Some consultant has done a survey saying that Hong Kong is becoming an ever-worse place for expats, slipping behind Singapore, Tokyo, Sydney and Sierra Leone as a place to live. The city now ranks alongside Jakarta and Port Morseby in the expat stakes. The reason? That all pervasive air-pollution excuse.

This begs numerous questions, for example have the survey takers ever been to Port Morseby or Jakarta? But what is it about Singapore that makes it rank so highly compared to the Big Lychee?

Quane praised Singapore for consolidating the number one position. "I can't find another city that matches it in terms of personal security and safety. We have seen more and more companies and expatriates say they would prefer to relocate to Singapore because of the better facilities," Quane said.

That is despite the fact that Singapore ranks lower than Hong Kong in terms of press freedom and recreation, Quane added.

Or as an ex-Hong Konger recently commented, "in the end it boils down to only two things: low income tax rates and cheap plasma TVs. What else really matters?"

Update

More from our Sydney correspondent: "The only expats who really love it here are the backapckers who don't earn enough for taxes and/or plasma TVs to be factors in their equations - they just want cheap beer," and "Did they factor this in? Doesn't happen in Hong Kong, and wouldn't be allowed in Singapore."