At question time in Legco last week, Mr Tsang maintained that Hong Kong's economy was its best in 20 years. He also questioned whether the Gini coefficient, an internationally adopted index to measure income inequality, was suitable for Hong Kong.

He said the city was attracting the richest in the financial field but questioned whether the index was able to show that living standards for the poor had worsened.

Speaking on City Forum, Civic Party vice-chairman Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung criticised Mr Tsang for not taking poverty issues seriously. 'The biggest problem is the mindset of those in charge.

'The chief executive seems to be telling us he doesn't really think it's a problem and the government has been doing a good job,' Mr Cheung said. 'It's not going to help even if we try to impress him with more figures about income disparity.'

The forum heard that in 1991, the income of the top 10 per cent of households in Hong Kong was 20 times higher than that of the lowest 10 per cent. By 2005, that had surged to 45 times.

Legislator Frederick Fung Kin-kee, chairman of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood, said Mr Tsang's attitude was unacceptable.

'It's very dangerous for the chief executive to brush aside such a world-recognised indicator in measuring the wealth gap.' There would be upheavals if he continued to ignore the problem, he said.

Liberal Party leader James Tien Pei-chun said education should be enhanced so the young had better job opportunities in future.

'Welfare handouts are only effective measures in the short term. The ultimate solution is to improve the educational opportunities of our next generation.'