Gironi (2017) the most basic
assumption of the ethical theory of Kantianism is the fact that the end totally justifies the
methods or the actions which has been adopted for the achievement of the same. In this
context, it can be said that the ultimate goal of the nation of Hong Kong currently is to
resolve the labor as well as the cultural issues which it is facing. The conservatives of the
nation are strongly protesting against his decision of the liberals of the nation by stating the
fact that this particular course of action is likely to create resentment among the native youths
of the nation. Furthermore, they have stated that the usage of this process would limit the
opportunities that the youths of the nation are likely to get in a substantial manner. This
would ultimately lead to frustration among the youths and this in turn would inhibit them
from releasing their full potential (Chand and Tung 2014). Thus, the conservatives are of the
opinion that the nation by doing good to the immigrants would ultimately be causing more
harm to its own youths and this in turn limit the future prospects of the nation in a significant
manner. Moreover, they have at the same time, stated that the nation instead of allowing the
immigrants to enter the nation for the resolution of the labor issues should try to provide more
opportunities to the youths for the resolution of the same. However, it needs to be said that
the ultimate aim of the nation is to overcome its critical labor issues and also to make the
nation a multicultural one. As per the theory of Kantianism, the path which the nation is
adopting for the resolution of the critical labor issue is not of great significance as long as
these issues are getting resolved and the ultimate aim of the nation is getting fulfilled. In
addition to this, the option which the nation has devised for the resolution of the critical labor

4AGEING POPULATION AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
issue is likely to provide short-term as well as long-term benefits to the nation. Thus, it can be
said that the decision of the nation is justified on the basis of the ethical theory of Kantianism.
To conclude, one of the major problems which the world is facing currently is the
problem of its ageing population. This problem in-turn causes various issues or problems for
the various nations of the world like labor crisis and others. Furthermore, it is seen that for
the resolution of these issues the various nations have formulated different kinds of strategies.
However, at the same time, these nations need to take into effective consideration the entities
of ethics as well as morals for the decisions that they have taken and ensure the fact these
decisions are completely justified by the various ethical theories.

5AGEING POPULATION AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
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