Study ranks Hong Kong as the 13th safest city in the world

Difficulty: Challenger (Level 2)

A study has named Singapore the world’s safest city for tourists and Hong Kong the 13th. Because of this, a local lawmaker has called for more CCTV cameras and tighter laws.

Forbes Advisor’s list studied 60 cities across the globe on a 100-point scale. The cities with a score of 100 had the most severe risk. The points were based on factors such as crime rate, personal safety, service quality and online attack risk.

Singapore scored 0 points. The city state had the lowest natural disaster risk and the second lowest health and infrastructure risks.

Hong Kong scored 32.93. It was right behind Taipei, which scored 32.91 points.

The city fell behind its regional rival Singapore in personal and digital security.

In terms of risk for crime, Hong Kong came in fourth, doing slightly better than Singapore, which was sixth.

According to the study, Singapore was ranked second in digital security and 13th in personal security. Hong Kong, however, came in at 21st place in both categories.

Lawmaker Edmund Wong Chun-sek sits on the Legislative Council’s security panel. Wong called for more surveillance cameras in public areas to enhance safety.

Quiz time

1. What were three factors that the Forbes Advisor’s study considered?

2. In which categories did Hong Kong fall behind its regional rival on the list?

3. In which category did Hong Kong come ahead of its regional rival?

4. Who is seeking more CCTV cameras in public, and why?

Hong Kong lawmaker Edmund Wong Chun-sek has called for more CCTV cameras and tighter laws to raise safety levels. Photo: Felix Wong

Suggested answers

1. crime rate, personal safety, service quality, online attack risk (any three)

2. personal and digital security

3. risk for crime

4. Lawmaker Edmund Wong Chun-sek is seeking more CCTV cameras because he thinks they are key to raising safety levels.