Bad government policy worsens poverty, says ex-adviser Goodstadt

New poverty has emerged in Hong Kong thanks to a decade and a half of bad government policies, says a former head of the Central Policy Unit.

Leo Goodstadt, head of the government's main advisory think tank from 1989 until 1997, said in a recent interview with the Post: "Hong Kong's poverty today is not caused by economic crises. Our economy [for the past 15 years] has been more robust than ever.

"Today's poverty is due to misuse of the city's prosperity and policies which favour businesses and the rich but are terrible for the poor."

In his new book Poverty in the Midst of Affluence, Goodstadt is critical of government administrations - from colonial to current times - for squandering the city's riches.

The book's publication is timely. The city will today set its first official poverty line - set at half the median household income. It is expected to show that 1.3 million people are living in poverty.

Goodstadt said the administration of the first chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, was overwhelmed by the post-1997 political situation. As for his successor, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, Goodstadt said: "Donald Tsang hates poor people."

He said a major problem was that the government had been structured since 1997 to run like a business, with close ties and an obvious leaning to the private sector. The current chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, had demonstrated little willingness to challenge these issues, he said.