Government figures show that the number of people in Hong Kong who live alone has jumped nearly 40 percent in the past decade, with elderly women and the middle-aged accounting for the bulk of the increase. Psychiatrists have warned that people living alone and being cut off from social contact can easily develop depression, a major cause of suicide.

A Chinese University of Hong Kong study reveals that one-in-six adults in Hong Kong suffer from depression but less than one-third of sufferers receive treatment. Social stigma partly contributes to the high number not seeking treatments, but the main reason is inadequate government facilities and resources.

Seeking help from private psychiatrists (HK$1,800 per consultation) is prohibitively expensive for most citizens, not to mention those who are impoverished and live alone. A depressed person in Hong Kong typically takes six to nine months before consulting a government psychiatrist in one of the few government hospitals in the city.

Government figures released on March 19 indicate that the 34,000 richest people in Hong Kong, with a population of 7 million, own fixed and liquid assets totaling $27 million each. It is worth considering that an additional 1 percent salary or profit tax be levied on this wealthy group and use the additional resources collected to aid the lone dwellers to seek help for their mental-health problems.

Some frustrated Hong Kong people have complained about the local economy being controlled - and manipulated - by wealthy families and property developers. It might trigger social disharmony if we only target the property tycoons and patriarchs of rich clans, many of whom already have set up various foundations to help the poor and aged. Some developers have also discussed the idea of donating farmlands to build affordable housing for the lower- and middle-class people in Hong Kong.

It would be easier to swallow the bitter pill if we make the 34,000 richest people in Hong Kong pay 1 percent more tax. I am sure most of them would not mind sharing some of their wealth with those in need. This wealth-tax thought isn't new. It has been adopted in Singapore and the city-state has obtained better social harmony than Hong Kong. Barack Obama, president of the United States, has proposed levying heavier tax on the rich to narrow the country's wealth gap.

Living alone has become a worldwide trend. Globally, about 220 million people live alone today, up 33 percent from 10 years ago.

Eric Klinenberg, who just published a book titled Going Solo, points out in his research that it is easy for the young to live alone but for the aged, frail and poor it is an entirely different story. We must try harder to aid the lone dwellers.

The Census and Statistics Department reveals that the number of people aged between 45 and 64 living alone has doubled from 73,000 to 150,000 in the past 10 years. Loneliness and hopelessness can easily lead to depression and suicides. The additional resources generated from increasing the tax burden on the richest 34,000 people in Hong Kong will go a long way to helping the lone dwellers live a better life.

I hope that this 1 percent wealth tax will receive wide support in society. I want to see lone dwellers live healthier and happier.

The author is coordinator of the B.S.Sc financial journalism program at Hong Kong Baptist University.

(HK Edition 03/27/2013 page9)