Welfare chief faces mini-inquisition
Disadvantaged children put York Chow on the spot at opening of photo exhibition
Health, Welfare and Food Secretary York Chow Yat-ngok yesterday faced big questions from some small inquisitors.
Dr Chow was peppered with questions from 12 children from low-income families and families on welfare. The session ranged from why the secretary took the new job, to treatment of Nepalese workers and his ideas on social assistance.
The 30-minute talk was arranged by the Society for Community Organisation at the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, where the group is also hosting a photo exhibit on the plight of poor children. Dr Chow attended the opening.
Bhowan Tamang, aged nine, asked Dr Chow why he wanted to become a 'food chief'.
Taken by surprise, Dr Chow replied: 'I was selected and appointed to take up this post. It is good to head a food department because I love to eat. As a matter of fact, the areas I look after also include health and welfare policies.'
Another Nepalese boy, Khem, also nine, complained to Dr Chow that his parents and grandfather were offered only low-paying jobs as security guards or cooks because they did not speak Chinese.
'You can teach them Chinese,' Dr Chow told the boy, who replied: 'But they don't want to learn. Not being able to read or understand Chinese doesn't mean they can't work well.'
Eight-year-old Yeung Hiu-ching said she wanted to become a government official to help the needy in the community. Dr Chow warned her: 'Government officials are blamed whenever they fail to do their job properly ... But I wish you could be my deputy and help me in future'
Au Lun-kwan, 12, who came from the mainland in August to be reunited with his mother and grandmother, had a sad story to tell Dr Chow. Lun-kwan said his mother had just been diagnosed with lymphatic cancer and his father had died more than two years ago.
'Mom and I now share a 100 sq ft public housing flat with a relative. But we want to have our own public flat, so my mother can live in a more comfortable environment that would help her health,' Lun-kwan said.
The children repeatedly asked Dr Chow whether the government planned to cut dole payments. He said he would only do so if the cuts were justified.
After the talk, Dr Chow said helping poor families, especially those with children, would be one of the main focuses of upcoming welfare policies. But the secretary said he saw no reason to relax the eligibility criteria for recipients.
After his meeting with Dr Chow, Bhowan said the health chief would be one of the best to succeed Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, saying: 'Dr Chow is also a doctor. It is very difficult to become a doctor and doctors must be very smart. So he is the best candidate to become the chief executive.'
