Pregnant mainlanders threaten protest march
Disgruntled pregnant mainland women and their Hong Kong spouses yesterday threatened to launch a city-wide march if the government refuses to repeal a policy which has sharply increased obstetric fees charged to mainlanders.
About 30 protesters burned their petition letter to Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow Yat-ngok after they waited in vain for half an hour outside the Murray Building in an attempt to secure a meeting with him.
The Hong Kong husbands wore plastic sieves over their stomachs as a symbolic act to tell officials they wished they were the ones giving birth as it would spare their spouses from discrimination and extra fees.
Legislator Lee Cheuk-yan and social worker Tsang Suk-ling, who led the protest, said they would escalate their action if the health minister did not give them a date to meet him this week.
'Everyone knows that we will not let the issue fade quietly. We will consider mobilising the whole community to march in protest against such an unfair policy,' Ms Tsang said.
The group had not heard anything from Mr Chow or Hospital Authority chairman Anthony Wu Ting-yuk since sending them a letter on February 15 asking for a meeting, she said.
In January, the authority decided to raise the cost of a three-day obstetric package for non-local women from HK$20,000 to HK$39,000 for those who have had antenatal checks in Hong Kong, and HK$48,000 for those who have not. The policy came into effect last month.
The protesters also met legislators yesterday to air their grievances. Legislator Albert Cheng King-hon, who chaired the meeting, said he would set up a special Legislative Council panel to study the policy and individual cases.
He also encouraged the group to continue to make their voice heard, as the chief executive would be under even more pressure to respond to public wishes during the election campaign.
One protester, who gave her name only as Mrs Shek, said she had to join yesterday's action, despite being only a month away from giving birth.
'There is no way we can raise HK$39,000 by the end of the month. We don't want to borrow money from loansharks,' she said.
